Digest

TRACK AND FIELD

Semenya's Tokyo dream dies after ban upheld

Two-time Olympic champion Caster Semenya lost her long legal battle on Tuesday against World Athletics rules that ban female runners with naturally high testosterone levels.

Switzerland's supreme court said its judges dismissed Semenya's appeal against a Court of Arbitration for Sport ruling last year that upheld the rules drafted by track's governing body affecting female runners with differences of sex development (DSD).

The ruling means Semenya cannot defend her Olympic 800-meter title at the Tokyo Games next year－or compete at any top meets in distances from 400m to the mile－unless she agrees to lower her testosterone level through medication or surgery.

The 29-year-old South African repeatedly said she will not do that and reiterated her stance in a statement through her lawyers Tuesday.

SOCCER

City's De Bruyne voted Premier League's best

Manchester City midfielder Kevin De Bruyne was voted English soccer's player of the year on Tuesday, denying Liverpool a third straight winner of the prestigious award.

De Bruyne became the first City player to capture the Professional Footballers' Association award after scoring 13 goals and making a record-tying 20 assists last season.

The Belgian credited manager Pep Guardiola for giving him the freedom to be creative.

"Most of the time he just lets me be me," De Bruyne said of Guardiola. "We speak often about the team but in a lot of senses he knows when he gives the orders of what the team has to do that I will listen.

"But then on the other side, he gives me a lot of freedom; I don't know why, that's just the way it goes between us. He knows in one way I will always put the team first and then obviously if I can help myself I'm going to do that."

Liverpool players Virgil van Dijk (2019) and Mo Salah (2018) won the award the past two seasons.

Van Bronckhorst's R&F stop rot as Saba stars

Israeli forward Dia Saba starred as Guangzhou R&F arrested a three-game losing streak in the Chinese Super League with a 3-1 triumph over Group A basement boys Henan Jianye in Dalian.

A Saba header, which was helped into the net by Jianye defender Chen Hao, broke the deadlock in the 12th minute. Brazilian Dourado equalized with a 35th-minute penalty after a foul on Feng Boxuan.

R&F, managed by Dutchman Giovanni van Bronckhorst, regained the lead in the 39th when Saba fired home unchallenged. Four minutes later, leftback Ye Chugui slotted in from a Saba assist.

Goalkeeper Han Jiaqi produced a string of key saves to stave off a Jianye comeback in the second half.

"It was a pity that we lost the game in stoppage time (2-1 against Guangzhou Evergrande). We followed coach van Bronckhorst's plan and all the players focused on the game tonight. I'm glad to see that, and we deserved the win," said Saba.

Meanwhile, Dalian Pro was frustrated again as a late Jiangsu Suning equalizer denied Rafa Benitez's side all three points in a 1-1 draw.

Inter captures veteran Kolarov from Roma

Inter Milan completed the signing of Serbia captain Aleksandar Kolarov from Serie A rival Roma on Tuesday.

Chinese-owned Inter paid Roma 1.5 million euros ($1.8 million) for the 34-year-old defender in a reported one-year deal that includes up to 500,000 euros in possible bonuses.

Kolarov joined Roma from Manchester City in 2017 and scored 19 times in 132 appearances for the capital club.

Inter, which finished second in Serie A last term and lost to Sevilla in the Europa League final, has also signed the likes of rightback Achraf Hakimi from Real Madrid, midfielder Nicol Barella from Cagliari and forward Alexis Sanchex from Manchester United on permanent deals this summer.

BASKETBALL

NBA preparing to relax guest rules in bubble

NBA coaches or other team staffers could have guests in the bubble later this month, with the league sharing final plans for such additions with teams on Tuesday.

Team staff would be limited to a total of 10 guests, all of whom would have to begin a self-quarantine period at home immediately, then travel to Central Florida next week to begin another week of even stricter lockdown. Those guests could then enter the so-called bubble at Walt Disney World on Sept 21, about a week before the scheduled start of the NBA Finals.

Coaches have been clamoring for this for some time. Some players were able to bring family members into the bubble starting on Aug 31.Referees also had the option of bringing a guest into the bubble, though none did so.

Thunder and Donovan mutually part ways

Billy Donovan won't return as coach of the Oklahoma City Thunder after five seasons, the team announced on Tuesday night.

Donovan, who was at the end of his contract, took the Thunder to the playoffs every year and was a finalist for Coach of the Year this season after his squad outperformed expectations to push the Houston Rockets to seven games in the first round of the playoffs.

Donovan went 243-157 with OKC.Before that, he led the University of Florida to two national championships and four Final Four appearances in 19 seasons.

The team and Donovan described his departure as a mutual decision. Thunder general manager Sam Presti said he couldn't give Donovan the assurances he wanted about the future.

Xinhua - Agencies