■SOCCER
San Jose blunt Spurs
English Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur were held to a scoreless draw by the San Jose Earthquakes in the opening match of their pre-season tour of the US on Saturday. Both teams created opportunities, with Robbie Keane having a goal disallowed for offside then missing perhaps the best chance for Spurs, but neither was able to break the deadlock. The north London club were missing most of their World Cup players and they looked rusty as they began their preparation for the start of the Premier League season next month. Their next game is against New York Red Bulls on Thursday, where they are likely to face a familiar foe in former Arsenal striker Thierry Henry, who joined New York last week.
■SOCCER
Zenit maintain unbeaten run
Russian Premier League leaders Zenit St Petersburg kept up their unbeaten record on Saturday with a 2-0 home win over Novosibirsk which preserved their seven-point lead. The 2007 champions now have 33 points from 13 matches, with defending champions Rubin Kazan, who defeated Spartak Moscow 1-0, in second place. Zenit were ahead after 30 minutes when Belgian defender Nicolas Lombaerts headed in from a corner. Midfielder Roman Shirokov added a second goal eight minutes into the second half, firing home from Portuguese teammate Danny’s pass to secure his team’s well-deserved win. Zenit manager Luciano Spalletti was delighted by the performance and result. “We played very well tonight,” the Italian said. “I enjoyed every minute and found no reasons for criticism. I can only praise my players for their performance.” Rubin Kazan clinched a 1-0 win at Spartak Moscow thanks to a third-minute goal by Ecuador’s Christian Noboa, who beat Spartak goalkeeper Soslan Dzhanayev with a shot from outside the box. Dynamo Moscow battled back from a goal down to beat Rostov 3-2. Vladimir Granat grabbed the winning goal with a header nine minutes after the break.
■SOCCER
Birmingham labor to win
Birmingham City endured an uncomfortable afternoon in hot and sticky Hong Kong yesterday, laboring to a 3-2 win in the opening game of their Far East tour. Garry O’Connor fired the winner a minute from time in a disjointed pre-season friendly against a Hong Kong League XI. The Blues took the lead on 21 minutes when Scott Dann headed home from a corner. Four minutes later the Hong Kong side were level in a first-half that they shaded in terms of possession and chances. Sebastian Larsson made a mess of his clearance and Sandro Leonardo fired in. Things got worse for the English Premier League side as they went behind in injury time at the end of the first 45 minutes. The visitors’ defense stood off Christian Annan, allowing him time to curl the ball home. Craig Gardner headed an equalizer in the 74th minute before O’Connor saved Birmingham’s blushes.
■SOCCER
Serena needs foot surgery
Serena Williams needs surgery on her right foot after cutting it on a broken glass at a restaurant. The WTA Tour said the top-ranked women’s player was injured last week and will miss three tournaments leading to the US Open. Williams offers no other details on the tour’s Web site about what happened at the restaurant but says she’s “upset” at having to skip the tournaments in Istanbul, Cincinnati and Montreal. The Rogers Cup in Montreal begins on Aug. 16. The US Open starts on Aug. 30.
■TENNIS
Bolton wins in friendly
Kevin Davies scored and set up another goal to give the Bolton Wanderers a 2-0 win over Charleston Battery in a friendly in Charleston, South Carolina, on Saturday. Bolton went ahead in the 29th minute after a Charleston turnover in midfield. Bolton’s Matt Taylor seized on the loose ball and slid it to new signing Martin Petrov making a strong run left flank. Petrov took the ball to the corner and made a beautiful cross to a wide-open Davies, who easily volleyed it past Charleston keeper Keith Wiggans. Charleston — which plays in the USL Second Division, the third tier of professional soccer in the US — responded with pressure and possession and almost equalized in the 41st. Striker Tom Heinemann shouldered his way past central defender Zat Knight and blasted a shot on net that Bolton keeper Jussi Jaaskelainen stopped. Tamir Cohen scored for Wanderers in the 52nd. Midfielder Ricardo Gardner picked up a loose ball about 40m out and chipped it forward to Davies, who passed for Cohen to chip past Wiggans. Another new signing, Robbie Blake, had a chance to make it 3-0 in the 78th, but his shot was saved.
