■ ATHLETICS
Gebrselassie sets record
Haile Gebrselassie set a world record in the men's rare one-hour race on Wednesday, running 21.285km at the IAAF Grand Prix Golden Spike meet. Gebrselassie broke the record of 21.101km set by Mexico's Arturo Barrios in 1991 in La Fleche, France. The Ethiopian, who dominated long distance running before switching to the marathon and road races in 2005, was supported by three pacemakers at the start.
■ CRICKET
Woolmer inspires movie
How did a famous cricket coach die after his team was knocked out of the World Cup? That is the plot of a new Bollywood thriller prompted by the controversy that surrounded the death of Bob Woolmer, the South African cricket coach of the Pakistani team during the recent World Cup. Well-known Indian producer Mukesh Bhatt told the Indian Express newspaper the movie will be titled Jannat and filming begins in London, Yorkshire and Liverpool next month. "Jannat is based on Woolmer's death but we won't make any direct references," Bhatt said in the interview published yesterday. "It isn't a documentary."
■ SUMO WRESTLING
Teen dies after practice
A 17-year-old rookie sumo wrestler has died after he was taken ill in a practice session ahead of his second career tournament, police said yesterday. Tokitaizan, whose real name is Takashi Saito, was confirmed dead after being rushed to hospital in Inuyama near Nagoya, central Japan, from his stable's local training camp on Tuesday. "Illness was seen as the cause of his death," a spokesman for the Aichi prefectural police headquarters in Nagoya said by telephone, refusing to give further details. A post-mortem was to be performed on Saito.
■ RUGBY UNION
Former All Black Sadler dies
Former All Blacks scrumhalf Bernard "Joey" Sadler has died at the age of 92, the New Zealand Rugby Union said yesterday. Sadler, who played five tests among 14 matches for New Zealand in 1935 and 1936, was previously the second-oldest living All Black after Eric Tindill, who is 96. Sadler died on Tuesday. He toured Britain with the All Blacks in 1935 and played at home against Australia in 1936 before injury ended his career at the age of 22. "A small man even for a halfback, Sadler at 5 feet-5 inches [1.65m] and 10 stone [63kg] was one of the busiest of rugby players," the New Zealand Rugby Union Web site said. "He seemed to have all the attributes, a good passer and a courageous defender who could run hard and fast on the break. But for injury he could have been remembered as one of our greatest halfbacks."
■ SOCCER
Real Madrid sack Capello
Spanish league champions Real Madrid have fired coach Fabio Capello. Madrid's sports director Pedrag Mijatovic said the decision, which was widely expected, was made at a board meeting yesterday. He said the club were considering several candidates to replace the Italian coach but would not give any names. Speculation has been rampant in recent weeks that the club would get rid of Capello, even though the Italian coach led Madrid to the league championship earlier this month, ending a four-year trophy drought. The meeting came as Capello was on holiday abroad.
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