■ 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.
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