MOTO GP
Stoner takes pole position
Casey Stoner took pole position ahead of new champion Jorge Lorenzo for the final race of this year’s MotoGP season, with a sizzling lap in qualifying on Saturday in Valencia, Spain. The Australian was the only rider to break the 1 minute 32 second barrier, rounding in 1 minute 31.799, with Lorenzo of Spain in second. Stoner’s fourth pole of the campaign came after he suffered an early runoff in qualifying and puts him in a strong position to finish his four-year stint with Ducati on a high before switching to Honda for next season. Lorenzo, who wrapped up the world title in Malaysia last month, is gunning for his first ever win in any class in Valencia.
HORSE RACING
Blame swipes first place
Zenyatta’s bid to end her career unbeaten was denied by the narrowest of margins on Saturday as Blame edged the superstar mare to win the Breeders’ Cup Classic in Louisville, Kentucky. With Mike Smith in the irons, Zenyatta delivered her trademark closing run, moving from dead last to challenge for the victory, but this time there was no dramatic triumph at the wire. Garrett Gomez piloted Blame to the front in the middle of the stretch, then held on to deny Zenyatta a second straight Classic victory and a third Breeders’ Cup victory overall. She won the Ladies’ Classic in 2008. Fly Down was third.
FENCING
Won wins gold at world’s
South Korean fencer Won Woo-young made history on Saturday when he became the first non-European man to win the saber gold at the world championships. The 28-year-old, the world bronze medalist in 2006, dominated defending champion Nicolas Limbach of Germany 15-9 to seal his country’s first world fencing title. After beating Italy’s Luigi Tarantino in the quarter-finals, Won gained in confidence, giving Limbach no chance in the final. Two-time Olympic champion Mariel Zagunis of the US successfully defended her women’s saber title earlier on Saturday.
SOCCER
Rooney effigy burns
After letting down the nation, England striker Wayne Rooney has gone up in smoke. An effigy of the 24-year-old Rooney was burned on Saturday in the southern town of Edenbridge as part of annual bonfire celebrations in England, where he was still blamed for underperforming at the World Cup. England crashed out of South Africa in the second round and Rooney was forced to apologize after one match for shouting into a TV camera: “Nice to see your home fans boo you. That’s what loyal support is.” Manchester United followers also haven’t forgiven him after the star striker last month threaten to leave the club, blaming its lack of ambition before signing a new five-year deal.
SOCCER
Police gas soccer game
A Czech soccer league game was suspended for 20 minutes on Saturday after players and spectators were inadvertently tear-gassed by the police, the CTK news agency reported. The incident occurred 17 minutes into a game between Banik Ostrava and league leaders Viktoria Pilsen in the eastern city of Ostrava. The agency said a group of Ostrava fans boycotting home games and watching the match from a bank outside the stadium clashed with police, who used tear gas to disperse them, but a gust of wind blew the gas onto the pitch and the players had to be escorted off the field, with the score at 0-0. The game resumed after 20 minutes, with Viktoria Pilsen winning 2-0.
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