RUGBY UNION
Toulon win European Cup
Toulon beat Clermont 16-15 to win the European Cup on Saturday. Clermont scored two tries to Toulon’s one in a nail-biting match, but three penalties and a conversion from English flyhalf Jonny Wilkinson saw Toulon sneak home. Brock James opened the scoring for Clermont with an early penalty, later matched by Wilkinson as the teams went into half-time at three points apiece. Clermont’s Fijian winger Napolioni Nalaga scored a try early in the second period, followed by a second for James. When James converted his own try, the score stood at 15-6. However, Wilkinson pulled back three points with his third penalty. When Wesley Fofana was caught in possession and turned over by Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe and fed to Delon Armitage, the England fullback romped in for Toulon’s sole try, converted by Wilkinson for victory.
SOCCER
Ribery saves Bayern
Champions Bayern Munich needed some Franck Ribery magic to end the Bundesliga season with a dramatic 4-3 win at Borussia Moenchengladbach, as they prepare to face Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League final this week. Bayern went behind as Martin Stranzl and Mike Hanke scored twice within five minutes before Javi Martinez pulled one back on seven minutes. Havard Nordtveit restored Gladbach’s two-goal advantage in the 10th minute, before Frenchman Ribery’s powerful effort made it 3-2 eight minutes later. Ribery leveled with a sensational 18m volley from a deep Philipp Lahm cross in the 53rd minute. Six minutes later he set up Dutchman Arjen Robben for the winner with a perfectly weighted cross at the far post. Second-placed Dortmund conceded two goals as TSG 1899 Hoffenheim staged a last-gasp relegation escape with a 2-1 win. Schalke 04 beat SC Freiburg 2-1 to grab fourth place and a spot in the qualifying rounds of the Champions League. Bayer Leverkusen’s Stefan Kiessling was the season’s top scorer with his 25th strike in the last minute for a 1-0 win at Hamburg SV, helping his team to a comfortable third-place finish and secure Champions League action next season. Promoted Fortuna Duesseldorf slumped to a 3-0 defeat at Hannover 96. Augsburg finished with a 3-1 win over already relegated Fuerth.
SOCCER
Sociedad beat Sevilla
Surprise contenders Real Sociedad maintained their slender advantage over Valencia in the race for Spain’s fourth and final Champions League berth when they came from behind to beat Sevilla 2-1 in La Liga on Saturday. San Sebastian-based Sociedad and Valencia, who won 1-0 at Getafe in the earlier kickoff, are tied on 62 points with two matches left, with the Basques ahead in the standings thanks to a superior head-to-head record. Granada, who narrowly avoided relegation last season, moved to the brink of safety when they won 3-0 at home to fellow strugglers CA Osasuna, while second-division leaders Elche won promotion to the top flight.
SOCCER
Sampdoria shock Juve
Sampdoria ended their troubled season on a high note on Saturday with a surprise 3-2 victory over Serie A champions Juventus. Goals from Eder, Lorenzo De Silvestri and Mauro Icardi were enough to beat Juve, who opened the scoring in the 25th minute through Fabio Quagliarella and were also on target in stoppage-time through Emanuele Giaccherini.
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