Boxing: Unbeaten Argentine Diego Chaves stopped France’s WBA interim welterweight champion Ismael El-Massoudi in the second round of their bout in Buenos Aires yesterday. The 26-year-old Chaves, whose nickname ‘La Joya’ translates as ‘The Jewel’, floored El-Massoudi twice in round two, with the second knockdown ending the bout. Chaves remains unbeaten in 21 fights, with only four of these coming on points. El-Massoudi, 34, had taken the crown in July 2011 after beating Souleymane Mbaye in the 12th round in Marrakech.
Tennis: Top seed Marion Bartoli reached her second final of the season, battling back to beat Taiwanese qualifier Chan Yung-jan 1-6, 6-3, 6-3 at the WTA Carlsbad tournament in California. The world no.10 from France will square off for the title against second seed Dominika Cibulkova who beat Nadia Petrova 7-6, 6-1. Bartoli passed her third consecutive three-set test and has been on court in excess of nine hours in this tournament. Cibulkova, in contrast, has yet to go past two sets.
Beach Volley: Australia female players may opt for leggings and long sleeves instead of their trademark skimpy bikinis to guard against the London Olympic chill. Although daytime temperatures are expected to reach the high 20s, it will be decidedly cooler when the last matches finish just before midnight. “We have some late-night games and it not always very warm so we will definitely be wearing it (the cold weather uniform),” said Tamsin Hinchley, who will team with Natalie Cook.
Judo: Sled Dowabobo is set to make history by becoming the first judo player from the tiny Pacific island of Nauru to compete at an Olympic Games when he steps on the mat at London 2012. Dowabobo, who will take part in the U-73 kg class, is one half of Nauru’s Olympic team along alongside weightlifter Itte Detenamo. Dowabobo said he was looking forward to his Olympic debut on July 30. “It will be awesome to be the first Olympic judo player from Nauru,” he said. “The facilities are great here and I’ve had good access to weight training.”
Open Water Swim: A British man attempting to swim the Channel died off the French coast yesterday, local authorities in northern France said. The unnamed man in his 40s, who had left from Dover, was only 3.5 kilometres off France when he was taken ill on board the boat accompanying him, the Pace Arrow, they said. Regional emergency services were alerted at 2.50 am and sent a helicopter from Le Touquet with a medical team on board as well as a speedboat of rescuers from Calais, but despite several attempts, they were unable to revive the man.