■INDY 500
Wilson earns pole position
England’s Justin Wilson has earned the pole position at the Honda Indy Toronto. The 31-year-old Wilson emerged from a three-stage qualification process on Saturday to grab his first IndyCar Series pole. Wilson also gave owner Dreyer and Reinbold Racing its first IndyCar pole since Sarah Fisher led the field at Kentucky Speedway in 2002. Wilson saved a set of red-lined tires for the 10-minute, six-car qualifying finale. He posted a series track-record lap of 168.703kph on the 11-turn, 2.834km street circuit. Wilson is the first driver to reach the final six-car session — called the Fast Six — without using a set of the red tires in the first two segments since the alternate-tire program was introduced last season.
■BASKETBALL
Ilgauskas signs with Heat
Lithuanian center Zydrunas Ilgauskas has signed a free-agent contract with the Miami Heat, and will now play for a team other than the Cleveland Cavaliers for the first time in his career. Ilgauskas agreed in principle to a deal on Tuesday last week, then had to wait for Miami to complete other pending moves before completing the move on Saturday. The 2.2m center is 12th among all active NBA players with 1,269 blocks, and 21st among current players in rebounds with 5,904. He’s the ninth player to sign with Miami for the coming season, joining his former Cleveland teammate LeBron James.
■RUGBY UNION
Tackle costs de Villiers
South African wing Jean de Villiers has been suspended for two weeks for a dangerous tackle during the Springboks’ 31-17 loss to New Zealand in their Tri-Nations test in Wellington on Saturday. De Villiers had been cited for an alleged lifting tackle on All Blacks winger Rene Ranger in the 27th minute of the match. He appeared in Wellington yesterday before judicial officer Dennis Wheelahan, who found De Villiers guilty after he considered submissions from the player, his representatives and video evidence, governing body SANZAR said in a statement. De Villiers was suspended until Aug. 1 and will miss the Springboks’ next Tri-Nations match against Australia next Saturday in Brisbane, Australia. He is the second Springboks player to be banned in this year’s competition.
OUT AGAINST INDONESIA: Taiwan reached the semi-finals at the tournament for the first time by defeating Denmark, with Chou Tien-chen beating Viktor Axelsen Taiwan yesterday crashed out of the Thomas Cup team competition in Chengdu, China, but achieved their best result at the top-tier badminton event by reaching the semi-finals. Indonesia were too good in the semis, winning 3-0 to advance to today’s final against China, who eliminated Malaysia 3-1. In the opening singles of the men’s team clash at the Hi-Tech Zone Sports Center Gymnasium 2, Anthony Ginting defeated Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen 21-18, 21-19 in 51 minutes, which put a huge hole in Taiwan’s aspirations to perhaps even make the final. In the men’s doubles, Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Ardianto downed Lee Yang and Wang
NO DOUBT: Spurs star Wembanyama was unanimously selected as NBA Rookie of the Year, winning all 99 votes to become the first Frenchman to capture the honor The Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night produced a dominant defensive display to seize a commanding 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven playoff series against the Denver Nuggets with a 106-80 road victory. The third-seeded Timberwolves harassed Denver relentlessly to claim a second straight win over the NBA champions as the series heads back to Minneapolis for Game 3 on Friday. Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards scored 27 points apiece, but the star of the show was Minnesota’s suffocating defensive effort, which knocked Denver out of their stride almost from the tip-off. The Timberwolves finished with 11 steals and 12 blocks, in sharp contrast to
Top-ranked Iga Swiatek on Saturday came through “the most intense and crazy final” she has ever contested to avenge her loss to Aryna Sabalenka in last year’s Madrid Open final with a grueling three hour, 11 minute victory in the Spanish capital. Coming back from 1-3 down in the decider and saving three match points in total, Swiatek claimed a 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (9/7) victory to secure the Madrid Open trophy for the first time. “Well, who is going to say now that women’s tennis is boring, right?” Swiatek said. Swiatek, who picked up the 20th title of her career, and ninth at
One of Malaysia’s top soccer clubs has pulled out of today’s season-opening Charity Shield after a spate of assaults, including an acid attack, on players in the country. It leaves the kickoff of Malaysia’s season this weekend under a cloud following the unprecedented acts of violence against players, which have left the country shocked and angry. Authorities said they have imposed tighter security, but Selangor said that they would not play in the showpiece curtain-raiser against Malaysian Super League champions Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) citing “a series of criminal incidents and recent threats.” Selangor and Malaysia winger Faisal Halim is in intensive care