■ SOCCER
Tunisia blank Mauritius
Tunisia scored a goal in each half and defeated Mauritius 2-0 in Tunis on Saturday, requiring it only to draw its final match in September to qualify for the African Cup of Nations. The victory gave Tunisia 13 points and kept it atop Group 4, one point ahead of Sudan, which won 2-0 at Seychelles on Saturday. Sudan will host the group finale in September, needing a victory to overtake Tunisia. Issam Jomaa opened the scoring in the 44th minute, and Abdelkrim Nafti added another in the 50th minute to delight the capacity crowd at Rades stadium.
■ ATHLETICS
Wesly wins Grandma's
Wesly Ngetich won his second Grandma's Marathon men's title in Duluth, Minnesota, on Saturday, finishing more than one-and-a-half minutes ahead of fellow Kenyan Joseph Kahugu. Ngetich won the race from Two Harbors to Duluth in 2 hours, 15 minutes, 55 seconds. That was slower than his winning time of 2:13:18 in 2005, but Ngetich ran alone for the final 16km on a hot, humid day. Kahugu finished second in 2:17:29. The US' Mary Akor, who was third a year ago, won the women's race in 2:35:40. It was the first Grandma's win for Akor, a native of Nigeria who became the first US citizen to win the women's division since Mary Alico of Florida in 1996.
■ RUGBY UNION
Elvis Vermeulen out of Cup
French back-row forward Elvis Vermeulen, one of his country's Six Nations stars, was ruled out of the World Cup on Saturday after suffering a slipped disc, his Clermont club announced. "As the slipped disc needs an operation in the next few weeks, Elvis Vermeulen has been forced to pull out of the World Cup," a statement said. Vermeulen scored the injury-time try which gave France a 46-19 win over Scotland in March which guaranteed his country retained the Six Nations title. The injury was discovered when Vermeulen underwent a scan following Clermont's defeat in the French championship final against Stade Francais last week. "It's difficult to take," Vermeulen said.
■ CYCLING
Iglinskiy wins sixth stage
Kazakhstani rider Maxim Iglinskiy won the sixth stage of the Dauphine Libere in Valloire, France, on Saturday, while Christophe Moreau of France took the overall lead. Iglinskiy finished the 198km stage from Gap to Valloire in 5 hours, 51 minutes, 32 seconds after breaking away from the leading pack after the final climb up the Col du Telegraphe. Alexandre Botcharov of Russia was next, 51 seconds back. French riders Pierrick Fedrigo and Remy di Gregorio finished with the same time as Botcharov. Moreau finished in eighth place, 2:23 behind Iglinskiy, but moved from second overall to No. 1 by overtaking Andrey Kashechkin, who dropped to third.
■ BOXING
Malignaggi wins title
Paul Malignaggi won the IBF junior welterweight title in Uncasville, Connecticut, on Saturday, outpointing champion Lovemore Ndou of Australia in a lopsided unanimous decision. Malignaggi (23-1) used his speed and quickness to keep N'dou at bay. He landed a left-hook counter in the ninth round to score the fight's only knockdown. Two judges scored it 120-106. One judge scored it 118-108. Malignaggi's best weapon was his jab, which he landed often throughout the fight. He also threw several combinations that landed.
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