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Dodgers to skip start for struggling ace Ryu

Published in Baseball
Friday, 06 September 2019 17:34

Los Angeles Dodgers starter Hyun-Jin Ryu, who has been struggling lately, will miss a start in the rotation to get some rest, manager Dave Roberts said Friday. Ryu will miss a scheduled start in Baltimore, and should get 9-10 days off in a row.

Ryu boasted a major-league leading ERA of 1.45 on Aug. 11. Since then, the 32-year-old left-hander has a 9.95 ERA.

He has given up five home runs in the four starts since Aug. 11. He had given up only 10 in 22 starts before then.

Fatigue might be a factor. Ryu has pitched 161⅔ innings this season, the most he has pitched since 2013. In the four seasons preceding this year, Ryu had pitched only 213⅔ innings combined.

MLB weighing opioid testing after Skaggs' death

Published in Baseball
Friday, 06 September 2019 17:32

Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association have had initial conversations about randomly testing players for opioids following an autopsy report that showed oxycodone and fentanyl in the blood of late Los Angeles Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs.

While the discussions are in preliminary stages, both sides expect them to ramp up in the coming weeks and progress in the offseason, sources told ESPN. Though contention on economic issues has sullied the MLB-MLBPA relationship in recent years, they have found common ground on drug-related issues, particularly with performance enhancers.

The national opioid crisis hit baseball with the July 1 death of Skaggs, a 27-year-old left-hander. The autopsy done by the Tarrant County (Texas) medical examiner's office said Skaggs died after choking on his own vomit in his sleep. Skaggs' family has retained lawyer Rusty Hardin and, in a statement, said his death "may involve an employee of the Los Angeles Angels." MLB has launched an investigation into Skaggs' death.

MLB does not currently test major league players for opioids, though they are on the league's banned-substance list. Minor league players, whose drug program is far more stringent, are tested and subject to suspension for positive results. A league spokesman said in the past half-decade, 10 suspensions for opioids have been levied from around 75,000 tests. Minor league players are placed into a drug-treatment program after the first positive test and suspended following the second.

The league nevertheless is pushing for testing at the major league level, aware that major league players with more money and trying to survive the difficulty of a 162-game schedule could be more subject to opioid abuse. Officials have discussed a number of options in exchange for adding opioids to random testing, including the possibility of removing all testing for marijuana, sources tell ESPN. Currently, only players who are in the joint drug-treatment program from a prior offense are tested for marijuana, and while those who run afoul of the program are subject to discipline, MLB never has suspended a major league player for marijuana use.

In the minor leagues, marijuana is treated as a so-called "drug of abuse" -- on the same level as opioids and cocaine -- and players are subject to three levels of suspension: 50 games for the first offense, 100 games for the second offense and a lifetime ban for the third. Club officials have admitted to adding a player to their team's 40-man roster earlier than planned to ensure he falls under the major league drug plan and is no longer subject to suspension for marijuana use.

The union's openness to testing for opioids reflects the pain that resonated with players following the death of Skaggs, a popular teammate and well-liked figure around the game.

"For several reasons, including the tragic loss of a member of our fraternity and other developments happening in the country as a whole, it is appropriate and important to reexamine all of our drug protocols relating to education, treatment and prevention," Tony Clark, the MLBPA executive director, said in a statement first given to The Los Angeles Times.

In its annual PED-testing report last year, the doctor who runs the league's drug program said 11,526 tests were administered, with 9,282 urine samples that tested for PEDs, amphetamines and masking agents, and 2,244 blood tests used to detect human growth hormone. MLB does not release information on testing for banned drugs of abuse, which also include LSD, MDMA, GHB and PCP.

Colombian top seeds Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah have won the US Open men's doubles title, their second consecutive Grand Slam.

The Wimbledon champions defeated Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos 6-4 7-5 under the roof on Arthur Ashe Stadium.

The pair had been 5-3 down in the second set, but won the last four games to secure the title.

Spaniard Granollers and Argentine Zeballos were playing only their second event together.

In the women's doubles, fourth seeds Elise Mertens and Aryna Sabalenka beat Americans Vania King and Caroline Dolehide 4-6 6-3 6-4 to reach the final where they will play Ashleigh Barty and Victoria Azarenka.

