RUGBY UNION
Etzebeth faces assault probe
South Africa lock Eben Etzebeth has denied any wrongdoing after an alleged racial assault at a bar on Sunday, as he met with the South African Human Rights Commission (HRC) following a complaint by a member of the public. Local media reports said that a man was allegedly racially and physically abused in Langebaan by a group that contained Etzebeth. The commission confirmed it spoke with Etzebeth on Thursday to inform him of the process. Etzebeth has been named in the Springboks’ 31-man squad for the Rugby World Cup in Japan and is a key leadership figure within the team. If found guilty, Etzebeth would have to issue a public apology and might have to pay a fine, but beyond that, it could have a significant effect on his reputation and standing within the team.
BASKETBALL
Warrant out for Cousins
Alabama police have issued an arrest warrant for Los Angeles Lakers center DeMarcus Cousins on a misdemeanor domestic violence charge, USA Today Sports reported on Thursday. The Mobile Municipal Court listed a charge of third-degree harassing communications, but provided no details. The warrant comes two days after TMZ released an audio recording allegedly of Cousins threatening to shoot his ex-girlfriend during an argument about their seven-year-old son. The NBA and the Lakers on Tuesday released statements saying that they were investigating the allegations.
FOOTBALL
Russell comes out as bi
NFL defensive end Ryan Russell came out as bisexual in interviews published on Thursday, saying that he hopes the revelation would not hinder his return to the league. Russell said he decided to go public with his sexual identity to be the best version of himself. He was drafted in the fifth round by the Cowboys in 2015. After one season in Dallas he played two for the Buccaneers, playing 14 games in 2017. He missed last season after sustaining a shoulder surgery, and said his twin goals now are “returning to the NFL and living my life openly... Those two objectives shouldn’t be in conflict, but judging from the fact that there isn’t a single openly LGBTQ player in the NFL, NBA, Major League Baseball or the NHL, brings me pause.”
CYCLING
Herrada wins sixth stage
A day after seeing his older brother miss out on a stage victory, Jesus Herrada on Thursday came through with a strong late charge on the final climb to win the sixth leg of the Vuelta a Espana, with Belgian rider Dylan Teuns coming in second to take the overall lead. Herrada moved past Teuns with about 200m to go on the 198.9km stage that finished on a mountaintop in Ares del Maestrat. Jose Herrada was in the breakaway group on Wednesday, but could not keep up with stage winner Angel Madrazo. It was the first Grand Tour win for Jesus Herrada, who last year wore the leader’s red jersey on two Vuelta stages. Yesterday, riders were to face a 183km stage that was to end on another mountain. Former leader Miguel Angel Lopez dropped to third overall. David de la Cruz moved to second. Irishman Nicolas Roche, one of the early overall leaders, was among the riders who had to withdraw after a crash about 100km into the race, along with Rigoberto Uran, Hugh Carthy and Victor de la Parte.
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