■ FORMULA ONE
Ecclestone denies insult
Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone has denied insulting Africa after the sport’s governing body voted to allow Max Mosley to stay on as president despite a sado-masochistic sex scandal. Britain’s Daily Express newspaper quoted Ecclestone as saying after the June 3 vote in Paris that “just because he [Mosley] got a few more votes from Africa doesn’t mean the King of Spain will want to shake his hand.” The reported remarks triggered a written complaint from Kenyan Automobile Association general secretary David Njoroge, who is also a senior member of the International Automobile Federation (FIA). Njoroge, who is a trustee of the London-based FIA Foundation for the Automobile and Society, said the African members took “great exception in what is clearly derogatory, demeaning and uncalled for attacks on Africa.
■NASCAR
Loeb wins Turkish Rally
Sebastian Loeb beat Henning Solberg by 1 second Friday to lead the first day of the Turkish Rally. The Citroen driver and defending champion took an early lead, winning the first stage on a dry gravel course. Loeb fell back in subsequent stages before winning the 7th leg. Jari Matti Latvala of Finland finished third overall. Loeb, who won the Turkish Rally in 2004 and 2005, is looking to widen his one-point lead in the 2008 title race against Ford driver Mikko Hirvonen of Finland. Hirvonen finished fifth on Friday.
■BOXING
Boxers arrested for heroin
Two Tanzanian boxers and four officials were arrested in Mauritius after they were found with 5kg of heroin, police said on Friday. The team, which was in the Indian Ocean island for the African Boxing championships, a pre-Olympic qualification for this year’s summer Games in Beijing, was arrested on Wednesday. Police first nabbed two members of the team as they placed the drugs, said to be worth US$1.8 million, next to their hotel’s perimetre wall to await collection and later picked up the rest. A Kenyan woman who came to collect the heroin was also arrested. The team consisted of two boxers, a coach, his assistant, a manager and a doctor.
■CYCLING
Russian takes alpine victory
Former mountain bike specialist Youry Trofimov of the Bouyges Telecom team claimed a prestigious alpine victory on the fifth stage of the Dauphine Libere stage race on Friday. Trofimov, of Russia, hoisted himself up the general classification after breaking free of an earlier breakaway to bring victory home after a tough, second day of racing in the Alps. “I’m still having trouble getting my head around it,” said Trofimov. “It’s a surprise. At the start of the breakaway I wasn’t thinking about victory. “But the downhill was an advantage for me, someone who has come from mountain biking,” the Russian said.
■BASKETBALL
Women make Olympic cut
Spain, the Czech Republic, Latvia and Belarus earned berths in the women’s basketball tournament at the Beijing Olympics on Friday, winning their quarter-final games at a FIBA qualifying tournament on Friday. Spain beat Cuba 82-68, the Czechs downed Japan 76-64, Latvia cruised to a 84-26 victory over Angola, while Belarus prevailed over Brazil 86-79 in overtime. Elisa Aguilar led Spain with 28 points and had four assists, while Eva Viteckova had six-three pointers in her game-high 26 for the Czechs, who rallied after trailing 21-16 at the end of the first quarter. Latvia didn’t allow Angola to score more than nine points in any quarter.
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