In his latest BBC Sport column, Jamie Murray discusses his upcoming US Open mixed doubles final, the difficulties of juggling two competitions and how playing Premier League fantasy football helps pass the time at tournaments.

The US Open has been a successful tournament for me in recent years and I'm hoping I can win another trophy when I play with Bethanie Mattek-Sands in the mixed doubles final on Saturday.

Bethanie and I won the competition here last year, which meant I defended the title after winning it with Martina Hingis two years ago.

I also won the men's doubles with Bruno Soares in 2016 after we reached the final in 2015 as well.

So I've had some decent success here and means I'm looking to win a trophy for the fourth successive year when Bethanie and I play Chan Hao-ching and Michael Venus, who are the top seeds, in the mixed final.

I like the conditions at Flushing Meadows, it suits my game and I've had some great partners along the way.

Generally I like playing in North America - I like the tournaments, I like the conditions, I like the crowds - so I feel like I'm always in good shape when I come to New York for the final Slam of the season.

I struggled a bit in the first three tournaments of the North American hard-court swing - in Washington, Montreal and then Cincinnati - mainly because we played with different balls.

They were a lot heavier than what we normally play with, that caught me off guard and I was struggling a little bit and not feeling good in my game.

But then I went to Winston Salem where they play with the same balls as here and started to feel better.

Neal Skupski and I had a really good tournament in the men's doubles there, although we lost a very tight semi-final against Colombian top seeds Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah.

We played five good matches to get there and beat some good teams along the way.

It was frustrating to lose in such a big match with fine margins and miss out playing in our first tour-level final together, especially because there were no breaks of serve and not many break points, but there are a lot of positives to take in our partnership from the tournament as a whole.

There has been a lot of good tennis over the past 10 days or so, with both Neal and Bethanie, so now it would be nice to finish the Grand Slam season with another trophy.

Bethanie is good fun to play with and we have a great chemistry on court. She's a smart player, has a lot of skills and is very creative, plus she's feisty, gets stuck in and doesn't hold back.

We also have the benefit in New York of her being a home player, so we've had fantastic support in all the matches we've played here in the past couple of years.

She's a very popular player, which you can see with the number of people wanting to talk to her and have selfies when she's walking around the site, and she has got a good following.

It creates a good atmosphere on the court, which it should be again when we play on another big court in the final.

'Fantasy football kills the dead time on tour'

When you're doing well in both the men's and the mixed, it can be hard to juggle them - although it is a great problem to have!

The schedule can make it frustrating because there have been a couple of days where I've played men's and then I'm waiting four or five hours to play mixed. It is just dead time.

You're hanging around waiting to play, wanting to get on court and you end up expending energy.

It is not easy, because you know you've got to go and compete, and know you've got to come back and play the next day. It plays on your mind a bit.

You just have to wait, you're trying to kill time. There's nothing to do really, that's kind of normal.

One thing which usually keeps me entertained is fantasy football and because there is so much dead time there is no excuse for missing transfer and team selection deadlines.

But this week is the international break so I've had nothing to do. It's always disappointing when there are no Premier League fixtures at the weekend.

There are 20 of us across two groups in our game, I'm in the bottom division and my brother Andy is in the top division.

It's mainly friends and tennis people close to us in our circle, our dad is in the league too, Colin Fleming, a few guys that work with Andy. It's great fun.

I'm a Manchester United fan so I signed Daniel James last weekend - he's been scoring a few - and I also have Marcus Rashford.

We do a draft auction at the start of the season so I was ninth out of 10 picks, so I couldn't get a Mohamed Salah or a Harry Kane or one of the other top guys at the start.

I put a lot of emphasis on trying to find clean sheets each week with random teams, but I wouldn't say I'm great.

United haven't been doing as well in recent years so I haven't been loyal to picking their players - there is too much at stake.

We don't have a prize at the end of the season, it is just bragging rights - that is priceless.

Jamie Murray was speaking to BBC Sport's Jonathan Jurejko at Flushing Meadows.

Daniil Medvedev reached his first Grand Slam final with a tense US Open semi-final victory over Grigor Dimitrov.

Russian fifth seed Medvedev, 23, edged the crucial points to win 7-6 (7-5) 6-4 6-3 on Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Little separated the pair in the opening two sets before Bulgarian Dimitrov, now ranked 78th in the world, faded in the third at Flushing Meadows.

