RUGBY UNION
Baby Blacks down England
New Zealand won a fourth successive junior world rugby championship after beating England 33-22 in a thrilling final on Sunday. The Baby Blacks have won 20 consecutive matches and never lost in the under-20 tournament’s short history. Both sides scored three tries, but flyhalf Gareth Anscombe converted all of New Zealand’s and kicked four penalties in a perfect goal-kicking effort to lead his side past England for the third time in the final. England, the Six Nations Grand Slam winner, dominated the first quarter and scored the first try, but New Zealand rallied to lead 23-10 soon after halftime. England closed to within 23-22 near the hour, but New Zealand’s defense tightened and fullback Beauden Barrett’s 74th-minute try secured the title.
RUGBY UNION
Blues’ Boric to miss semis
Auckland lock Anthony Boric will miss the Blues’ Super Rugby semi-final against the Queensland Reds on Saturday and may be sidelined until August with a foot injury. Boric suffered a foot strain during the Blues’ elimination final against New South Wales on Friday and Auckland team doctor Steve Kara said he was likely to be in a cast for two weeks and sidelined for six weeks. Kara said wingers Lachie Munro and Joe Rokocoko, who suffered minor injuries last weekend, were likely to be fit for the match at Brisbane.
OLYMPICS
Olympians allowed to tweet
Athletes at next year’s London Olympic Games can blog and post comments on Twitter as long as it is not done for commercial purposes, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has said. However, any found posting X-rated content could be booted from the Games, it said. In guidelines released by the Australian Olympic Committee yesterday, the IOC “actively encourages and supports athletes ... to take part in ‘social media’ and to post, blog and tweet their experiences.” However, bloggers and tweeters must restrict themselves to “first-person, diary-type formats,” must not report on events in the manner of journalists and must ensure their posts do not contain “vulgar or obscene words or images.”
HORSE RACING
Inglorious gallops to victory
Inglorious staged a stirring charge down the home stretch to capture the 152nd running of the Queen’s Plate and the first jewel of the Canadian Triple Crown on Sunday. The flying filly, under urging from jockey Luis Contreras, corralled 60-1 long shot Hippolytus over the final stretch of the 1.25 mile test then ran away from the 17-horse field to win North America’s oldest continually run stakes race by a comfortable two lengths. It was Ladies Day at Woodbine racetrack as Inglorious became just the fifth filly since 1956 to capture Canada’s most prestigious thoroughbred race and gave trainer Josie Carroll her second Plate win.
HORSE RACING
Queen thwarted at derby
Treasure Beach won the Irish Derby by three-quarters of a length on Sunday, adding more racing disappointment for Queen Elizabeth II. The 5-4 favorite Carlton House, owned by the British monarch, finished fourth in the 1.25 mile race at the Curragh. English Derby runner-up Treasure Beach, ridden by Colm O’Donoghue and sent off at odds of 7-2, gave trainer Aidan O’Brien his ninth Irish Derby win. Treasure Beach and 5-1 Seville fought out the finish, with O’Brien taking the first three places in the eight-horse race after 10-1 Memphis Tennessee came third.
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