BOXING
Boxing ban urged over death
A 16-year-old Philippine athlete died on Sunday after a week in a coma following a boxing match, triggering calls for the sport to be banned in schools, an official said yesterday. Jonas Garcia suffered internal bleeding after a boxing match in a regional sports competition. His subsequent death has sparked calls for boxing’s suspension from school sports competitions, said Tonisito Umali, assistant secretary of the Philippines’ Department of Education. “Requests are being made for the suspension of boxing. