COLLEGES
Despite suffering a 33-17 loss Saturday at Villanova, the University of Maine remains ranked in both national FCS polls.
The Black Bears (2-3) dropped from 12th to 20th in the STATS poll and from 16th to 22nd in the coaches’ poll.
North Dakota State, James Madison and South Dakota State remain 1-2-3 in both polls.
• Rutgers Athletic Director Pat Hobbs dismissed speculation about being close to finding a replacement for Chris Ash as football coach, while conceding the task of turning the Scarlet Knights into a competitive team in the Big Ten won’t be easy.
MEN’S BASKETBALL: Washington State will retire the No. 1 worn by Klay Thompson of the Golden State Warriors when he played for the Cougars.
TENNIS
JAPAN OPEN: Novak Djokovic, who had not played since retiring with an injured left shoulder in his U.S. Open fourth-round match, teamed with Filip Krajinovic in doubles and lost to Mate Pavic and Bruno Soares 6-2, 4-6, 10-4 at Tokyo.
“One of the reasons for playing the doubles was that I wanted to see how the shoulder feels during match play,” Djokovic said. “Obviously doubles is quite different from singles but you’re still playing an official match – you still get the nerves and have to battle on court. But it seems like my shoulder is fine after that.”
CHINA OPEN: Former top-ranked players Venus Williams and Simona Halep lost in the second round at Beijing.
TRACK AND FIELD
BAN: Track coach Alberto Salazar, who trained four-time Olympic champion Mo Farah and a number of other top runners, has been given a four-year ban in a case pursued by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency.
USADA said in a news release Monday that an arbitration panel decided on a four-year ban for Salazar and endocrinologist Jeffrey Brown for, among other violations, possessing and trafficking testosterone while working at the Nike Oregon Project (NOP), where they trained top runners.
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: Karsten Warholm of Norway remains the man to beat in the 400-meter hurdles ahead of next year’s Olympics after defending his world championship title at Doha, Qatar.
Warholm donned a Viking-style horned helmet – accessorized with an Arab man’s headband – to celebrate winning in 47.42 seconds. He briefly looked capable of challenging Kevin Young’s 27-year-old world record but faded on the final turn.
• Muktar Edris of Ethiopia, who upset Mo Farah in Farah’s farewell to the event two years ago, used a late kick to beat countryman Selemon Barega to the finish in the 5,000 meters, completing the 12 laps in 12 minutes, 58.05 seconds.
SOCCER
PREMIER LEAGUE: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang chipped Manchester United goalkeeper David De Gea for the equalizer in the 58th minute and Arsenal earned a 1-1 tie on the road.
The result lifted Arsenal into fourth place, on goal difference, after seven games and left United in 10th place.
CRICKET
MATCHES RETURN: The return of one-day international cricket to Pakistan after a 10-year absence due to a terrorist attack on a team bus coincided with a renewed plea from the country’s cricket chief to begin playing more international matches at home.
Pakistan had a 67-run victory over Sri Lanka on Monday. It’s the first time since Sri Lanka’s team bus was attacked in Lahore, Pakistan, in 2009 that a foreign team is conducting a two-week tour of the country.
– Staff and news services
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