■ Golf
Balding dies of cancer
Al Balding, the first Canadian to win a PGA Tour event, died of cancer at the age of 82 on Sunday. Balding's breakthrough victory at the 1955 Mayfair Open in Sanford, Florida was the first by a Canadian in the US. He followed that success with three PGA Tour wins in 1957 -- the Miami Beach Open, West Palm Beach Open and Havana International -- to finish sixth on the money list. Balding also teamed up with George Knudson to win the 1968 World Cup, where he carded the lowest individual score.
■ Athletics
Two stolen medals found
Police have recovered two of Tatiana Grigorieva's stolen Olympic and Commonwealth Games medals. The Russian-born Australian pole vaulter won the Olympic silver medal at Sydney 2000 and the gold medal at the 2002 Commonwealth Games at Manchester, England. Those and medals from the world championships and other memorabilia were stored in a safe that was stolen from a Brisbane office on July 18. Queensland state police said yesterday the Olympic medal and the 2002 Manchester medal were recovered when officers executed a search warrant in the eastern outskirts of the city.
■ Shooting
Fokeev wins shootoff
Vitaly Fokeev of Russia won a shootoff to reach the final at the world shooting championships in Zagreb, where he hit all 50 clay discs for his first men's double trap world title on Monday. Fokeev beat two-time world champion Daniele di Spigno of Italy 4-3 in a shootoff for the sixth and last qualifying berth in the final, and then his perfect score elevated him to the gold medal, edging Hu Binyuan of China by one point. The Russian scored a 190 total, and Binyuan 189 after making 47 in the final. The bronze went to Roland Gerebics of Hungary.
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