■ Scotland
Roman Bednar nets double
Roman Bednar scored two goals on Sunday, including an 88th-minute winner, to lead Hearts over Celtic 2-1 in the Scottish Premier League. Bednar scored his first goal in the 49th, but Stilian Petrov equalized for Celtic in the 65th. In the 88th, Bednar capitalized on a poor back pass by Celtic substitute Neil Lennon and beat goalkeeper Artur Boruc. Sunday's result left St Mirren in first place in the league with six points, ahead of Hearts on goal difference. Rangers is in fourth place with four points, one more than Celtic.
PHOTO: AP
■ Argentina
Boca trounce Banfield
Boca Juniors beat Banfield 3-0 on Sunday as five of Argentina's highest-profile teams won weekend openers in the debut of the Apertura first-division season. Martin Palermo scored in the 57th minute and again 9 minutes after a 66th-minute goal by Boca teammate Sebastian Battaglia. Another Buenos Aires powerhouse, River Plate, beat Lanus 2-0 off an own goal by Lanus' Maximiliano Velazquez in the 50th minute and a goal by River's Gonzalo Higuain a minute later off a cross. The opening of the Apertura season saw no ties as San Lorenzo edged Gimnasia de Jujuy 1-0 off a 6th-minute goal by Jonathan Bottineli.
■ England
Coventry edge Sunderland
Gary McSheffrey scored in the 78th minute, lifting Coventry to a 2-1 victory over Sunderland on Sunday in the season-opening game for both teams in England's League Championship. West Brom opened Saturday with a 2-0 win over Hull, and Birmingham City defeated Colchester 2-1. Daryl Murphy gave Sunderland a 1-0 lead in the 52nd minute, but Stern John equalized in the 71st to set the stage for McSheffrey's winner. In the day's other game, Paul Peschisolido gave Derby a 2-2 draw against Southampton with a goal in second-half injury time. Derby went ahead 1-0 on Seth Johnson's strike in the 35th. The Saints answered with two goals in six minutes -- Gareth Bale scored in the 62nd and Bradley Wright-Phillips added another in the 68th.
■ Mexico
Sabah inspires Cruz Azul
Miguel Sabah scored twice on Sunday to give Cruz Azul a 3-2 victory over defending champion Pachuca in the first round of the Mexican Apertura 2006. Also on Sunday, Argentine Bruno Marioni smashed in his third goal for Toluca to give the Red Devils a 1-0 victory over the Chivas of Guadalajara. Playing away, Cruz Azul's Blue Machine opened the scoring in the 35th minute with a goal from Richard Nunez but Pachuca equalized 8 minutes later with a goal from Colombian defender Aquivaldo Mosquera. Sabah scored his goals in the 54th and 68th minutes, converting excellent passes from Cesar "Chelito" Delgado.
■ Rugby Union
Tana Umaga injured
Former All Blacks rugby captain Tana Umaga will be sidelined for at least six weeks after severely injuring a finger in a New Zealand provincial championship match on Friday. Umaga underwent surgery to have the tip of the finger reattached to the bone after it was left dangling by a single tendon in the match between Umaga's Wellington side and Bay of Plenty. The injury occurred when Umaga stretched to catch a pass and received the ball on the fingertips of his right hand. He will be out of action for almost half of the season, but will be fit to take up a short-term contract with the French club Toulon later in the year.
■ Horse Racing
World record set
Holborn Hanover had the fastest racing mile in harness history, finishing in 1 minute, 46.4 seconds in winning a US$195,000 division of the US Pacing Championship on Hambletonian Day at the Meadowlands in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The time on Saturday was three-fifths of a second faster than the mark set by Primetime Bobcat this year in a race at Woodbine in Toronto. Driven by George Brennan, Holborn Hanover won by one-and-three-quarter lengths over Stonebridge Regal. The previous career best time for the five-year-old son of Cam's Card Shark was a 1:48 in a race last month.
■ Tennis
Roddick out of Rogers Cup
Andy Roddick withdrew from the hardcourt Rogers Cup tournament on Sunday, citing an injury that forced him to pull out of another US Open tuneup last week. "Unfortunately, my side strain is still preventing me from being able to play matches," Roddick said in a statement. He strained the lower left side of his back while playing in an event in Los Angeles last month and pulled out before the quarter-finals. Then he withdrew from the hardcourt tournament in Washington. Roddick, the 2003 US Open champion and former world No. 1, is 10th in the current rankings. Andre Agassi pulled out of the Rogers Cup on Friday. The US Open begins on Aug. 28.
■ Superbikes
Troy Bayliss stretches lead
World Superbike leader Troy Bayliss won one race and finished second in the other on Sunday to stretch his lead atop the season standings. Bayliss, riding a Ducati Xerox, won the first race with second for James Toseland on a Honda and third to Noriyuki Haga. Haga, riding for Motor Italian Yamaha, took the second race with Bayliss in second place. Bayliss now leads the Japanese rider by 77 points, boosting his lead from 73 when the day began. Toseland is third in the season standings.
■ Figure Skating
Schwarz gets eight years
An Austrian court sentenced former Olympic figure skating gold medalist Wolfgang Schwarz to eight years in prison yesterday for a plot to kidnap the teenage daughter of a prominent Romanian businessman and hold her for up to 3 million euros (US$3.8 million) in ransom. Schwarz, 59, made a surprise confession earlier yesterday, and his lawyer said Schwarz was motivated by "greed and selfishness" in plotting the abduction, which was never carried out. The 1968 Olympic champion had faced up to 20 years in prison.
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
Roger Federer on Wednesday said that staying involved with tennis in retirement helped him avoid feeling “like an alien” ahead of this week’s Laver Cup in Berlin. Federer, who helped create the tournament, retired at the Laver Cup in London two years ago and has since stayed involved with the competition as an ambassador. “I’m happy I went back right away to some tournaments,” the 43-year-old told reporters. “I feel I ripped the Band-Aid off quite quickly and when I walk around the tennis sites I still feel I belong there,” he said. “I don’t feel like an alien, which is a
Japanese players are moving to English soccer in record numbers and more look set to follow with clubs attracted by their quality, strong work ethic and value for money. Kaoru Mitoma is the standout talent of five Japanese players in the English Premier League, with eight more in the Championship and two in League One. Liverpool midfielder Wataru Endo, the captain of Japan, believes his compatriots are “being held in higher esteem” by English clubs compared with the past. “The staff at Liverpool ask me about lots of Japanese players, not necessarily with a view to a transfer, but just saying this or
Taiwan yesterday survived Bosnia and Herzegovina to win their Davis Cup World Group I tie at the Taipei Tennis Center. The tight series started on Saturday with world No. 123 Jason Tseng losing 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 to Mirza Basic in the opening singles matchup. However, teammate Tony Wu kept the tie even, dominating world No. 86 Damir Dzumhur 6-2, 6-1. Yesterday, 24-year-old Ray Ho and partner 25-year-old Hsu Yu-hsiou kept up the momentum, making short work of Basic and Nerman Fatic, winning 6-3, 6-4. Tseng then suffered another defeat, losing 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 to Dzumhur in a brutal match that lasted more than two