RUGBY UNION
Man prosecuted for abuse
World Rugby hailed “a landmark outcome” after a man in Australia was prosecuted for sending threatening and abusive messages online to a match official and his wife during last year’s World Cup in France. The man, identified by Australian media as Aaron Isaia, a 22-year-old youth worker from Brisbane, on Monday pleaded guilty to an online harassment charge and was handed a A$1,000 (US$662) good behavior bond. He would also be banned from all World Rugby events. “World Rugby welcomes this landmark outcome,” chief executive Alan Gilpin said in a statement. “The vile and toxic abuse is an all-too-common occurrence for many sports men and women and public figures. We hope that this sends a very strong message to online trolls that such behavior is totally unacceptable and that the sport and the authorities are prepared to take action.”
TENNIS
Djokovic oldest ranked No. 1
Novak Djokovic has surpassed another tennis record once held by Roger Federer, becoming the oldest man to be ranked No. 1 in the ATP Tour’s computerized rankings. Djokovic, who turns 37 next month, is now older than Federer was on his last day atop the rankings in June 2018. Monday gives Djokovic 420 total weeks at that spot, extending another mark Federer (who was there for 310 weeks) had at one time before Djokovic broke it.
ATHLETICS
NAIA restricts trans women
The US National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) on Monday banned transgender women from competing in women’s sports, taking a more hardline stance than other athletic bodies that allow trans athletes to compete based on testosterone levels. The NAIA, representing mostly small colleges, is less influential than the larger National Collegiate Athletic Association, but its decision carries political weight in the wider US debate about transgender rights. “Only NAIA student-athletes whose biological sex is female may participate in NAIA-sponsored female sports,” the association said in its policy. Female athletes who have begun masculinizing hormone therapy may participate in internal workouts, practices and team activities, but are banned from external competition. Any eligible athlete may participate in men’s sports, it said. Meanwhile, World Netball banned transgender players from international competition with immediate effect under a new participation and inclusion policy issued on Monday. The global governing body of what has traditionally been, and remains at an international level, a women’s sport said it had undergone a lengthy consultation before issuing the policy.
OLYMPICS
Eiffel Tower to bear rings
The Olympic rings are to be displayed on the Eiffel Tower during the Paris Games, the company that manages the monument and the organizing committee of the Games said on Monday. The five rings representing the five continents and the universal nature of sport are to be installed in the next few weeks on the side of the tower that faces the river Seine, said Jean-Francois Martins, the head of the tower’s managing company Sete. Le Parisien said the rings would be situated between the first and second levels.
The New Taipei Kings claimed the inaugural Taiwan Professional Basketball League (TPBL) championship on Sunday, defeating the Kaohsiung FamilyMart Aquas 108-89 in the final. Playing at home, the Kings pulled ahead with Jeremy Lin’s (林書豪) clutch three-pointers, securing their victory over the Aquas in the TPBL final. The Kings came out strong in the first quarter, dominating to build a 35-18 lead. By halftime, they had stretched their advantage to 61-38. In the third quarter, the Aquas narrowed the deficit to 12 points, but Lin stepped up, sinking several tough three- pointers to extend the lead. In the final quarter, the Kings pushed the
In an unlikely Ethiopian outpost of one the most French of pastimes, four men are leaning over their petanque balls, arguing over who is winning. Petanque, the bowling game also known as boules, is more readily associated with French village squares where locals launch metal balls at a jack while enjoying an afternoon drink, but for decades, it has also been a beloved pastime for members of a club near the iconic Meskel Square in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa. It was founded in the early 20th century to cater to French railway workers, who built a line connecting Addis Ababa
Taiwanese women’s doubles star Hsieh Su-wei and Australian teenager Maya Joint on Tuesday eased into the Eastbourne Open quarter-finals in England as Hsieh prepares for the Wimbledon Championships next week. Four-time Wimbledon women’s doubles champion Hsieh and 19-year-old Joint fired two aces and converted five of eight break points to defeat Japan’s Shuko Aoyama and Poland’s Katarzyna Piter 6-3, 6-3 in 58 minutes on the grass court. Hsieh and Joint are today to face fourth seeds Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic and Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko, who advanced on Monday with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Quinn Gleason of the US and
BEAT THE HEAT: A brutal heat wave in the US has made cooling breaks standard. Dortmund’s coach said the weather could shape the destiny of the tournament Chelsea on Tuesday beat Esperance of Tunisia 3-0 to set up a FIFA Club World Cup last-16 tie against SL Benfica, who earlier defeated Bayern Munich 1-0, as furnace-link heat and the threat of thunder and lightning wreak havoc at the tournament. Elsewhere, minnows Auckland City claimed a memorable draw against Boca Juniors, while Los Angeles bowed out of the tournament with a stalemate against Flamengo. In Charlotte, Andreas Schjelderup scored the only goal for Benfica in their Group C clash with Bayern in front of 33,287 fans, finishing first-time from a cutback by his fellow Norwegian Fredrik Aursnes in the 13th
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