■ Cricket
Kenya to play A teams
Kenya will play a one-day triangular series against the A teams of India and Sri Lanka at home next month, Cricket Kenya officials said on Wednesday. The series will see the three teams play each other twice between Aug. 14 and Aug. 20 with the final being held in Nairobi on Aug. 23.
■ Athletics
French star to miss Osaka
European men's 400m champion Marc Raquil of France has been ruled out of next month's world athletics championships after tearing a muscle in his left thigh, his manager Alain Blondel said on Wednesday. The 30-year-old will not compete in the world championships in Osaka, Japan from Aug. 25 to Sept. 2. "It's not a tragedy. His work this season hasn't been lost. He's now focusing on the 2008 season and the Olympic Games," Blondel said.
■ Athletics
Former world champ banned
Former world champion pole vaulter Giuseppe Gibilisco was banned for two years by the Italian Athletics Federation on Wednesday for his involvement in a doping scandal. The 28-year-old was found guilty of having worked with Carlo Santuccione, an Italian doctor under investigation for supplying several high-profile sportsmen with doping products. Gibilisco is understood to have taken or having attempted to take performance-enhancing drugs. The Italian said he would be appealing against his sentence. Asked if he was bitter about his punishment having always protested his innocence, he replied: "Obviously, yes. I found myself caught up in a mess without knowing why, just because I went to see a doctor for a regular appointment."
■ Athletics
Athletes escape punishment
The Bulgarian Athletics Federation on Wednesday refused to sanction European women's 400m champion Vanya Stambolova and high jump silver medalist Venelina Veneva after both failed dope tests. Federation president Dobromir Karamarinov claimed that there was not enough evidence to conclude that the pair had been guilty of taking banned substances. Stambolova, 23, and Veneva, 33, tested positive for excessive levels of the male hormone testosterone during an out-of-competition test on Jan. 24. They have been provisionally suspended since April. But the Bulgarian federation said that the doses of testosterone detected in the athletes' urine were just 5 percent over the norm which "could be the result of a statistical error."
■ Soccer
Mandela match ends in draw
Past and present stars were in action in Cape Town as an African select side drew 3-3 with a World XI on Wednesday in a friendly match played in honor of former South African president Nelson Mandela's 89th birthday. Egypt's Hossan Hassan scored a goal in each half, the second, in the 50th minute, gave the Africans a 3-2 lead but former Spain and Athletic Bilbao midfielder Julen Guerrero hammered home a rebound in the 72nd minute. Chile's Ivan Zamorano got onto the end of a Ruud Gullit cross in the sixth minute and to head home easily. Three minutes later, three-time African footballer of the year Abide Pele converted a Samuel Eto'o cross. Coming on early as a sub, Hassan made an immediate impression, beating an offside trap and slipping the ball past Spanish goalkeeper Andoni Zubizarreta in the 30th minute. Gullit beat Arendse just before half-time to equalize a second time.
‘SU-PENKO’: Hsieh and Ostapenko face a rematch against their Australian Open final opponents, the same duo Hsieh played in last year’s Wimbledon semi-finals Taiwanese women’s doubles star Hsieh Su-wei and Latvian partner Jelena Ostapenko on Wednesday survived a near upset to the unseeded duo of Sorana Cirstea of Romania and Russia’s Anna Kalinskaya, setting up a semi-final showdown against last year’s winners. Despite losing a hard-fought opening set 7-6 (7/4) on a tiebreak, the fourth seeds turned up the heat, losing just five games in the final two sets to handily put down Cirstea and Kalinskaya 6-3, 6-2. Nicknamed “Su-Penko,” the pair are next to face top seeds Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic and Taylor Townsend of the US in a reversal of last
Taiwanese tennis veteran Hsieh Su-wei (謝淑薇) and her Latvian partner Jelena Ostapenko finished runners-up in the Wimbledon women's doubles final yesterday, losing 6-3, 2-6, 4-6. The three-set match against Veronika Kudermetova of Russia and Elise Mertens of Belgium lasted two hours and 23 minutes. The loss denied 39-year-old Hsieh a chance to claim her 10th Grand Slam title. Although the Taiwanese-Latvian duo trailed 1-3 in the opening set, they rallied with two service breaks to take it 6-3. In the second set, Mertens and Kudermetova raced to a 5-1 lead and wrapped it up 6-2 to even the match. In the final set, Hsieh and
Taiwanese tennis veteran Hsieh Su-wei and her Latvian partner, Jelena Ostapenko, advanced to the Wimbledon women’s doubles final on Friday, defeating top seeds Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic and Taylor Townsend of the US in straight sets. The fourth-seeded duo bounced back quickly after losing their opening service game, capitalizing on frequent unforced errors by their opponents to take the first set 7-5. Maintaining their momentum in the second set, Hsieh and Ostapenko broke serve early and held their lead to close out the match 6-4. They are set to face the eighth-seeded pair of Veronika Kudermetova of Russia and Elise Mertens
Outside Anfield, the red sea of tributes to Diogo Jota and his brother, Andre Silva, has continued to grow this week, along with questions over whether Liverpool could play at Preston today, their first game since the brothers’ tragic loss. Inside Anfield, and specifically a grieving Liverpool dressing room, there was no major debate over the pre-season friendly. The English Premier League champions intend to honor their teammate in the best way they know how. It would be only 10 days since the deaths of Jota and Silva when Liverpool appear at Deepdale Stadium for what is certain to be a hugely
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