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.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
Japanese players are moving to English soccer in record numbers and more look set to follow with clubs attracted by their quality, strong work ethic and value for money. Kaoru Mitoma is the standout talent of five Japanese players in the English Premier League, with eight more in the Championship and two in League One. Liverpool midfielder Wataru Endo, the captain of Japan, believes his compatriots are “being held in higher esteem” by English clubs compared with the past. “The staff at Liverpool ask me about lots of Japanese players, not necessarily with a view to a transfer, but just saying this or
Taiwan yesterday survived Bosnia and Herzegovina to win their Davis Cup World Group I tie at the Taipei Tennis Center. The tight series started on Saturday with world No. 123 Jason Tseng losing 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 to Mirza Basic in the opening singles matchup. However, teammate Tony Wu kept the tie even, dominating world No. 86 Damir Dzumhur 6-2, 6-1. Yesterday, 24-year-old Ray Ho and partner 25-year-old Hsu Yu-hsiou kept up the momentum, making short work of Basic and Nerman Fatic, winning 6-3, 6-4. Tseng then suffered another defeat, losing 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 to Dzumhur in a brutal match that lasted more than two