ATHLETICS
Sprinter Simpson testifies
Jamaican sprinter Sherone Simpson, who tested positive for banned substance oxilofrine last year, told a disciplinary panel on Tuesday that she saw no “red flags” before taking a supplement supplied by her trainer. Simpson, who faces a two-year ban if found guilty of a doping violation, testified in front of a three-member panel for more than three hours and said a supplement provided by her Canadian trainer was responsible for her positive test. The Olympic 4x100m relay silver medalist said she was not familiar with one of the five supplements given to her, but that nothing on the bottle of Epiphany D1 appeared during her online search of the World Anti-Doping Agency’s banned list. “No alarm bell. No red flag,” she told the panel. However, a lawyer for the Jamaica Anti-Doping Commission said that there is no evidence to suggest oxilofrine is contained in Epiphany D1 and that Simpson was negligent not to have consulted a doctor. The lawyer also said Simpson did not disclose that she was using Epiphany D1 along with three of the other four supplements, but Simpson, who said they were new additions to her regimen and that she could not recall their names, insisted she was “not a cheat.”
CRICKET
Steyn fit to face Aussies
Fast bowler Dale Steyn is to undergo rehabilitation on a fractured rib, but will be fit for the home series against Australia which begins next month, Cricket South Africa (CSA) said on Tuesday. Steyn was injured two weeks ago while fielding in the second Test against India, but played on to take nine wickets as South Africa claimed a series win with a 10-wicket victory. “Dale dived while fielding a ball on day one of the second Test against India in Durban and complained of slight pain of his right anterior chest region,” Proteas team manager Mohammed Moosajee said in a CSA statement. “He continued playing and bowling with mild discomfort for the rest of the Test. When the discomfort persisted after the match, a scan was performed which detected a small undisplaced fracture to his right eighth rib. He will follow a strict rest and rehabilitation program for the next three to four weeks, and we are confident he will be fit for the tour against Australia.”
SOCCER
AS Roma sign Nainggolan
Serie A title-chasers AS Roma beat a number of rival clubs in the race to sign Radja Nainggolan from Cagliari, the club said in a statement on Tuesday. Roma are paying 3 million euros (US$4.1 million) for Nainggolan to play the rest of the season on a temporary basis and 6 million euros from the 2014-2015 season when he will be hired permanently. The contract runs out in 2018. Nainggolan, born in Belgium to an Indonesian father and Belgian mother, has played four times for his national side.
SOCCER
Lyon reject Gonalons offer
Olympique Lyonnais president Jean-Michel Aulas on Tuesday said that he had rejected a big-money offer from Serie A club SSC Napoli for captain Maxime Gonalons. Aulas told French radio station RMC that Napoli had offered 17 million euros for the midfielder, but stated that Gonalons would not be allowed to leave in this month’s transfer window. “Regarding his departure, my response is no. I have just spoken with the president of Napoli to warn him. Max will stay at Lyon,” Aulas said. The 24-year-old Gonalons hinted at the weekend that he was interested in the idea of a move to Naples. “When big European clubs show an interest in you, you have to ask questions,” he said.
BOXING
Mares rematch postponed
Abner Mares has suffered a rib injury in training that has forced a postponement of his WBC featherweight title rematch with fellow Mexican Jhonny Gonzalez, promoters said on Tuesday. The title bout, which had been set for Feb. 15 at Los Angeles, will be rescheduled once Mares is allowed to resume training. Mares, a former bantamweight and super bantamweight world champion, won the WBC featherweight crown in May last year with a ninth-round stoppage of Mexican southpaw Daniel Ponce de Leon. However, in August last year, Mares suffered the first loss of his career when Gonzalez knocked him out 2 minutes, 55 seconds into the first round. Mares, 28, is 26-1-1 with 14 knockouts and four years younger than Gonzalez, who carries a record of 55-8 with 47 knockouts.
