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.
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
Playing soccer and competing for trophies is the best way that many transplanted Hong Kongers and Macanese have found to stay in touch, and to interact with Taiwanese society, said officials at the Taiwan-Hong Kong-Macau Football Friendship Cup, which was held on April 13. Twelve clubs, mostly of players and coaches originally from Hong Kong and Macau, took part in the tournament in New Taipei City. The event is sponsored by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) and the Taiwan-Hong Kong Economic and Cultural Co-operation Council. Participating teams were from the wider Taipei area, Hsinchu, Taichung, Kaohsiung and other areas. They divided into two