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Sports Briefs

■ RALLY DRIVING
McRae dies in crash
A helicopter crashed in Scotland on Saturday and former World Rally champion Colin McRae was among the four people killed, police said. McRae, Britain's most well-known rally driver, owned the helicopter and was on board when it crashed in a wooded area near his home in Lanark, police said. The aircraft was badly burned, making it impossible for police to immediately identify the occupants. McRae was a licensed pilot who often flew in the area, police said. McRae was the World Rally champion in 1995 and runner-up in 1996, 1997 and 2001.

■ CYCLING
US rider wins Vuelta stage
US cyclist Jason McCartney won the long 14th stage of the Spanish Vuelta on Saturday and Denis Menchov held on to the overall lead for the fifth straight leg. McCartney, who rides for the Discovery Channel, surged through the leading group to win the 207km leg in 5 hours, 21 minutes, 21 seconds. "This sport is my passion," McCartney said. "This win is even more reason to continue working harder for the future. I hope this win helps me find a new team in 2008 with the end of Discovery Channel." Discovery Channel said it would not continue sponsoring a cycling team after the end of this season.

■ BADMINTON
Lee wins Yonex Open
Malaysia's Lee Chong Wei held off a late rally by Indonesia's Taufik Hidayat yesterday to win the Yonex Open Japan badminton tournament. Fourth-seeded Lee defeated Olympic champion Hidayat 22-20, 19-21, 21-19 in the men's final for his first Yonex Open title. Lee held a 20-14 lead in the third game before Hidayat fought back with five straight points to close the gap to 20-19. But Lee held his cool and won the tournament when Hidayat's return on the fifth match point went into the net. In the women's final, unseeded Tine Rasmussen of Denmark needed just 38 minutes on her way to an upset of second-seeded Xia Xinfeng of China 21-15, 21-17.

■ Soccer
Myanmar clinch ASEAN title
Tournament hosts Myanmar clinched the ASEAN women's soccer title, overcoming Thailand to take the championship after a penalty shoot-out. Thailand kept pace with Myanmar throughout the final late on Saturday, and the first goals did not come until extra time, when both teams found the back of the net. Myanmar, hosting the tournament for the first time, eventually won 5-2 on penalties in front of a mostly local crowd. Eight countries battled it out over the last 10 days in Yangon. The Vietnamese women's team came third after drubbing Malaysia 6-0 on Saturday evening.

■ Rugby Union
Larkham suffers injury blow
Australia playmaker Stephen Larkham missed Saturday's victory over Wales and was due to have surgery yesterday, putting the rest of his World Cup campaign in doubt. Larkham said he would undergo exploratory arthroscopic surgery on his right knee and would miss Australia's Group B match against Fiji on Friday. "Best case scenario I'll get 20 minutes against Canada; worst case scenario I won't be back before the semi-final," Larkham said after Australia beat Wales 32-20 without him on Saturday. Larkham hurt his already heavily strapped knee while kicking at the end of the team's final practice session in Cardiff on Friday and hospital scans showed he had aggravated an existing injury.

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