RUGBY UNION
Stormers on winning streak
The Stormers remain the only unbeaten side in Super Rugby after beating the Jaguares 17-7 on Saturday. The Stormers made it four wins out of four, but labored to a 3-0 halftime lead at Newlands in Cape Town before scrumhalf Herschel Jantjies pounced on a stray pass and ran about 60m for the first try, followed soon after by a score for Ruhan Nel. Yet they still had to a weather a strong comeback by the South Americans, whose hopes of an upset result were let down by an endless stream of infringements and mistakes.
RUGBY UNION
France survive Cardiff ‘hell’
France coach Fabien Galthie hailed his youthful team for having survived the “hell” of Cardiff’s Principality Stadium on Saturday to notch up a 27-23 victory over Wales and keep their Six Nations Grand Slam dream alive. France raced out to a 17-9 halftime lead at the closed-roof stadium thanks to tries from Anthony Bouthier, Paul Willemse and Romain Ntamack. Wales fired back in the second period with a Dillon Lewis try, but a doughty French defense held firm, and Ntamack intercepted a try to seal the first win for Les Bleus in the Welsh capital since 2010. “The players produced a superb match. They played ‘THE’ game,” Galthie said. “We’re very happy to be able to share these moments, between ourselves, but also with everyone who loves rugby... To be here is hell, but it’s magic and that’s what we’re looking for.” Meanwhile, Scotland got their first win of this year’s Six Nations with a 17-0 win in Rome that looks set to condemn Italy to another wooden spoon.
ICE HOCKEY
Zamboni driver helps win
Emergency goaltender David Ayres became the oldest netminder to win an NHL game on his debut on Saturday night after the Zamboni driver stopped eight shots in the Carolina Hurricanes’ 6-3 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs. The 42-year-old Canadian, whose full-time job is operating the ice-cleaning machine for the Toronto Marlies, entered the contest after the visiting Hurricanes lost two goalies to injury. “I had the time of my life out there,” Ayres said. “Someone came in the room and said to get ready. I was a little shocked but I loved it,” Ayres said.
BASEBALL
Astros hecklers lose out
Fans hoping to heckle the sign-stealing Houston Astros at their spring opener on Saturday night were met with quite the coincidence. They got their signs stolen. The exhibition opener against the Washington Nationals was the Astros’ first spring training game since their sign-stealing scandal rocked baseball. Two men in Nationals gear sitting behind the Astros dugout briefly held up crudely drawn signs just before the first pitch. One read: “You see my hate?” in large block letters, and another said: “Houston” with an asterisk below it, suggesting that the Astros’ 2017 World Series title should be permanently blemished. A woman who worked for the ballpark quickly approached and took them. Matthew Silliman, who held one of the signs, said he drove to the game from Tampa Bay and said that he had been waiting to let the Astros know what he thought of them. “I’m a big Nats fan and it’s wrong,” he said. “They’re cheaters.”
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
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
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