Sun Yang was a surprise absentee in the men’s 1500m freestyle heats on Saturday as the world-record holder again opted out at the world aquatic championships. A Chinese official told reporters the decision was taken to ‘protect his health’ as Sun has complained of tiredness. Despite his no-show, the 25-year-old Chinese giant trained on Saturday … Read more
China’s Xu Jiayu won men’s 100m backstroke gold at the world aquatics championships on Tuesday. The 21-year-old Olympic silver medallist clocked 52.44 seconds with American duo Matt Grevers earning silver, at 0.04sec back, and Olympic champion Ryan Murphy taking bronze at 0.15. “My main aim is to break the world record,” admitted Xu, who fell … Read more
World number two Novak Djokovic won’t defend his ATP Miami Masters title next week, saying Sunday that he was withdrawing because of injury. “I apologize to my fans and ppl who purchased tickets to watch me play live at @MiamiOpen. Sadly, I’m injured and won’t be able to compete,” the Serb star said on Twitter. … Read more
Rafael Nadal did his part to set up a fourth-round clash with Roger Federer at the ATP Indian Wells Masters on Tuesday, powering past Fernando Verdasco 6-3, 7-5. Nadal’s victory marked the second straight year he has vanquished his fellow Spaniard in the third round at Indian Wells. Federer, who beat Nadal in a five-set … Read more
The World Anti-Doping Agency and its head Craig Reedie faced stinging criticism from national Olympic committees yesterday for its handling of the Russian doping scandal, days before its board meeting where the Scot is up for re-election. Reedie, speaking to the general assembly of the Association of National Olympic committees in Doha, Qatar, said these … Read more
When Hungarian native Szandra Szogedi steps onto the judo mat at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics, she’ll be making history as the first-ever female judoka to represent Ghana. Born in Budapest, Szogedi started judo at age 11, after a friend of her father’s recommended the sport. With a background in gymnastics, Szogedi adapted quickly to … Read more