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■ TRIATHLON

Gomez, Tucker win titles

Spain’s Javier Gomez and Great Britain’s Helen Tucker braved cool and damp weather to win the elite men’s and women’s world triathlon titles on Sunday. Gomez broke away on the run to win the men’s race in one hour, 49 minutes and 48 seconds, finishing 24 seconds ahead of Athens Olympics silver medalist Bevan Docherty of New Zealand. Reto Hug of Switzerland was third. The triathletes had to contend with unseasonably cool and damp weather in Vancouver on Canada’s Pacific coast. The water for the swim was about 11°C. Tucker, a surprise winner, took the women’s race in two hours, one minute and 37 seconds, edging out the US’ Sarah Haskins by just 3.7 seconds.



■BASEBALL

Cuban player defects to US

A top Cuban baseball player has defected to the US in the latest move by a promising young athlete to abandon the communist-ruled island. Dayan Viciedo, a hard-hitting, 19-year-old third baseman from Cuba’s central Villa Clara Province, left his homeland late last month and has settled in south Florida, local media said on Sunday. El Nuevo Herald, the Spanish-language edition of the Miami Herald, was the first to report the defection of Viciedo, who started playing baseball in the Cuban majors when he was just 15. A report on the newspaper’s Web site said Viciedo was considered one of the most well-rounded players ever to emerge from Cuba’s national teams. Viciedo left Cuba on a boat bound for Mexico on May 20 accompanied by his family. Several days later he crossed the border from Mexico and traveled to Miami, Florida, to reunite with friends and relatives, El Nuevo Herald said.



■MOTOGP

Pedrosa thrills home crowd

Spaniard Dani Pedrosa gave the home crowd a first-class display on Sunday, riding his Honda over the finish line to victory in the Catalunya leg of the MotoGP world championship in Barcelona, Spain. Pedrosa took an early lead on the track which is only 20km from his home and finished well ahead of Italy’s Valentino Rossi, who dominated a tight battle for second with Australia’s reigning world champion Casey Stoner. “I’m very happy. I’d like to thank my supporters for giving me a big boost,” Pedrosa said. “I don’t know where the pace came from. It was a fantastic race, amazing to win. I won in 125cc and 250cc here, so now to win in MotoGP is great,” he said. The omens were good for the Spaniard after he clocked up fast practice times on Saturday, starting the race second on the grid. “The other two [Rossi and Stoner] were pushing hard. I went to a different setting than yesterday, and it worked,” he said.



■CRICKET

Pakistan beat Bangladesh

Shahid Afridi and Wahab Riaz shared six wickets to script Pakistan’s emphatic 70-run victory over Bangladesh in the opening match of a triangular one-day series in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on Sunday. Leg-spinner Afridi finished with 3-19 off eight tight overs and left-arm seamer Riaz with 3-22 as Pakistan restricted Bangladesh to 163-8 after scoring 233 in a match reduced to 40-overs-a-side due to rain. It was Pakistan’s 12th successive win in one-day internationals. Pakistan were indebted to left-handed opener Salman Butt (70) and Mohammad Yousuf (59) for setting a challenging target after being put in to bat. Afridi and Riaz virtually reduced the day-night match to a no-contest when they shared the first five wickets to send the hosts reeling at 98-5 in the 27th over.


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