■ 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.
OUT AGAINST INDONESIA: Taiwan reached the semi-finals at the tournament for the first time by defeating Denmark, with Chou Tien-chen beating Viktor Axelsen Taiwan yesterday crashed out of the Thomas Cup team competition in Chengdu, China, but achieved their best result at the top-tier badminton event by reaching the semi-finals. Indonesia were too good in the semis, winning 3-0 to advance to today’s final against China, who eliminated Malaysia 3-1. In the opening singles of the men’s team clash at the Hi-Tech Zone Sports Center Gymnasium 2, Anthony Ginting defeated Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen 21-18, 21-19 in 51 minutes, which put a huge hole in Taiwan’s aspirations to perhaps even make the final. In the men’s doubles, Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Ardianto downed Lee Yang and Wang
NO DOUBT: Spurs star Wembanyama was unanimously selected as NBA Rookie of the Year, winning all 99 votes to become the first Frenchman to capture the honor The Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night produced a dominant defensive display to seize a commanding 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven playoff series against the Denver Nuggets with a 106-80 road victory. The third-seeded Timberwolves harassed Denver relentlessly to claim a second straight win over the NBA champions as the series heads back to Minneapolis for Game 3 on Friday. Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards scored 27 points apiece, but the star of the show was Minnesota’s suffocating defensive effort, which knocked Denver out of their stride almost from the tip-off. The Timberwolves finished with 11 steals and 12 blocks, in sharp contrast to
Top-ranked Iga Swiatek on Saturday came through “the most intense and crazy final” she has ever contested to avenge her loss to Aryna Sabalenka in last year’s Madrid Open final with a grueling three hour, 11 minute victory in the Spanish capital. Coming back from 1-3 down in the decider and saving three match points in total, Swiatek claimed a 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (9/7) victory to secure the Madrid Open trophy for the first time. “Well, who is going to say now that women’s tennis is boring, right?” Swiatek said. Swiatek, who picked up the 20th title of her career, and ninth at
One of Malaysia’s top soccer clubs has pulled out of today’s season-opening Charity Shield after a spate of assaults, including an acid attack, on players in the country. It leaves the kickoff of Malaysia’s season this weekend under a cloud following the unprecedented acts of violence against players, which have left the country shocked and angry. Authorities said they have imposed tighter security, but Selangor said that they would not play in the showpiece curtain-raiser against Malaysian Super League champions Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) citing “a series of criminal incidents and recent threats.” Selangor and Malaysia winger Faisal Halim is in intensive care