BASKETBALL
Bayless traded to Celtics
Jerryd Bayless joined the Boston Celtics from the Memphis Grizzlies on Tuesday as part of the three-team NBA trade deal that also included the Oklahoma City Thunder. The move saw the Grizzlies obtain guard Courtney Lee and a second-round pick in the 2016 NBA draft from the Celtics in exchange for adding Bayless to the backcourt. Also as part of the swap, the Grizzlies sent a second-round draft pick to Oklahoma City in exchange for the Thunder sending forward Ryan Gomes to Boston, where he was then released in a salary cap move. Bayless, 25, has averaged 8.0 points, 1.9 rebounds and 2.1 assists with the Grizzlies this season. He has career averages of 8.3 points, 1.9 rebounds and 2.8 assists with Portland, New Orleans, Toronto and Memphis. Lee averaged 7.4 points, 1.6 rebounds and 1.1 assists off the Boston bench this season and has career averages of 9.4 points, 2.6 rebounds and 1.5 assists with Orlando, New Jersey, Houston and Boston. Gomes, an eight-year veteran, has played only 34 minutes over five games for the Thunder this season, scoring six points and grabbing four rebounds.
BASKETBALL
Anderson out with injury
Ryan Anderson of the New Orleans Pelicans, the NBA’s Most Improved Player in 2012, will be out of action indefinitely with a back injury, the team announced on Tuesday. Anderson, a 25-year-old power forward, suffered a herniated disk. He was taken off on a stretcher after colliding with Boston’s Gerald Wallace in the fourth quarter of Friday’s 95-92 victory in Boston. In 22 games this season, Anderson is averaging 19.8 points and 6.5 rebounds. At 15-17, the Pelicans rank 11th in the Western Conference, three games behind the Dallas Mavericks for third place in the Southwest division.
ICE HOCKEY
Sweden names roster
Sweden will go to the Sochi Olympics with a roster almost entirely made up of NHL players, including six from the Detroit Red Wings. Goalie Jonas Gustavsson, defenders Niklas Kronwall and Jonathan Ericsson, and forwards Johan Franzen, Daniel Alfredsson and Henrik Zetterberg lead the list. Sweden coach Per Marts also picked brothers Daniel and Henrik Sedin of the Vancouver Canucks, Niclas Backstrom of the Washington Capitals and Henrik Tallinder of the Buffalo Sabres. Goaltender Henrik Lundqvist of the New York Rangers will be competing in his third Olympics. Forward Jimmie Ericsson of Swedish Hockey League team Skelleftea was the only non-NHL player in the 25-man roster announced Tuesday. Sweden won the gold medal at the 2006 Olympics, but was knocked out in the quarter-finals four years later in Vancouver.
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
Hong Kong-based cricket team Hung See this weekend found success in their matches in Taiwan, even if none of the results went their way. Hung See played the Chairman’s XI on Saturday morning, the Daredevils that afternoon and PCCT yesterday, with all three home teams winning. The team for Chinese players at the Happy Valley-based Craigengower Cricket Club sends teams on tour to “spread the game of cricket.” This weekend was Hung See’s second trip to Taiwan after visiting Tainan in 2016. “The club has been traveling to all parts of the world since 1982 and the annual tradition continues [with the Taiwan
‘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
HARD TO SAY GOODBYE: After Coco Gauff dispatched Belinda Bencic in the fourth round, she wrote ‘RIP TikTok USA’ and drew a broken heart on a television camera lens Defending champion Hsieh Su-wei of Taiwan yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while compatriot Chan Hao-ching on Saturday dominated her opponents in the second round, as world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka swept into the quarter-finals. Third seeds Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia toppled Hungary’s Timea Babos and Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US 6-4, 6-3, hitting 24 winners and converting three of seven break points in 1 hour, 18 minutes at 1573 Arena. Although rivals at last year’s Australian Open — where Hsieh and Belgium’s Elise Mertens beat Ostapenko and Ukraine’s Lyudmyla Kichenok 6-1, 7-5
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