GOLF
Seven-way split for lead
Seven players shared the lead after the opening day of the Portugal Masters on Thursday including Alvaro Quiros who carded a 29 on his closing nine holes at the Oceanico Victoria course. The Spaniard, who was the champion on the Algarve in 2008, but whose career was interrupted by wrist surgery last year, suffered two bogeys early in his round. However, he stormed back with an impressive run on the home stretch to card a six-under 65. He shares the lead with Felipe Aguilar, Jamie Donaldson, David Lynn, Max Kieffer, Graeme Storm and Simon Thornton. “It was a good fight after being two over after five holes,” the 30-year-old Quiros said.
SOCCER
Grandkids sue Pele
Two teenage grandchildren of Brazil legend Pele are suing him for child support, the Diario de Sao Paulo reported on Thursday. The pair, aged 13 and 15, are the sons of Pele’s daughter Sandra Regina, who died in 2006. They are seeking support payment of US$6,000 each to cover health insurance and education as well compensation of an unspecified amount. The daily quoted their lawyer, Claudio Forssell, as saying that the teenagers “were abandoned intellectually, morally and materially” by their grandfather. “Pele always rejected them,” according to the lawyer who said the teenagers had not met with their grandfather since 2011. Pending a final ruling scheduled for next month, judges ordered Pele to pay each grandchild US$760.
TENNIS
Becker promotes book
German star Boris Becker said on Thursday his new autobiography was his chance to respond to those who condemned a notorious extramarital affair with a model. Becker was the subject of a tabloid frenzy after it emerged he had cheated on his pregnant wife and fathered a child in the back room of a trendy London restaurant in 1999. Presenting Life Is Not a Game to the Frankfurt Book Fair, Becker said the book took on “those who took the opportunity to judge me and sometimes to condemn me and my family.” In one passage, he says he was simply “looking for love, a feeling of security,” adding, “when you do not have that at home then you may look for that elsewhere, when the opportunity presents itself.” The resulting divorce from wife Barbara Feltus cost the three-time Wimbledon champion millions. Becker’s first autobiography The Player, released in 2003, made headlines worldwide with its booze-soaked tales of championship tennis, luxury hotels and a string of female conquests.
FORMULA ONE
Female driver found dead
Spanish test driver Maria de Villota, one of the few women to come near to competing at the top of the sport, has been found dead in a hotel in the southern Spanish city of Seville, a police spokeswoman said yesterday. De Villota, 33, lost her right eye and fractured her skull in a horrific accident at a straight-line test in England last year. She recovered from life-threatening injuries, but no longer competed. “We are assuming it was a natural death, but we cannot confirm anything,” the police spokeswoman said, adding that forensic scientists and police from the homicide unit were to examine the scene. De Villota was appointed test driver for Anglo-Russian Formula One team Marussia last year, before her crash. However she never took part in a general test with other drivers.
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
If all goes well when the biggest marathon field ever gathered in Australia races 42km through the streets of Sydney on Sunday, World Marathon Majors (WMM) will soon add a seventh race to the elite series. The Sydney Marathon is to become the first race since Tokyo in 2013 to join long-established majors in New York, London, Boston, Berlin and Chicago if it passes the WMM assessment criteria for the second straight year. “We’re really excited for Sunday to arrive,” race director Wayne Larden told a news conference in Sydney yesterday. “We’re prepared, we’re ready. All of our plans look good on
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
When details from a scientific experiment that could have helped clear Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva landed at the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the leader of the organization’s reaction was unequivocal: “We have to stop that urgently,” he wrote. No mention of the test ever became public and Valieva’s defense at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) went on without it. What effect the information could have had on Valieva’s case is unclear, but without it, the skater, then 15 years old, was eventually disqualified from the 2022 Winter Olympics after testing positive for a banned heart medication that would later