SOCCER
Juventus snatch 2-2 draw
Cristiano Ronaldo scored two penalties as Juventus snatched a 2-2 draw against Atalanta BC on Saturday to take another step toward a ninth straight Serie A title. SS Lazio’s 2-1 loss to US Sassuolo earlier in the day gave Atalanta a chance to move second and cut the gap to Juve to six points, but despite trailing twice and being outplayed for long periods, Maurizio Sarri’s Juventus moved eight points clear at the top with six matches remaining. Elsewhere, AS Roma strengthened their grip on a Europa League slot with a comfortable 3-0 win against relegation-threatened Brescia, with goals from Federico Fazio, Nikola Kalinic and Nicolo Zaniolo.
SOCCER
Barcelona edge Valladolid
Arturo Vidal scored for Barcelona as they sneaked past Real Valladolid 1-0 on Saturday to keep the pressure on leaders Real Madrid as La Liga approaches its climax. Barcelona closed to within one point of Madrid, who have a game in hand. Vidal scored in the 15th minute after being set up by Lionel Messi, who, like most of his teammates, had a discreet outing at Valladolid’s empty Jose Zorilla Stadium. “We will give it our all, and then wait and see,” Vidal said of their chances of overtaking Real Madrid. “It doesn’t depend on us. If it is not meant to be, then on to the Champions League” next month. In other matches, CA Osasuna defeated RC Celta de Vigo 2-1 and Atletico Madrid downed Real Betis Balompie 1-0.
SOCCER
Burundi completes season
Burundi completed its club season that played through the COVID-19 pandemic by staging the FA Cup final on Saturday, with Musongati winning 5-4 on penalties after a 1-1 draw with Rukinzo. Spectators were admitted to matches in the east African nation throughout the pandemic and the crowd at the final did not practice social distancing in the packed stands. Other countries who defied the global pandemic and continued playing top-flight soccer include Taiwan, Belarus, Nicaragua and Tajikistan.
BASKETBALL
ESPN suspends reporter
ESPN on Saturday suspended Adrian Wojnarowski without pay one day after the NBA reporter sent a profane e-mail to Missouri Senator Josh Hawley. ESPN reprimanded Wojnarowski on Friday for his conduct and called it “completely unacceptable behavior” after Wojnarowski apologized in a statement for his reply to Hawley, saying in part: “I was disrespectful and I made a regrettable mistake.” Hawley earlier on Friday sent a letter to NBA commissioner Adam Silver criticizing the league’s decision to allow players to wear messages such as “black lives matter” while barring messages critical of China or supporting the US military or law enforcement. Two minutes later, Wojnarowski responded on his ESPN account from his phone with a two-word personal insult, one of which was an F-bomb. Hawley tweeted out Wojnarowski’s response and later tweeted that he was not interested in an apology. “Don’t make @wojespn apologize. He’s just saying what he really thinks. Call out the @NBA. You know, your job,” he wrote.
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but
Taiwanese gymnast Lee Chih-kai failed to secure an Olympic berth in the pommel horse following a second-place finish at the last qualifier in Doha on Friday, a performance that Lee and his coach called “unconvincing.” The Tokyo Olympics silver medalist finished runner-up in the final after scoring 6.6 for degree of difficulty and 8.800 for execution for a combined score of 15.400. That was just 0.100 short of Jordan’s Ahmad Abu Al Soud, who had qualified for the event in Paris before the Apparatus World Cup series in Qatar’s capital. After missing the final rounds in the first two of four qualifier