■ BOXING
Fighter denies drug dealing
British Olympic boxer Bradley Saunders on Tuesday denied any involvement in dealing cocaine after a police raid on his home that led to him being detained overnight. The highly regarded light welterweight was held along with his girlfriend after a police sniffer dog found a suspected quantity of the drug in their back garden during Monday’s raid on their home at Sedgefield in the northeast of England. Saunders, 22, and his girlfriend were released on bail without any charges and he later suggested he may have been the victim of a malicious set-up. “I earn a decent living and have been getting paid since I was 13 years old for boxing. There is no reason for me to be involved in drugs. We’re a well-known family in Sedgefield but since my face has become better known I think I’ve become more of a target. Since the Olympics I’ve been the victim of quite a lot of crime. My house was burgled recently as my girlfriend and I slept — they let themselves into the house through the back and took her car keys. People get jealous,” he said.
■ RUGBY UNION
Prince backs All Blacks win
The All Blacks met Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II on Tuesday and were told by her husband, Prince Philip, to expect an “easy” ride when they play England on Saturday. The prince made the comment to All Blacks captain Richie McCaw as the royal couple accompanied the team and New Zealand’s newly-elected Prime Minister John Key on a visit of a giant inflatable rugby ball near Tower Bridge in London. The ball will host Monday’s draw for the pool stages of the 2011 Rugby World Cup, which will be played in New Zealand. McCaw said of the royal prediction: “He was asking me how the grounds were and what it was like to play at Twickenham, actually. We were talking about the game last week — he reckoned it will be quite easy this week, but I don’t know about that.”
■ SUMO
Mongolian made ‘ozeki’
Mongolian Ama was promoted to the second-highest rank yesterday in another show of the country’s dominance of Japan’s ancient sport. “I would like to accept it humbly. I will earnestly devote myself to pursuing the path of sumo,” Ama said during a ceremony at his stable. The decision by the Japan Sumo Association to promote Ama to ozeki — just one rank below grand champion — was unanimous. The 24-year-old wrestler, real name Davaanyam Byambadorj, changed his ring name upon promotion, as other wrestlers have before. His new moniker is Harumafuji, meaning “sun horse” and Mount Fuji. At 129kg, Harumafuji is the lightest top-flight fighter and is reputed for his speed. He made waves in the last tournament which ended on Sunday, finishing runner-up with a 13-2 record behind compatriot and grand champion Hakuho. Harumafuji is the third Mongolian to reach the rank of ozeki and is the seventh non-Japanese ozeki in history.
■ CRICKET
Symonds in the clear
Australia’s Andrew Symonds was cleared of wrongdoing following an incident in a bar three days ago and will be allowed to face New Zealand this week. Cricket Australia investigated the incident that ended with a man being ejected from a Brisbane bar. Symonds was “approached by a patron and handled himself appropriately and with maturity and restraint,” Cricket Australia chief executive officer James Sutherland told reporters yesterday. Symonds recently completed a rehabilitation program.
SS Lazio on Monday fired the far-right sympathizer who handles their eagle mascot after he posted online a series of videos and pictures of his erect penis. Falconer Juan Bernabe, who has been present at Lazio home matches with Olimpia the eagle since the 2010-2011 season, posted the footage on social media after having surgery on Saturday to implant a penile prosthesis to improve his sexual performance. Lazio said that they had “terminated, with immediate effect” their relationship with Bernabe “due to the seriousness of his conduct,” adding that they were “shocked” by the images. The Serie A club added that Bernabe’s dismissal
‘TOUGH TO BREATHE’: Tunisian three-time Grand Slam finalist Ons Jabeur suffered an asthma attack in her 7-5, 6-3 victory over Colombia’s Camila Osorio Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei yesterday cruised into the second round of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while Iga Swiatek romped into a third-round women’s singles showdown with Emma Raducanu and Taylor Fritz was just as emphatic in his pursuit of a maiden Grand Slam title. Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia, the third seeds, defeated Slovakia’s Tereza Mihalikova and Olivia Nicholls of Britain 7-5, 6-2 in 90 minutes in Melbourne. Ostapenko and Hsieh — who won the women’s doubles and mixed doubles at the Australian Open last year — hit 25 winners and converted five of nine break points to set
Dubbed a “motorway for cyclists” where avid amateurs can chase Tadej Pogacar up mountains teeming with the highest concentration of professional cyclists per square kilometer in the world, Spain’s Costa Blanca has forged a new reputation for itself in the past few years. Long known as the ideal summer destination for those in search of sun, sea and sand, the stretch of coast between Valencia and Alicante now has a winter vocation too. During the season break in December and January, the region experiences an invasion of cyclists. Star names such as three-time Tour de France winner Pogacar, Remco Evenepoel and Julian Alaphilippe
AGING WELL: Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen, 22, was sent packing after being dispatched by world No. 97, Laura Siegemund, the second-oldest player in the draw at 36 Novak Djokovic yesterday created a slice of Grand Slam history on his way into the Australian Open third round, but last year’s women’s finalist Zheng Qinwen was knocked out in the biggest shock so far. Defending champion Aryna Sabalenka, in-form Coco Gauff, two-time Melbourne winner Naomi Osaka and a rampant Carlos Alcaraz were all victors on a rainy day four. Play was suspended on the outside courts for a couple of hours in the early evening because of the wet weather. That led to the rescheduling of a women’s doubles match between wild-cards Tsao Chia-yi of Taiwan and Thailand’s Peangtarn Plipuech and 11th
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