■SOCCER
Barca win Super Cup
Two goals from Lionel Messi and a poacher’s strike from Bojan Krkic gave Barcelona a 3-0 win over Athletic Bilbao in their Spanish Super Cup second-leg match on Sunday for a 5-1 aggregate victory. The Spanish and European champions were leading 2-1 from the first leg in Bilbao last Sunday and Messi’s superbly-taken opening goal early in the second half snuffed out any hopes of an unlikely Athletic comeback at a packed Camp Nou. The Argentina forward picked up a pass from new signing Zlatan Ibrahimovic in the 50th minute, rounded an Athletic defender and from close to the byline clipped the ball over onrushing goalkeeper Gorka Iraizoz. His second came from the penalty spot after Daniel Alves was felled and Krkic made sure of Barca’s first trophy of the season when he intercepted Ander Iturraspe’s mis-hit back-pass, rounded Iraizoz and stroked the ball into the empty net.
■SOCCER
One killed in fan clashes
One person was killed and a holiday resort set ablaze when supporters of two soccer clubs clashed after a match in India’s eastern metropolis of Kolkata, a news report said yesterday. More than 15 people were injured in clashes that erupted after supporters of the defeated side opened fire and hurled bombs in the city’s suburb of Rajarhat on Sunday night, the NDTV news network reported. The hooligans then set fire to a luxury tourist resort nearby, believing some supporters of the rival team had taken shelter there. “One person was killed and more than 15 were injured in the clash. The injured were hospitalized,” senior police officer S.N. Gupta told the news channel. Police said 30 resort cottages were gutted and some vehicles were smashed. Twelve people were arrested and the police and paramilitary forces brought the situation under control, the report said.
■CYCLING
Tour was doping-free
UCI president Pat McQuaid said on Sunday there had been no positive dope tests at this year’s Tour de France and looked forward to a drugs-free race being the future pattern. McQuaid said: “At this point in time I haven’t heard of any positive tests at this year’s Tour de France or that we’re checking samples to confirm positives. It’s looking like the Tour de France will not have any positive tests for a number of years. I think that’s a big step forward for cycling.” Men’s professional cycling has been blighted by doping scandals in recent years as blood and urine tests caught out riders using the blood-boosting drug erythropoietin (EPO). Last year cycling became the first sport to introduce a revolutionary blood passport system that monitors athletes’ blood values rather than looking for a specific drug.
■CYCLING
Downing wins in Ireland
English rider Russell Downing battled through torrential rain to win the Tour of Ireland after an impressive performance in the final stage to Cork on Sunday. Downing had won the first stage to Waterford on Friday and he finished second to Norwegian Lars Petter Nordhaug at the finish on St Patrick’s Hill on Sunday, earning him first place in the general classification. Nordhaug won the final stage in a time of 4 hours, 10 seconds, but seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong abandoned his attempt late on, pulling out because of the conditions. American legend Armstrong had finished 20th overall on Saturday. Nordhaug and Downing broke away from the chasing group on the final stage, but the Norwegian crossed the line ahead of the English rider.
■SUMO
Champ skips training again
Controversial sumo champion Asashoryu is in hot water again after skipping training because he did not want to risk catching swine flu on a bus. The Mongolian yokozuna told Japanese media yesterday he would take the matter up with the wrestlers’ union after being reprimanded for a morning no-show over the weekend. “[The infected wrestlers] were on the same bus which was a reason,” said Asashoryu, adding that the Japan Sumo Association had done little to protect wrestlers from infection. “What they say and what they do are two different things. I want them to think hard to come up with a way to protect us [from risk].” Around 30 wrestlers and sumo officials have caught the flu over the past 10 days. Wrestlers and sumo fans have been wearing flu masks as a precaution against the outbreak. “Our livelihoods are at stake here,” fumed the 28-year-old Asashoryu. “I’ll be taking it up with the union.” Asashoryu was criticized for skipping morning training ahead of a major tournament in Nagoya recently amid the break-up of his marriage.
■RUGBY UNION
Waratahs sign Anesi
NSW Waratahs have signed Waikato Chiefs fullback Sosene Anesi on a one-year deal, New South Wales Rugby Union said yesterday. Anesi, who played his only Test for New Zealand in 2005 against Fiji, came back from a shoulder injury to play the last five games of the Super 14 season with the Chiefs, who ended second in the southern hemisphere competition. “This is a significant signing for us,” Waratahs head coach Chris Hickey said in a statement. “They don’t just give away All Blacks jerseys, so to secure a New Zealand Test player is pretty exciting for us as a team, and indeed the whole organization.” Anesi joins a revamped Waratahs backline for next year’s campaign, including Australia internationals Berrick Barnes and Drew Mitchell, former ACT Brumbies’ half-back Josh Holmes and Australia under-21 center Rory Sidey.
■GOLF
Asian Tour signs TV deal
The Asian Tour has signed a three-and-a-half-year contract with Sky Sports to broadcast golf tournaments in Britain and Ireland, the Tour said yesterday, a week after Yang Yong-eun became the continent’s first men’s major champion. Britain’s dominant pay-TV sports broadcaster, owned by BSkyB, already shows Asian Tour events co-sanctioned by the European Tour and will now add the Macau Open, Malaysia’s Iskandar Johor Open and the Cambodian Open to this year’s schedule. “With Korea’s Yang Yong-eun’s historic victory at the US PGA Championship ... the Asian Tour’s reputation for cultivating world beaters has been strengthened,” the tour said in a statement. The deal is a boost for Asian Tour as it battles over the future of regional golf with the OneAsia Tour, which was launched this year with the aim of becoming an elite platform in the region.
■FREEDIVING
Daredevil swims cave
Daredevil aquanaut Mike Wells on Sunday claimed a world record for freediving after swimming the 120m of Fish Rock Cave on Australia’s east coast on just a single breath. The 39-year-old professional diver from Sydney swam down 14m to get into the cave, then maneuvered through an exit where the gap in places was no wider than his 1m monofin, before popping up the 24m to the surface. Wells claimed the title after several failed attempts over two weeks where he resorted to buddy breathing from an accompanying scuba diver.
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
If all goes well when the biggest marathon field ever gathered in Australia races 42km through the streets of Sydney on Sunday, World Marathon Majors (WMM) will soon add a seventh race to the elite series. The Sydney Marathon is to become the first race since Tokyo in 2013 to join long-established majors in New York, London, Boston, Berlin and Chicago if it passes the WMM assessment criteria for the second straight year. “We’re really excited for Sunday to arrive,” race director Wayne Larden told a news conference in Sydney yesterday. “We’re prepared, we’re ready. All of our plans look good on
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
When details from a scientific experiment that could have helped clear Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva landed at the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the leader of the organization’s reaction was unequivocal: “We have to stop that urgently,” he wrote. No mention of the test ever became public and Valieva’s defense at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) went on without it. What effect the information could have had on Valieva’s case is unclear, but without it, the skater, then 15 years old, was eventually disqualified from the 2022 Winter Olympics after testing positive for a banned heart medication that would later