Medvedev will face Spanish second seed Rafael Nadal or Italian 24th seed Matteo Berrettini in Sunday's final.

Heavy favourite Nadal, 33, takes on 23-year-old Berrettini, a first-time Grand Slam semi-finalist, later on Friday as he chases a 19th major title.

More to follow.

Competing in men’s singles class 5, Tommy Urhaug, gold medallist at the London 2012 Paralympic Games beat Indonesia’s Agus Sutanto (10-12, 11-4, 12-14, 11-9, 11-4), followed by success in opposition to Chinese Taipei’s Lin Yen-Hung (11-9, 9-11, 11-4, 11-8).

“I have never played against Agus, he was really good. The second thing is that I wasn’t used to the floor in the hall. That’s why it took me a while to adapt and start playing my game. I knew that I had the match under control but he really he wasn’t an easy opponent.” Tommy Urhaug

Success for Tommy Urhaug and like many leading players on duty in Olomouc, the 2019 Czech Para Open is a stepping stone for the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games.

“There are still a few things which I could do better. My backspin could be faster and more aggressive. However, practice makes perfect and I know I still have some time to show my best.” Tommy Urhaug

Aware of competition

Good form from Tommy Urhaug, it was the same from Poland’s Patryk Chojnowski in men’s singles class 10; he accounted for Chinese Taipei’s Su Jin Sian (11-3, 11-6, 11-8) and Japan’s Nariaki Kakita. Likewise, the host nation’s Ivan Karabec was in form; he overcame Spain’s Aders Cepas (11-4, 11-4, 10-12, 11-4) and Indonesia’s Komet Akbar (11-9, 11-7, 7-11, 9-11, 11-7)

“I am here to win. However, recently I played against Ivan Karabec and I won just 3-2 in games; that’s why I never underestimate my opponent. The competition is big and my current health condition doesn’t allow me to train as much as the others. So I will participate in only in the Paralympics not Olympics.” Patryk Chojnowski

Recovery

Noteworthy performances, it was the same from Aleksandra Vasileva but in a different manner. She was beaten by Jelena Sisic in her opening match in women’s singles class 4 (11-7, 9-11, 11-9, 10-12) but then recovered to overcome Great Britain’s Megan Shackleton (14-12, 5-11, 11-9, 9-11, 11-7).

“We meet with Megan quite often. I am really happy that I managed to win because it was really fatiguing not only physically but rather mentally. I work hard on training but you also need results from matches. Hopefully I will make it to Japan.” Aleksandra Vasilieva

Play in the men’s singles and women’s singles evets concludes on Saturday 7th September

Portugal earned their spot in the quarter-finals off the back of a strong group phase showing, beating Croatia 3-1 and Russia 3-2 to top Group no.7.

Enjoying a very impressive start to the proceedings in Nantes but the challenge was about to become much more difficult with seven-time champions Germany awaiting the Portuguese team in the lower half of the draw. The second seeds decided to field four players for the match, all of whom carry plenty of threat, however, with the odds stacked up against them it was Portugal’s day to remember.

Looking to make the best possible start Germany fielded the highly reliable Han Ying in the match opener and she didn’t disappoint, dropping just the one game to Shao Jieni (11-8, 15-13, 11-13, 11-5). However, Portugal responded straight away through Fu Yu, who negotiated a full distance thriller against Petrissa Solja (10-12, 11-6, 11-8, 9-11, 11-5) to level the match at 1-1.

Momentum shifted in Germany’s favour once again as Shan Xiaona brushed aside Rita Fins in straight games (11-3, 11-2, 11-5), but Fu Yu’s second success of the afternoon, at the expense of Nina Mittelham (4-11, 11-8, 11-4, 11-8), took the match into a deciding fifth contest.

With the score sitting at 2-2, Petrissa Solja’s battle with Shao Jieni was, quite simply, a win or bust affair; it was the German star who looked set to succeed after racing into a two games lead. However, Solja couldn’t capitalise on the situation as Shao won three games in a row to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat (9-11, 6-11, 11-9, 11-2, 11-6) to hand Portugal a 3-2 win and a spot in the last four.

