ATHLETICS
Powell slams doping ban
Jamaican sprinter Asafa Powell, the former 100m world-record holder, slammed the 18-month doping ban meted out to him on Thursday, calling it “unfair” and “unjust.” “This ruling is not only unfair, it is patently unjust. Panels such as these, I understood, were assembled to allow athletes who consciously or unconsciously come into conflict with the rules of sport a chance at equitable redemption,” Powell said in a statement posted on his Web site. “Unfortunately, this was not the case.” Powell’s lawyer had already vowed to appeal the decision handed down by a three-member panel of the Jamaica Anti-Doping Commission Disciplinary Panel, which unanimously ruled that Powell, who blamed his positive result for a banned stimulant on a nutritional supplement, was negligent. Panel chairman Lennox Gayle announced the suspension, which is due to end on Dec. 20 this year. Powell and training partner Sherone Simpson tested positive for banned stimulant oxilofrine after the 100m finals at the Jamaican national championships on June 21 last year.
FOOTBALL
Kaepernick faces probe
Miami police said on Thursday that they are investigating San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick after a woman filed a police report claiming that she had drinks with him and two other football players, and awoke in a hospital with no memory of the night. No charges have been filed, police spokeswoman Kenia Reyes said. According to a police report, the woman told police that on April 1 she went to the apartment of Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Ricardo Lockette at the Viceroy Hotel in Miami. Kaepernick and San Francisco 49er wide receiver Quinton Patton were also present. “They talked for a while and she mixed some drinks for all of them and gave them shots,” the report said. She later said she felt lightheaded, went to a bedroom to lie down when Kaepernick came in and began kissing and undressing her. He left the bedroom saying he would return shortly. “She cannot remember anything after that,” the report said. She told police that they did not have sex, but she has had a sexual relationship with Kaepernick in the past, the report said.
FOOTBALL
Manning set for procedure
New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning was set for an arthroscopic procedure on his left ankle on Thursday to deal with a nagging sprain. Manning suffered a high left-ankle sprain in the Giants’ NFL regular-season finale against Washington in December last year. He said efforts to rehabilitate the injury over the past three months had failed to free him from discomfort and so opted for the procedure. “The doc tells me I should be running in about six weeks,” Manning said. “I think it’s smart to get this procedure done now so the ankle isn’t an ongoing issue.”
BASKETBALL
NBA eyes world city games
The NBA is to play pre-season games in five cities around the world in October, the league said on Thursday. The San Antonio Spurs are to play a pair of international teams in two stops, first against Alba Berlin on Oct. 8 in Berlin, the second on Oct. 11 against Fenerbache Ulker in Istanbul. Also on Oct. 11 in Rio de Janeiro, the Cleveland Cavaliers and Miami Heat are to meet. The Brooklyn Nets and Sacramento Kings are to play two games in China. The first is to take place on Oct. 12 in Shanghai and the second is scheduled for three days later in Beijing.
Former world No. 2 Paula Badosa has withdrawn from this week’s Wuhan Open, organizers said on Tuesday, amid a racism row over an online photograph. Tournament organizers said the Spaniard had pulled out of the WTA 1000 tournament, citing a gastrointestinal illness, hours before her first-round match against Australian Ajla Tomljanovic. News outlets including Britain’s the Telegraph earlier reported that Badosa had posted a photo on Instagram in which she appeared to imitate a Chinese face by placing chopsticks on the corners of her eyes. The photo was taken last week in a restaurant in Beijing, where she reached the semi-finals of the
Shin Oebori coaches the Fukagawa Hawks youth baseball team in Tokyo, and he is very aware how Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani touches his players. “With Ohtani, the kids think everything is possible,” Oebori said, wrapping up practice yesterday on an all-dirt field set alongside a local Buddhist temple, below an elevated highway, and in the shadow of tall apartment blocks in central Tokyo. “Nothing is impossible with him. A dream is not a dream,” Oebori said, stepping out of the fenced practice field that keeps balls from landing on the temple grounds. None of the players hitting sponge-soft baseball has reached
CRICKET Azhar’s 59 leads Stallions Aashir Azhar’s blazing half-century guided the Taipei Stallions to victory over Taipei Super 11 in the Taiwan Premier League’s Group A at the Yingfeng Cricket Ground in Taipei yesterday. The Stallions were 102-3 and into the 12th over of 20 when Azhar came to the crease. He hit seven sixes and two fours in the 25 deliveries he faced to push his side to 171-5. Gokul Kumar was the star with the ball for Super 11, taking 3-17. In the reply, Deepak Vishnu outscored Azhar with 77 from 50 balls, but nobody else got past 20 as
‘GLOBAL PRESSURE’: LA’s Dave Roberts said that it was difficult to appreciate the ‘pressure on a global scale’ his starter was under ‘pitching for his country’ The Los Angeles Dodgers shelled out US$1 billion for Japanese talent in the off-season and it is paying off in the MLB playoffs. Yoshinobu Yamamoto on Friday outdueled Yu Darvish in a historic post-season matchup of Japanese-born starters, while the Dodgers got home runs from Kike Hernandez and Teoscar Hernandez to beat the San Diego Padres 2-0 and advance to the National League Championship Series. “It’s pretty sweet,” a smiling Freddie Freeman said. Yamamoto allowed two hits over five innings for the win, getting pulled after 63 pitches in a decisive Game 5 between heated NL West rivals who were meeting in a
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