■ United States
'Filipino Flash' retains title
Philippines star Nonito Donaire stopped Mexico's Luis Maldonado in the eighth round in Mashnatucket, Connecticut, on Saturday to keep his International Boxing Federation flyweight crown. The "Filipino Flash" pounded the challenger throughout the bout, ending matters 76 seconds into the eighth round with a powerful left hand in his first title defense. Donaire improved to 19-1 for his 18th triumph in a row despite hurting his left hand early in the fight. "I've always had that problem but it's OK. I still got the victory," he said. "I'm happy for my country. We have four world champions now."
■ United States
Chavez claims biggest win
Julio Cesar Chavez Junior, the son of the heralded Mexican champion of the same name, stopped Ray Sanchez in the sixth round of a scheduled 10-round super welterweight fight in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on Saturday. "I wanted to feel his punches," Chavez said. "He's a good fighter." Chavez (34-0-1, 27 KOs) notched the biggest win of his young career, driving Sanchez (20-2) into the ropes midway through the sixth and launching a flurry of shots to the head. Sanchez dropped to his knees, then couldn't answer after the count at 1:33 of the round. The left-handed Sanchez was touted as the hardest puncher Chavez has faced. "He does hit hard but I knew I was stronger than him," Chavez said.
■ United States
Forrest wins in the 11th
Vernon Forrest successfully defended his WBC super welterweight title in Mashnatucket, stopping Italy's Michele Piccirilloin the 11th round after landing two crushing right hands. It was the first title defense for Forrest (40-2). He won the WBC crown with a unanimous decision over Carlos Baldomir in July. Forrest landed a looping right hand midway through the fourth round that stunned Piccirillo but the challenger quickly regrouped and kept the champion at bay for the rest of the round. Piccirillo was wobbled by a right hand in the seventh, but stayed on his feet. In the ninth, Forest dropped Piccirillo with a stinging right hand for the second knockdown of the bout. Forrest continued to dominate the bout until putting Piccirillo away in the 11th.
■ United States
Tarver stops Santiago
Antonio Tarver stopped Danny Santiago in the fourth round in Mashantucket on Saturday in a US light-heavyweight fight that should give the 39-year-old winner a chance to fight for a major title. Tarver knocked down Santiago twice, sending him through the ropes the first time late in round four and using a pair of left hooks to crumple his foe to his knees to prompt the referee to halt the bout 2:53 into the round. Tarver has won twice since losing to Bernard Hopkins last year. Undefeated World Boxing Council champion Chad Dawson was at ringside and said he wants to fight Tarver when he steps into the ring again in April.
■ Germany
Halmich hangs up her gloves
Regina Halmich, who made women's boxing popular in Germany, ended her career on Saturday after a record 45th defense of her women's WIBF flyweight title the previous day. The 31-year-old German claimed a decision against Hagar Shmoulefeld Finer of Israel on Friday to finish with a 54-1-1 record after holding the title for a decade. Friday's fight was watched on television by 8 million, with an audience share of nearly 40 percent. Those ratings are higher than all but the biggest men's fights in Germany.
■ CRICKET
Aussies players get warning
Cricket Australia (CA) has warned leading players it would not let them play in the Indian Premier League's (IPL) Twenty20 tournament in April and May, reports said yesterday. Eleven top players -- including captain Ricky Ponting, Brett Lee and Adam Gilchrist -- have reportedly signed up for the Twenty20 tournament. But CA chief executive James Sutherland warned he would not grant them consent to take part, saying they signed with the IPL without consulting CA, the Sun-Herald newspaper said. Other players involved are Michael Hussey, Michael Clarke, Matthew Hayden and Andrew Symonds.
■ RUGBY UNION
Kiwis win Dubai Sevens
New Zealand blew out to 26-0 and contained a fightback by Fiji to win the Dubai Sevens rugby final 31-21 on Saturday. New Zealand, the defending series champions, won in Dubai for the first time since 2002. Two tries by Zar Lawrence and another from Nigel Hunt put New Zealand ahead at halftime 21-0. It was soon 26-0 on Steven Yates' try while Neumi Nanuku became the second Fijian sinbinned in the final. Nanuku returned, however, to spark the comeback, with his try and others by Vereniki Goneva and Akuila Nawerecagi lifting Fiji to 26-21 behind with a minute to go. But Yates capped the scoring for New Zealand.
