AUSTRALIAN RULES
Collingwood win final replay
Collingwood won the Australian Football League premiership by crushing St Kilda 16-12 (108) to 7-10 (52) in Melbourne, in yesterday’s rare Grand Final replay. After the teams drew last week — only the third drawn Grand Final in the history of the Australian Rules competition and first since 1977 — the Magpies left nothing to chance in the replay. Collingwood took charge from the start and led at all intervals, taking advantage of St Kilda’s poor accuracy in shooting for goal. The Magpies led by 27 points at halftime, but this time did not allow the Saints back into the contest. Collingwood clinched its win in the third quarter when it kicked five goals, taking a 41 point lead at the last change and going on claim its 15th premiership.
BOXING
China wins ‘Empires Collide’
China’s national team beat the US 6-5 in an amateur boxing tournament in New York as Beijing Olympic medalists Zhang Zhilei and Zou Shiming both pounded out wins over their US opponents on Friday. China swept the final three bouts overwhelming their US counterparts in the exhibition dubbed “Empires Collide,” which marked the first amateur dual meet between the two countries on US soil. The results validated China’s surprising performance at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games where they captured four medals compared with just one bronze for the US.
RALLYING
Loeb grabs day one lead
Defending world champion Sebastien Loeb of France took the overall lead on the first day of the Rally of France on Friday, taking another step toward a seventh straight world title. Loeb won five of the eight special stages of the day on his way to building up a 22.7-second lead over his Citroen teammate Dani Sordo. Frenchman Sebastien Ogier, driving another Citroen, was third 25.6 seconds behind. Loeb leads the drivers’ standings over Ogier by 43 points and can claim a seventh consecutive world title with a win on home soil.
EQUESTRIAN
Gal rides to gold
Edward Gal of the Netherlands won the Grand Prix freestyle dressage at the World Equestrian Games in Lexington, Kentucky, on Friday, earning his third gold medal at the event. Gal, aboard Moorlands Totilas, also won the special dressage earlier in the week and helped the Dutch to the team gold in the Grand Prix dressage competition. Britain’s Laura Bechtolsheimer won the silver and American Steffen Peters took the bronze in a repeat of the top three spots from the special dressage. Germany leads the team competition, while Britain was second and Sweden third.
VOLLEYBALL
US bump Cameroon
The US rallied for a 3-2 win over crowd favorite Cameroon at the men’s volleyball world championships in Ancona, Italy, on Friday, putting the Olympic champion back on track for a spot in the third round. The US won 23-25, 25-14, 25-27, 25-20, 15-7 before 3,950 fans. After opening the second round with a loss to the Czech Republic, the US now holds the advantage if Cameroon were to defeat the Czechs yesterday night, which would leave all three teams with 1-1 records and apply a tiebreaker of point ratio to determine the two teams to advance. Also on Friday, it was: Spain 3, Russia 2; Japan 0, France 3; Bulgaria 3, Poland 0; Germany 1, Italy 3; and Mexico 0, Cuba 3.
MOTOGP
Dovizioso claims first pole
Honda rider Andrea Dovizioso grabbed his first ever pole position in qualifying for the Japanese Moto Grand Prix at Motegi yesterday. The Italian clocked a fastest lap of 1 minute, 47.001 seconds at Motegi Twin Ring, edging his compatriot and reigning champion Valentino Rossi on a Yamaha by 0.054 seconds and Ducati rider Casey Stoner by 0.104 seconds. It came after Dovizioso marked the second-fastest lap times during the practice sessions on Friday afternoon and yesterday morning, trailing Rossi and championship leader Jorge Lorenzo in the respective sessions. Meanwhile, points leader Lorenzo took fourth place ahead of fellow Yamaha rider Colin Edwards.
TENNIS
Grunters have an edge
Players who grunt loudly when they hit the ball appear to have a competitive edge over their opponents, according to a study published on Friday. The noise accom-pany-ing a hard shot makes an opponent slower to respond and more likely to misjudge exactly where the ball is going — so it is tougher to hit it back, Canadian and US researchers said. “Conservatively, our findings suggest that a tennis ball traveling 50 miles per hour [80kph] could appear 24 inches, 2 feet, (60cm) closer to the opponent than it actually is,” said Scott Sinnett, an assistant at the University of Hawaii. The researchers tested their theory on students in a laboratory at the University of British Columbia, using sounds that were comparable in volume to the grunts of tennis stars Maria Sharapova and Rafael Nadal.
SOCCER
City post record losses
Manchester City’s spending spree on players and salaries have led to record losses of £121.3 million (US$192 million), the club’s annual report revealed on Friday. Although City’s turnover increased by 40 percent to £125 million, this has been swamped by salary costs of £133.3 million, a £50 million rise on a year ago. That puts City — bankrolled by Abu Dhabi-based owner Sheikh Mansour — behind Chelsea, whose wage bill is £142 million, but ahead of Manchester United (£123 million) and Arsenal (£110 million). City chief executive Garry Cook said the losses “should come as no surprise,” but that the club would now scale back on new signings.
RUGBY UNION
Police planning for violence
New Zealand police are preparing to deal with a spike in violence if runaway favorites the All Blacks fail to win next year’s World Cup on home soil, local media reported yesterday. Police had been “horrified” by statistics that showed an 80 percent increase in reported domestic violence cases following a Scottish Cup final between Celtic and Rangers, the Dominion Post said. “The potential ... the All Blacks will lose has entered into our risk management, but we’ve been dealing with it very clearly because we don’t want to be seen planning for that to occur,” police commissioner Howard Broad told the paper.
CYCLING
Fullana fails dope test
Olympic cycling medalist Margarita Fullana of Spain has been provisionally suspended after testing positive to banned blood-booster erythropoietin (EPO). The International Cycling Union (UCI) announced the ban yesterday, dealing a further blow to the sport’s battered image. The suspension had been handed down after a WADA-accredited laboratory in Montreal reported an “adverse analytical finding of EPO” in a urine sample collected in a test on Aug. 30, the UCI said in a statement.
US track and field athletes have about four dozen pieces to choose from when assembling their uniforms at the Olympics. The one grabbing the most attention is a high-cut leotard that barely covers the bikini line and has triggered debate between those who think it is sexist and others who say they do not need the Internet to make sure they have good uniforms. Among those critical or laughing at the uniforms included Paralympian Femita Ayanbeku, sprinter Britton Wilson and even athletes from other countries such as Britain’s Abigail Irozuru, who wrote on social media: “Was ANY female athlete consulted in
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Former US Masters champion Zach Johnson was left embarrassed after a foul-mouthed response to ironic cheers from spectators after a triple bogey at Augusta National on Friday. Johnson, the 2007 Masters winner, missed the cut after his three-over-par round of 75 left him on seven-over 151 for 36 holes, his six on the par-three 12th playing a big role in his downfall. Television footage showed Johnson reacting to sarcastic cheers and applause when he tapped in for the triple bogey by yelling: “Oh fuck off.” Such a response would be considered bad form in any golf tournament, but is particularly out of keeping
Taiwan’s Lee Jhe-huei and Yang Po-hsuan on Saturday won the men’s doubles bronze medal at the Badminton Asia Championships in Ningbo, China, after they were bested by the hosts in their semi-final. The Taiwanese shuttlers lost to China’s Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang, who advanced to yesterday’s final against Malaysia’s Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzudin. The Chinese pair outplayed Lee and Yang in straight games. Although the Taiwanese got off to a slow start in the first game, they eventually tied it 14-14, before Liang and Wang went on to blow past them to win 21-17. In the second game, Lee and