WEDNESDAY, APRIL 6, 2016 SPORTS Kenya hopeful of dodging WADA sanctions

NAIROBI: Kenyan sports officials are threatened by International the WADA board meets in Montreal, delay because of the law-making the Rio 2016 Olympics if the east optimistic the country will be granted Association of Athletics Federations Canada, on May 12. process, and they will give us the nec- African nation is declared non-compli- more time to pass a robust anti-doping (IAAF) president Sebastian Coe. “We are also in contact with key essary time for parliament to discuss ant. law and avoid a threatened Olympics “We have submitted all our docu- heads of IAAF and WADA especially on the bill before it is made into law,” Keino said he would press the IOC ban. ments to WADA as required,” sports the yet to be finalised anti-doping bill. Oluoch said. to also ask WADA to give Kenya more A World Anti-Doping Agency minister Hassan Wario said yesterday. So far we remain optimistic,” Wario Kenya’s Olympic chief Kipchoge time. “We have to accept that it has (WADA) deadline to tighten its anti- “Compliance required a raft of factors- said. Keino welcomed the move to seek taken us too long to pass the anti- doping law and provide funding for a about four key factors-with legalisa- Sports ministry official Gordon more time and said he would travel to doping laws, and therefore it was our proposed anti-doping agency expired tion being a part of that,” he told the Oluoch said the government would be Lausanne, Switzerland, on Tuesday to own mistake and we cannot blame yesterday with lawmakers having local Citizen TV channel. seeking a further extension from meet with International Olympic WADA or the IOC,” said Keino. “But we failed to pass a bill criminalising sports Wario said Kenya had fulfilled its WADA after missing Tuesday’s deadline Committee (IOC) officials over the mat- have to act now since Kenya cannot doping. The bill is intended to save requirements and he did not expect it and a previous one in February. ter. WADA and IAAF have warned that afford to miss competing in the Kenyan athletes from an Olympics ban to be declared non-compliant when “They know that we have had a Kenyan athletes will be banned from Olympics in Rio.” —AFP

WRESTLEMANIA ROUNDUP The Grandest stage of them all?

By Thari AlRashed

KUWAIT: The thirty second annual WrestleMania took place on April 3 at the AT&T stadium in Dallas, Texas. The show was filled with special appearances from fan favorites and heart clutching moments. A major announcement was also made at the grandest stage of them all. And also a record was broken with 101,763 fans in attendance. The event started with the kick off show. Three matches where shown: Kalisto vs Ryback for the United States title, The Dudley Boys vs The Usos and finally the 10 Diva tag team match between team Total Divas and team Bad and Blonde. After the Diva’s match we were treated to the first surprise of the night with an appearance by Nikki Bella. Who came out to celebrate the victory with her sister while sporting her neck brace from her recent sur- gery. The kick off show had a fresh feeling to it. Seeing the fans being escorted to their seats while matches were going on was a first in WWE programming and I oddly found that very exciting.

