CYCLING
Van Avermaet wins classic
Greg Van Avermaet of Belgium won the Paris-Tours classic in a head-to-head sprint with Italy’s Marco Marcato on Sunday. The 26-year-old Van Avermaet made his move at the end of the 230.5km flat route from Voves, France, to Tours, France, attacking out of a breakaway group in the race’s final 10km and withstanding a challenge by Marcato. Kasper Klostergaard-Larsen of Denmark was third. The win in Sunday’s 105th edition of Paris-Tours caps a strong season for BMC Racing Team’s Van Avermaet with top 10 finishes in the Liege-Bastogne-Liege and Milan-San Remo one-day classics. Van Avermaet, a teammate of Tour de France champion Cadel Evans, held off late threats from fellow Belgian and two-time former Paris-Tour winner Philippe Gilbert and Frenchman Sylvain Chavanel.
CRICKET
Mumbai claim T20 title
Skipper Harbhajan Singh bagged three wickets to help the Mumbai Indians lift the Twenty20 Champions League title with a 31-run victory over the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the final on Sunday in Chennai, India. The off-spinner removed hard-hitting Chris Gayle (5), Virat Kohli (11) and Daniel Vettori (1) as Mumbai dismissed Bangalore for 108 after scoring a modest 139 on a low, slow pitch where stroke-making was not easy. Man-of-the-match Harbhajan was superbly backed by leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal, who finished 2-9 off three tight overs. “We have performed outstandingly. We were right in the game when we went in to bowl. It was just a matter of getting Gayle, Tillakaratne Dilshan and Kohli. It was a fantastic effort by the boys,” Harbhajan said.
ATHLETICS
Death clouds marathon
A 35-year-old male runner who collapsed during the Chicago Marathon on Sunday is dead. Race medical director George Chiampas said the North Carolina man collapsed on the course about 500m from the finish line. He said medical personnel were able to get his heart beating again, but he died 1 hour, 45 minutes after he was attended to at the race. Meanwhile, Kenya’s Moses Mosop won the marathon in a course record and Russian Liliya Shobukhova completed an unprecedented three-peat in impressive style. Both champions pulled away to post emphatic victories, Mosop clocking 2 hours, 5 minutes, 37 seconds to beat by four seconds the late Sammy Wanjiru’s course record set in 2009. Shobukhova, too, made it look easy as she won in 2 hours, 18 minutes, 20 seconds.
BASKETBALL
US player dies after brawl
Authorities say US basketball player Chauncey Hardy has died after being attacked in a bar in Romania. Carmen Tocala, chief of the Romanian Basketball Federation, told GSP radio that Hardy died on Sunday evening after suffering two heart attacks — a day after he was beaten up. “We are deeply saddened by the loss of a fine young man who had his life cut short at such a young age while he was overseas doing something he loved,” said C. Donald Cook, athletic director at Hardy’s former college, Sacred Heart. Police spokesperson Mirela Gheta said the 23-year-old Hardy had sustained severe head injuries and was in a coma when he was admitted to the hospital. Hardy died shortly after undergoing surgery in a Bucharest hospital. Hardy, who played for CSS Giurgiu in southern Romania, was celebrating victory over rivals Dinamo Bucharest in Giurgiu when several men were reported to have attacked him.
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