■ Rugby Union
Sivivatu in for Hamilton
Winger Sitiveni Sivivatu has been added to the New Zealand All Blacks squad for Saturday's decisive Tri-Nations rugby test against Australia at Auckland. Sivivatu, who has been sidelined with injury, replaces Scott Hamilton in the only change to New Zealand's 30-man squad since its 13-9 win over Australia last month.
■ Athletics
Five Swedes detained
Five Swedish athletes, among them former high jump world record holder Patrik Sjoberg, were detained by police in Goteborg on Sunday on suspicion of narcotics. They were released after being interrogated and tested, Swedish news agency TT said. Police released three of the athletes' names. In addition to Sjoberg, they were former 400m hurdler Sven Nylander and Patrik Lovgren. No other details were available. Lovgren was a reserve on the Swedish 4x100 relay team at the European Championships that ended on Sunday.
■ Soccer
Seitaridis out injured
Defender Giourkas Seitaridis has been ruled out of Greece's friendly against England due to injury. Atletico Madrid said on Sunday that Seitaridis will be sidelined for two weeks after straining his left ankle during Saturday's 1-0 loss to AC Milan in a preseason tournament. Greece meets England on Wednesday at Old Trafford in Manchester, England. Seitaridis, who joined Atletico from Dynamo Moscow in May, is also doubtful for the start of the Spanish league season, which begins on Aug. 26.
■ Soccer
Ajax win Johan Cruyff Trophy
Ajax won the Johan Cruyff Trophy on Sunday, beating PSV Eindhoven 3-1 in the match that pits the Dutch league champion against the cup winner. Mauro Rosales, Kenneth Perez and Wesley Sneijder scored a goal each for Ajax, while PSV captain Philip Cocu scored for PSV. Rosales put Ajax ahead in the seventh minute, finishing a cross from Gabri de la Torre, who joined the team from FC Barcelona in the offseason. Cocu equalized for the defending league champions on a corner shortly after halftime. Perez later gave Ajax the lead in the 70th, following up a deflected shot by Jaap Stam, and Sneijder added insurance with a long-range blast 10 minutes later. The Dutch league's regular season kicks off on Friday.
■ Soccer
Corinthians coach quits
Geninho quit as Corinthians coach after the team's eighth loss in 10 Brazilian league matches. Geninho announced his decision on Saturday night after Corinthians' 3-1 loss to Figueirense at Pacaembu stadium in Sao Paulo. "I tried everything," Geninho said. "But unfortunately we couldn't get the results we needed." The defending champion has lost 11 of its 16 matches and is last in the 20-team standings with only 13 points. It has the most losses among all clubs. The team's only victory in the past 10 matches came on Aug. 5 against Atletico Paranaense.
■ Cricket
Bangladesh win series
An unbeaten 51-run stand between Mashrafe Mortaza and Abdur Razzak led Bangladesh to a two-wicket victory over Kenya and a historic series win in the second one-day cricket international in Nairobi on Sunday. Bangladesh wrapped up its first series win away from home, having also won the first one-dayer by six wickets.
■ Cricket
Monsoon halts one-dayer
Monsoon showers delayed the start of the limited-overs cricket tri-series opener between Sri Lanka and South Africa yesterday. Organizers worked hard to make the field fit for play after heavy morning rain left puddles of water on the outfield, even recruiting extra help in a bid to avoid having the match rescheduled to a reserve day. Umpires Billy Bowden and Asoka de Silva agreed to review the ground conditions at 4pm local time and then decide whether or not there will be any play.
■ Boxing
Thai olympian dies
Thailand's first-ever Olympic medalist, boxer Payao Poontarat, has died after a five-year battle with Lou Gehrig's disease, a hospital official said yesterday. He was 49. Payao garnered the kingdom's first Olympic medal, a bronze, at the age of 19, at Montreal in 1976. He later held the World Boxing Council's super flyweight crown. A native of Prachuab Kiri Khan Province, 300km south of Bangkok, Payao, a one-time flower seller, was celebrated as a national hero after his 1976 win. In 2001, he won a seat in parliament. About a year later, he was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis -- commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease. He died on Sunday afternoon at Bangkok's Siriraj Hospital.
■ Tennis
Zheng takes Nordic Open
Third-seeded Zheng Jie beat Anastasia Myskina 6-4, 6-1 on Sunday in the Nordic Light Open final that started outdoors and finished indoors. Tied 1-1 in the opening set at Olympic Stadium, the final was suspended because of rain for more than three hours and finally moved indoors to the nearby Royal Tennis Hall. For Zheng, it was her third career singles title. She won her first at Hobart, Australia, last year and another one at Estoril, Portugal, this year.
■ Basketball
Dickel in NZ squad
Point guard Mark Dickel was named to New Zealand's 12-man squad for the world basketball championships in Japan after completing a two-match ban for cannabis use. Dickel, a former University of Nevada player, missed New Zealand's warmup matches against Qatar on Friday and Sunday after testing positive for cannabis during an earlier, pre-championship series against Australia. Basketball New Zealand yesterday ruled that Dickel's two-match ban was sufficient punishment for his breach of drug regulations and team disciplinary protocols, clearing the way for coach Tab Baldwin to include him in his world championship squad.
■ Athletics
Radcliffe pans appointment
Marathon runner Paula Radcliffe criticized a decision to appoint former Olympic sprint champion Linford Christie as a "mentor" to future British track athletes. Christie, the 100m gold medalist at the 1992 Barcelona Games, tested positive for nandrolone seven years later when he was a coach. He served a two-year ban and Radcliffe believes that does not make him the ideal person for athletes to look up to during the buildup to the 2012 London Olympics. Last week, UK Athletics announced that Christie and two-time decathlon champion Daley Thompson will be joined by Olympic medalists Steve Backley and Katharine Merry in a ?50 million (US$95.3 million) performance initiative to boost the strength of British athletics. "We have to make sure that the people in that mentor role have an integrity and strong sense of ethics and morals," Radcliffe told BBC Radio.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
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
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