THE SHOCKER OF THE NIGHT The first match was the six person Ladder match for the WWE Intercontinental title. The contestants being the defending champion Kevin Owens, Dolph Ziggler, Sami Zayn, Zack Ryder, The Miz, Stardust and Sin Cara. That match had the only shocker of the night for me. And that was Zack Ryder winning that con- test. I did not see that happening due to his lack of push story- line wise. He’s been reduced to being a jobber since 2012 so hav- ing him win this match was a little odd for me. Also I thought that this would be Sami Zayn’s night, especially Sonny Bill Williams after the great match he had with Shinsuke Nakamura on NXT: Takeover Dallas on Friday. That match was one of if not the best match I have ever seen in my life. Thinking more of it made me Williams ‘fighting fit’ think that Zack could be used as a transitional champion. Something that was confirmed the following night on Monday Night Raw when Ryder dropped the title to The Miz, less than 24 hours after he won the strap. as Olympic bid beckons The Chris Jericho vs AJ Styles match went down as expected. Both athletes put on a stellar match that showcased why they are two of the best technical wrestlers in the history of this industry. HONG KONG: All Blacks star Sonny Bill Williams is so that’s really what it was.” a lot of them would have played it. Even Sonny Bill Up next was the three on four handicap match between The New “fighting fit” after recovering from a knee injury as he Williams, who has also enjoyed a distinguished Williams said the other day, this game’s a different Day and the League of Nations. The match was not my favorite. A presses his Olympic bid at this week’s Hong Kong sev- career and has had success as a heavy- beast altogether. The conditioning levels are huge.” quantity over quality match with the League picking up the vic- ens, his captain said yesterday. weight boxer, showed no problems as he played a New Zealand, who won last month’s inaugural tory. In the end, however, we were treated to other surprise The code-hopping -winner, who practice game and sprinted the length of the pitch in Vancouver sevens, are hoping for another strong appearances by Hall Of Famers Shawn Michaels, Mick Foley and is now trying to bag Olympic gold, missed the last training. showing in Hong Kong, the highlight of the world Stone Cold Steve Austin. The legendary trio cleaned house by two world sevens series tournaments but appeared “Sonny Bill Williams is fine. He loves the sport. He’s series and regarded a dress rehearsal for the Olympic untroubled in training yesterday. a great athlete, he commits himself really well, he’s sevens in August. taking the League of Nations out. “He’s fighting fit. He was disappointed to miss the got such a professional work ethic,” Tietjens said. After Hong Kong, the world series heads to last ones through a bit of injury and he’s ready to go,” “He’s a great example for all the other younger Singapore, Paris and London before rugby makes its STEALING THE SHOW captain Tim Mikkelson told reporters in Hong Kong. players that are coming into the sevens environment return to the Olympic Games in Rio after a 92-year The following two matches stole the show in my humble opin- Williams suffered a swollen knee before the Las Vegas and that’s what’s really special about him: he just sets absence. ion. Them being the Brock Lesner vs Dean Ambrose and the sevens, with unconfirmed reports in New Zealand high standards. It’s great for the environment.” “I’ve got players that are hungry to be an triple threat match for the newly reestablished WWE women’s saying the problem was exacerbated by an economy- Despite his pedigree, Tietjens said even a player of Olympian,” Tietjens said. “They all want to go to Rio, championship. The brawl between Brock and Dean lead to me class long-haul flight to the United States. Williams’ standing needed tournaments and intense and every time they go out and they play in that black become a fan of Mr. Ambrose. Even though he lost, he did so Coach was non-committal about conditioning work to successfully switch to fast-mov- jersey, it’s a performance they want to remember as with flair after putting himself in numerous dangerous situations. the economy-class theory but he said Williams, 30, ing, hard-running sevens. about what puts them in that team to go to Rio. He shined in defeat which isn’t an easy task to accomplish. had been training hard before the problem flared. “I “You just cannot make the transition in a short “So that’s why it’s (Hong Kong) really important. The Triple Threat match between Charlotte, Sasha Banks and really can’t answer that,” he said. “He’d just basically space of time,” he said. “You’ve got to play world series We can’t afford not to play well and the players can’t Becky Lynch was the match of the night and was the most antici- come off a pretty hard training week and it flared up tournaments. “The game’s evolved since the last time afford not to play well.” —AFP pated women’s pro-wrestling match not only in the history of WrestleMania but the entire industry. The women had a lot of expectations to live up to and they did not disappoint. Mutombo urges more Asians The reintroduction of the Women’s Championship solidified the revolution of the women’s division that started about a year ago. The match was filled with great spots, like the top turn- to follow Yao Ming’s lead buckle moonsault that Charlotte delivered to both Sasha and SINGAPORE: Basketball legend Dikembe he gave to us. I can’t wait to give him a big hug,” Becky outside the ring. The only thing I didn’t like was the finish Mutombo yesterday hailed the induction of “best Mutombo, 49, added. of the match, since I did not want Charlotte to win. Her reign has friend” Yao Ming into the NBA Hall of Fame and But Mutombo believes culture remains the been very stale in my opinion and having Sasha or Becky win urged more Asians to follow the Chinese star’s biggest hurdle holding back Asian players from the title would have made this match have a fairly tale ending lead. following Yao’s footsteps in the world’s top profes- that this WrestleMania desperately needed and only got with Mutombo said more Asian players