ATHLETICS
Taiwan takes javelin bronze
Taiwan’s Cheng Chao-tsun on Wednesday won a bronze medal in the men’s javelin at the Folksam Grand Prix in Karlstad, Sweden. With a throw of 81.22m, Cheng finished behind Olympic gold medalist Thomas Rohler of Germany (83.76m) and Kim Amb of Sweden (81.66m). Cheng, who holds the Asia men’s javelin record, struggled early in the competition, with a first throw of 78.05m followed by two failed attempts, but his 81.22m fourth try won him the bronze. Fellow Taiwanese Huang Shi-feng finished fourth with a throw of 78.33m. Cheng has already secured a place in next year’s Tokyo Olympics, having recorded a personal best of 87.12m for this year at a Diamond League event in Shanghai in May, which earned him a silver medal. Cheng in 2017 broke the Asian record at the Taipei Summer Universiade with a throw of 91.36m.
SOCCER
Chelsea chooses Lampard
Frank Lampard yesterday was appointed Chelsea head coach, confirming a dramatic return for one of the club’s greatest players. Lampard has signed a three-year contract with the club, where he spent 13 years and became the team’s all-time leading scorer with 211 goals. The former England midfielder succeeds Maurizio Sarri after just one season in management. Chelsea said that Lampard had a “fantastic relationship” with the club’s supporters and he would certainly lift the mood after a fractious season under Sarri. Despite finishing third in the Premier League and winning the Europa League, Sarri was criticized for his eccentric approach and rigid style of play.
RUGBY UNION
Reece selection ‘deplorable’
New Zealand Rugby yesterday was accused of “deplorable” judgement over the All Black selection of Sevu Reece, a player who less than 12 months ago pleaded guilty to assaulting his girlfriend. Reece was one of four new faces named on Tuesday in the All Blacks’ squad for the Rugby Championship. The 22-year-old in October last year pleaded guilty to assaulting his girlfriend in the street, causing facial injuries and bruising to her body before a bouncer intervened. He was fined, but no conviction was recorded after his lawyer argued it would derail his fledgling rugby career. “Given the high regard that All Blacks are held in, and the way members of the team are held up as role models, it would be helpful if the selection panel included being good citizens in the selection criteria,” said Janet Fanslow, a domestic violence specialist at Auckland University.
OLYMPICS
Ex-chief given millions
Former US Olympic Committee chief executive Scott Blackmun, who was severely criticized for his handling of the Larry Nassar abuse scandal, received US$2.4 million in severance pay, official records showed on Wednesday. Blackmun stepped down in February last year, about one month after Nassar was jailed for life for abusing more than 250 athletes. A subsequent independent report commissioned by the committee was scathing of Blackmun’s role in the scandal. The report alleged that Blackmun and other Olympic chiefs had failed to react swiftly when warned of allegations surrounding Nassar, concealing the doctor’s crimes until the scandal erupted in late 2016.
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but
Taiwanese gymnast Lee Chih-kai failed to secure an Olympic berth in the pommel horse following a second-place finish at the last qualifier in Doha on Friday, a performance that Lee and his coach called “unconvincing.” The Tokyo Olympics silver medalist finished runner-up in the final after scoring 6.6 for degree of difficulty and 8.800 for execution for a combined score of 15.400. That was just 0.100 short of Jordan’s Ahmad Abu Al Soud, who had qualified for the event in Paris before the Apparatus World Cup series in Qatar’s capital. After missing the final rounds in the first two of four qualifier