“Before the match I was really nervous because Germany has a really good and dangerous team, so because of that I played slowly in the beginning of the match. But, when I was down to 0-2 I knew I had to concentrate more, play harder and put more speed into the match.” Shao Jieni

A momentous occasion for Portugal, who move another step closer in their chase for a first women’s team title at the European Championships. Shao Jieni’s performance in particular will come as encouraging news for the team – we all know the quality Fu Yu possesses, she did secure women’s singles gold at the 2019 European Games after all. However, Shao’s comeback display against one of the continent’s most prestigious players in Petrissa Solja shows that Portugal have the necessary strength in depth to be considered as worthy challengers in Nantes.

There will be little time for celebration with Team Portugal’s attention shifting to their all-important semi-final meeting with Hungary. Third seeds Hungary survived a stern comeback test from Ukraine in their quarter-final encounter and we can expect a close head-to-head contest with Portugal when the two countries meet at 1.00pm local time on Saturday 7th September.

Against the odds, the day belongs to Portugal

Published in Table Tennis
Friday, 06 September 2019 15:21

Major cause of the German defeat was Fu Yu, the player who just under three months ago at the European Games in Minsk had won the women’s singles title, the success coming after Germany had claimed women’s team gold.

In the second match of the engagement, she beat Petrissa Solja (10-12, 11-6, 11-8, 9-11, 11-6), before in the fourth contest accounting for Nina Mittelham (4-11, 11-8, 11-4, 11-8), a success that set the scene for Shao Jieni to be the heroine. She duly responded and in dramatic fashion; she recovered from a two games to nil deficit to beat Petrissa Solja (9-11, 6-11, 11-9, 11-2, 11-6) to seal the victory.

Team effort

Success for the Portuguese women was followed by the same for their male counterparts but not in such a nail-biting manner.

A veritable team effort was the order of the day. Tiago Apolonia was beaten by Robert Gardos in the opening match of the fixture (13-11, 11-7, 11-6), immediately following Marcos Freitas accounted for Daniel Habesohn (11-8, 11-6, 9-11, 11-7) to level matters. João Monteiro turned the tide in favour of Portugal. He overcame Stefan Fegerl (11-3, 11-1, 8-11, 11-3), before Tiago Apolonia prevailed against Daniel Habesohn (11-6, 11-4, 11-3) to seal the victory.

Varying fortunes

Quarter-final success in both disciplines for Portugal, for Poland and France it was mixed fortunes.

Can Akkuzu, Simon Gauzy and Emmanuel Lebesson, the no.3 seeds, brought the day to an end in a manner almost as intense as that witnessed by Portugal in the women’s team event. Facing Poland, the no.7 seeds, they recovered from a two matches to nil deficit to emerge successful.

Marek Badowski gave Poland the perfect start by beating Simon Gauzy (11-9, 8-11, 11-6, 11-6), before Jakub Dyjas accounted for Emmanuel Lebesson (11-8, 9-11,9-11, 13-11, 11-7) to double the advantage. Enter Can Akkuzu, he ignited the French recovery. He beat Maciej Kubik (11-5, 12-10, 17-15), prior to Simon Gauzy overcoming Jakub Dyjas (11-8, 11-4, 7-11, 11-7) and Emmanuel Lebesson sending their supporters home in delight by defeating Marek Badowski (11-7, 11-8, 9-11, 14-12).

Different verdicts

The win for France came after in the women’s team event, the French trio formed by Laura Gasnier, Marie Migot and Audrey Zarif, the no.8 seeds, had experienced a 3-0 defeat at the hands of the top seeds, Romania’s Elizabeta Samara, Bernadette Szocs and Daniela Monteiro-Dodean.

Defeat for France, conversely for Poland’s Natalia Bajor, Li Qian and Natalia Parytka, the no.11 seeds, it was a the opposite verdict; a 3-1 win was the outcome when facing the no.4 seeds, the Netherlands combination of Britt Eerland, Li Jie and Kim Vermaas. Mainstay of the victory was Li Qian; she beat both Britt Eerland (11-9, 11-6, 11-7) and Li Jie (11-8, 11-5, 15-13).

Georgina Pota

Impressive from Li Qian, it was the same from Georgina Pota. Supported by Dora Madarasz and Szandra Pergel, she proved the backbone of a 3-2 win for Hungary, the no.3 seeds, against Ukraine’s Tetyana Bilenko, Ganna Gaponova and Margaryta Pesotska.