■ SOCCER
Players walk off in protest
Furious Bezanija Belgrade players on Saturday refused to continue their Serbian league clash at Mladost Lucani in protest at the refereeing, the Beta news agency reported. Mladost Lucani were leading 2-1 against the Belgrade team when the visiting players walked off the pitch after 53 minutes. They were angered by the referee's decision to send off two of their players, deny them an alleged penalty and recognize Mladost's second goal which they claimed was offside.
■ SPEEDSKATING
S Korea makes clean sweep
South Koreans won all the races at a short track speedskating World Cup meet with victories by Song Kyung-taek, Sung Si-bak, Yang Shin-young and Shin Sae-bom on Saturday. Song won the men's 1,000m in 1 minute, 26.216 seconds, ahead of compatriot Ahn Hyun-soo and Jordan Malone of the US. Sung was fastest in the 1,500m with a time of 2 minutes, 17.502 seconds, followed by Charles Hamelin of Canada and Yuri Confortola of Italy. In the women's events, Yang clinched the 1,000m in 1 minute. 33.764 seconds, beating fellow South Korean Jin Sun-yu and Katherine Reutter of the US. Shin won the 1,500m, clocking 2 minutes, 25.420 seconds. Kalyna Roberge of Canada was second and Park Seung-hi of South Korea was third.
■ SOCCER
UEFA insists on screening
Every player involved in Euro 2008 must undergo cardiac screening before the finals next June, UEFA's general secretary David Taylor said on Saturday. UEFA also ruled that the official team doctor would be required to sit in the dugout alongside the coach and the rest of the squad during matches. "All possible precautions must be taken to ensure the safety of the players," Taylor told reporters at the end of a two-day meeting of UEFA's executive committee. "Every player must have a cardiac screening and it is the responsibility of the national associations' medical experts to ensure their players are tested," he said.
RECORD DEFEAT: The Shanghai-based ‘Oriental Sports Daily’ said the drubbing was so disastrous, and taste so bitter, that all that is left is ‘numbness’ Chinese soccer fans and media rounded on the national team yesterday after they experienced fresh humiliation in a 7-0 thrashing to rivals Japan in their opening Group C match in the third phase of Asian qualifying for the 2026 World Cup. The humiliation in Saitama on Thursday against Asia’s top-ranked team was China’s worst defeat in World Cup qualifying and only a goal short of their record 8-0 loss to Brazil in 2012. Chinese President Xi Jinping once said he wanted China to host and even win the World Cup one day, but that ambition looked further away than ever after a
Taiwanese badminton superstar Lee Yang broke down in tears after publicly retiring from the sport on Sunday. The two-time Olympic gold medalist held a retirement ceremony at the Taipei Arena after the final matches of the Taipei Open. Accompanied by friends, family and former badminton partners, Lee burst into tears while watching a video celebrating key moments in his professional sporting career that also featured messages from international players such as Malaysia’s Teo Ee Yi, Hong Kong’s Tang Chun-man, and Indonesia’s Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan. “I hope that in the future when the world thinks about me, they will
Former Formosa Dreamers player Ilkan Karaman was killed in a traffic accident in Datca, Turkey, Turkish media reported yesterday. He was 34. The former Turkish national team player was reportedly hit by a car, the driver of which was allegedly drunk, while he was standing on a sidewalk, Turkish newspaper Sozcu reported. Karaman and his friends were on their way to the beach town of Dalaman to go scuba diving when they stopped at a gas station to buy gasoline, it reported. Karaman was hit by the car while waiting on a sidewalk as his friends were buying gasoline, it
ANKLE PROBLEM: Taiwan’s Ye Hong-wei and Lee Chia-hsin had a disappointing end to their tournament after an injury forced them out of their mixed doubles semi-final Taiwanese badminton ace Tai Tzu-ying on Friday was knocked out in the women’s singles quarter-finals at her last Taipei Open. The world No. 3 lost 21-18, 16-21, 22-24 to Putri Kusuma Wardani of Indonesia in a match that stretched 68 minutes at the Taipei Arena. Despite her higher ranking, Tai said she was not too sad about the loss, given her struggle with a lingering knee injury. “Wins and losses are just part of the game. Actually, I think I’m going to lose every single match considering my condition now,” said the five-time champion of the Super 300 event, who has announced plans
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