should leave sional basketball league. “In Asian culture, people Zack Ryder who turned out to lose this title in a comedic way their comfort zone and take risks just like Yao, who are much (more) reserved about opening up,” the the very next day. is among 10 members of the class of 2016 to be Congolese told AFP. enshrined in basketball’s Naismith Memorial Hall “I would love to see more Asian players coming THE FINAL SEGMENT OF THE SHOW of Fame in September. to the NBA. These are some things that Yao and I Shane McMahon vs the legendary Undertaker in a Hell in a “Regarding my colleague and best friend Yao have been discussing a lot, but for some reason so Cell with Taker’s career and the control power of Monday Night Ming-I call him Big Yao-I’m very excited,” the many of them are just hesitant.” Raw was on the line in a Hell in a Cell match. The match was the National Basketball Association’s global ambassa- “It took a lot of people to convince Yao Ming to Justin Gatlin longest match of the evening with a run time of 30.5 minutes. dor told reporters in Singapore, where he was get out of China. Yao just didn’t come on his own. Shane’s leap of the top of the cell to the announce table was attending a meeting on promoting the sport It was tough,” Mutombo said. Former Houston Gatlin coach to remain another highlight of the evening. It was very scary to see but it among Asian children. “He deserves it... I salute Rockets star Yao was the number one pick in the as US relay boss for Rio furthered the “rich boy’s street cred” since it showed that he was- him so much and I take my hat off for everything NBA draft in 2002 after leading the Shanghai n’t afraid to put his body on line for the entertainment of the to the Chinese title that same year. NEW YORK: Sprinter Justin Gatlin’s trainer will remain as fans. A dangerous stunt that even the people who bash the sport He was an eight-time NBA All-Star (2003-2009, US relay coach for the Rio Olympics after officials decided for being fake will admit was a major risk. 2011) and broke the record for most All-Star votes, to delay implementing a new policy for the job, USA Track The 20-man third annual Andre the Giant memorial Battle previously held by Michael Jordan in 2005. & Field (USATF) said on Monday. Royal was next and had a surprise appearance by none other Despite the dearth of Asian players in the NBA, Dennis Mitchell had told Reuters in February he than the legendary NBA superstar Shaquille O’Neal. Mutombo said there are still many “great talents” stepped down from the position after USATF added a pro- The Rock and John Cena made the final surprise appearances who could join. “The ’s the limit,” he said. vision that prohibits a person from being the national relay of the night. The Rock competed in a match that lasted six sec- Mutombo, an eight-time NBA All-Star and four- coach if they coach someone with a high likelihood of onds against Erick Rowan of the Wyatt Family. The match time NBA Defensive Player of the year, led the being part of the relay pool. Gatlin, the world silver medal- become the shortest match in the history of WrestleMania. league in blocked shots for five seasons in a row list at both 100 and 200 metres, is expected to be a key The main event pitting Triple H against Roman Reigns for the from 1993-94 to 1997-98. member of the U.S. men’s 4x100m relay team at the Aug. 5- WWE Championship was a snooze fest. I was not looking forward His sideways finger wag after blocks became a 21 Rio Games. Mitchell, who served a doping ban in 1999, to this match since I cannot stand either competitor and find trademark. In an NBA career that spanned 18 sea- never submitted an official resignation, however, and them both to be boring performers. The match dragged on for sons from 1991 to 2009, Mutombo scored 11,729 USATF’s high performance executive committee decided in 27 minutes and 11 seconds. The finish saw Roman win by pin fall points, grabbed 12,359 rebounds and blocked March to delay the effective date of the change, USATF said after delivering his patented spear. 3,289 shots. Since his retirement he has travelled on Monday. the world as the NBA’s global ambassador. He was “Because Dennis Mitchell was selected as national relay LEFT ME WANTING MORE on transit at the airport in Brussels when Islamic coach and approved by the USOC (US Olympic Committee) under procedures that were put in place on September 10, Summing up the show is a little tricky to do this year. Was it State group militants bombed it on March 22 but 2014, any new provisions for the national relay coach poli- the best WrestleMania in my opinion? No - far from it. As a fan of escaped unscathed. cy, if enacted, will take effect late 2016,” USATF spokes- the pro-wrestling industry for close to 20 years now I was left “Even before I came to Singapore, I had so woman Jill Geer said in a statement to Reuters. wanting more. SINGAPORE: Congolese American retired profes- many emails from friends, colleagues and family “As a result of the new timeline, Dennis Mitchell will The WWE will be making its return to the Middle East with two sional basketball player Dikembe Mutombo (L) members who were saying ‘Why are you still trav- anwers questions during a media roundtable continue to serve as national relay coach through the 2016 live events in Dubai on April 14th and 15th at the Dubai Duty elling? You just had a bad experience two weeks Olympic Games, as previously approved by USATF and the Free Tennis Stadium. This won’t be the first time the WWE comes interview in Singapore yesterday. Mutombo, an ago,’” he said. But he added: “Life has to go on, just eight-time NBA All-Star and four-time NBA USOC.” Mitchell, 50, has been the U.S. relay coach for men to Dubai and surely not the last due to the great turn out these because one thing happens in your life today Defensive Player of the Year is in Singapore for and women events since 2014. His hiring had been contro- events have here in the region. the second meeting of the Jr. NBA Asia Advisory doesn’t mean that tomorrow you can’t live your versial because of his 1998 positive test for the banned Council. — AFP life like you used to.” —AFP hormone testosterone.—Reuters