Maintaining her nerve, in the opening match of the contest she beat Margaryta Pesotska by the very narrowest of decisions (6-11, 11-8, 8-11, 11-9, 16-14), prior to overcoming Ganna Gaponova (11-8, 14-12, 11-9) in the vital fifth and concluding match of the fixture. The one further win for the Hungarians was secured in the third match when Dora Madarasz beat Ganna Gaponova (11-2, 13-11, 11-6).

Comprehensive wins

Victories by narrow decisions, rather differently in the men’s team event for Germany and Sweden, the margin of success was clear cut.

Germany, the top seeds, fielding Timo Boll, Patrick Franziska and Dimitrij Ovtcharov recorded a 3-0 win against the no.5 seeds, Slovenia’s Darko Jorgic, Deni Kozul and Bojan Tokic; by the same margin, the no.2 seeds, Sweden overcame the no.9 seeds, the English combination of Paul Drinkhall, Liam Pitchford and Sam Walker.

At the semi-final stage of the men’s team event Germany faces France, Portugal opposes Sweden; in the women’s competition it is Romania versus Poland, Hungary against Portugal. The fixtures will be played on Saturday 7th September.

It will take a good team to stop England - O'Shea

Published in Rugby
Friday, 06 September 2019 15:26

Italy coach Conor O'Shea believes "the team that beats England will win the World Cup" after his side lost 37-0 to Eddie Jones' men in their final warm-up match before the tournament.

England scored four second-half tries at St James' Park to end their warm-up schedule with three wins in four games.

The 2003 winners face Tonga in their first Pool C game and O'Shea predicts England to win "comfortably".

"They can build into it before playing France and Argentina," he said.

"Obviously they have to get their best players on the pitch, but you look at the power and the confidence they have with Manu [Tuilagi] back to where he is, and they have so much game control at 10 or 12.

"It will take a good team to stop them but it is very open and five or six teams can do it."

Italy will play South Africa and defending champions New Zealand in Pool B after they begin their World Cup campaign against Namibia on 22 September.

"We play Namibia and Canada and then everybody will write us off," added O'Shea.

"But if we play with our best team, and with the sort of intensity we played with tonight, strange things may happen.

"You need a bit of luck but we have saved up a fair bit of that in the matches we have played in the last year or so.

"We will go there to win our first two and then hopefully shock somebody."

Prop Mako Vunipola will not be fit until the end of England's Rugby World Cup pool-stage campaign after suffering a setback with his hamstring injury.

It was initially hoped Vunipola would be fit for England's tournament opener against Tonga on 22 September.

"He's probably going to be right for the third or fourth game," coach Eddie Jones said after England beat Italy 37-0 in Newcastle.

"He just had a little scar tissue which was impairing his movement."

The England boss added: "But that's all been fixed. He's progressing really well now."

As expected, Jack Nowell will also miss England's first few games with his long-standing ankle problem.

The Exeter man was also struck down by appendicitis when at the Italy training camp last week, but is now back running.

"Jack Nowell is probably in the same category [as Vunipola]," Jones added.

"They are important players for us so we are prepared to be patient with them."

Vunipola's injury means England will start the World Cup with just four props and the once-retired Joe Marler is most likely to step into the starting loose-head role with Ellis Genge the back up.

Kyle Sinckler, one of two tight-heads alongside Dan Cole, gave fans a scare when he left the field early against Italy but Jones insisted it was nothing to be concerned about.

'We've developed a variety of starting XVs'

The victory in Newcastle was England's third warm-up win, with the only loss coming against Wales in Cardiff.

Jones' side recorded their biggest ever winning margin against Ireland and claimed a comfortable win when they played Wales at home.

But Jones was concerned with more than just the results and has used the games as a chance to experiment with his line-up before the squad flies out to Japan on Sunday.

"The realisation now in world rugby is that you've got to have a number of starting XVs," he added.

"How many times do you get your full squad available? We've been able to use those four games to develop combinations that could be a variety of starting XVs.

"Our World Cup preparation thus far has been very positive. We're growing as a team on and off the field and if we use this next 10 or 12 days efficiently we'll be in an even stronger position."

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