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Sports Briefs
AGENCIES
Tuesday, Dec 02, 2008, Page 18
■ ARGENTINA
Riquelme keeps Boca on top
Play-maker Juan Roman Riquelme scored twice to give Boca Juniors a 2-1 win over Racing Club and keep them top of the Argentine championship on Sunday. Unfashionable Tigre moved into second place after coming from behind for a 3-1 win over defending champions River Plate who, incredibly, are bottom of the table. San Lorenzo, previously second, dropped to fourth after their game against Huracan on Saturday was suspended by a torrential downpour in the 16th minute. The Argentina Football Association has not yet announced when the match, which Huracan were winning 1-0, will be completed. With two games to play, Boca lead the Apertura championship with 35 points from 17 games, two ahead of Tigre. Riquelme opened the scoring with a 40th-minute penalty, ignoring provocation from goalkeeper Pablo Migliori to place the ball calmly in the bottom left corner. Franco Sosa out-jumped a group of Boca defenders to head Racing level in first-half stoppage time, but Riquelme volleyed the winner on the hour.
■BRAZIL
Sao Paulo blow title chance
Sao Paulo missed a chance to clinch the Brazilian championship title with a match to spare on Sunday when they were held to a 1-1 draw at home by Fluminense. Gremio kept the title race alive by coming from behind to win 4-1 at Ipatinga, cutting Sao Paulo’s lead to three points. Portuguesa and Ipatinga became the first two teams to be relegated, while Flamengo continued an unhappy sequence of mishaps at the Maracana Stadium when they blew a 3-0 lead and were held 3-3 at home by Goias. Fluminense, beaten finalists in this year’s South American Libertadores Cup, took a shock lead at the Morumbi when Tarta scored from a rebound four minutes into the second half. Striker Borges equalized eight minutes later despite failing to connect properly with Jorge Wagner’s cross. Sao Paulo defender Andre Dias headed against the post with seven minutes left, leaving his team needing a draw from their visit to Goias next Sunday to win the title for the third time in a row.
■PORTUGAL
Sporting move up to third
Injury-depleted Sporting moved into third place in the Portuguese league on Sunday after a 2-0 victory over Guimaraes. Helder Postiga scored from Joao Moutinho’s pass in the eighth minute, before Liedson added another in the 21st minute for Sporting to rebound from their worst ever home defeat in European play. Sporting coach Paulo Bento fielded a different defensive line-up for the 11th straight game with seven first choice players missing — four days after losing to Barcelona 5-2 in the Champions League. Sporting have 19 points, four points behind surprise leaders Leixoes. Also on Sunday, Trofense picked up their second victory of the season with a 2-0 win over Rio Ave and William scored his league-leading seventh goal to give Pacos Ferreira a 1-0 victory against Amadora. Braga rebounded from a 3-2 UEFA Cup loss to Wolfsburg with a 1-0 win over Nacional.
■GREECE
Mitroglou scores a brace
Costas Mitroglou came off the bench to score two goals and help Greek league leaders Olympiakos beat 10-man Panionios 4-1 on Sunday. Fernando Belluschi and Diogo scored a goal each, while Fanouris Goundoulakis netted Panionios’ consolation goal. The defending champion now have 29 points, four ahead of PAOK Thessaloniki. Also on Sunday, it was Aris 2, Panserraikos 0; Ergotelis 0, Xanthi 0; Levadiakos 0, AEK 0; and Panthrakikos 2, OFI 0.
■NORDIC SKIING
Finnish score double
Martin Johnsrud Sundby of Norway scored a surprise first victory in World Cup cross-country skiing in a men’s 15km classic style race on Sunday. Aino-Kaisa Saarinen took the women’s 10km classic, beating reigning overall champion Virpi Kuitunen for a Finnish double, and her second World Cup victory. Johnsrud Sundby, 24, is the latest of a number of stars unearthed by Norway to emerge as a World Cup winner. Finishing in 37 minutes, 52.5 seconds at the Ruka ski center, Johnsrud Sundby beat defending World Cup champion Lukas Bauer of the Czech Republic by 3.5 seconds and Finland’s Sami Jauhojarvi by 14.1. Canada’s Devon Kershaw, a sprint specialist, was fifth for her best result in a distance race. Johnsrud Sundby leads the overall standings with 113 points ahead of Bauer at 109.
■NORDIC SKIING
Finn wins Nordic combined
Finnish skier Anssi Koivuranta claimed his first Nordic combined World Cup victory in the second event of the season in front of his home fans at Kuusamo, Finland on Sunday. Third after the ski jump round, the 20-year-old Koivuranta won the cross-country race ahead of his compatriot Janne Ryynaenen, who secured his second podium in two days. Japan’s Daito Takahashi took third place while defending champion Ronny Ackermann of Germany finished 12th.
■LUGE
Germans top season-opener
Andi Langenhan and Tatjana Huefner led a German double on Sunday in the season-opening singles races in the luge World Cup. Langenhan, a bronze medalist at this year’s world championships, led after the opening run after setting a new start record of 3.877 seconds. He finished in a two-run combined time of 1 minute, 37.977 seconds, edging David Moeller of Germany by 0.011 seconds for his first World Cup victory. Defending World Cup champion Armin Zoeggeler of Italy took third, trailing Langenhan by 0.195, while Germany’s Jan Eichhorn finished fourth, 0.231 behind.
■CRICKET
Board bans Razzak
Bangladesh spinner Abdur Razzak has been banned from bowling because of an illegal action, a Bangladesh Cricket Board official said yesterday. The ban will be effective until he corrects his action, the official said. He was assessed by Marc Portusa, a member of the International Cricket Council panel of human movement specialists at the Australian Institute of Sports on Nov. 17 and missed the recent test series in South Africa. The left-arm spinner’s bowling action was reported as suspect during the two-test series against New Zealand in October. Umpires Daryl Harper and Asoka de Silva reported they had concerns over his action when bowling faster deliveries.
■GOLF
Choi birdies final hole
South Korean KJ Choi sank a birdie putt worth two skins and US$270,000 at the final hole on Sunday to win the 2008 Skins Game. Choi, a newcomer to the four-man unofficial event, finished the two days with a winning total of US$415,000 out of the total US$1 million purse. Canadian Stephen Ames, the two-time defending champion, had a chance to halve the hole and force a playoff, but missed his putt. Choi won US$340,000 on Sunday to go with his leading US$75,000 from Saturday’s first nine holes. In the event, players compete for money at each hole rather than the low score for the round. A player must win a hole outright to win a skin. If a hole is tied, the skin and money carry over to the next hole.
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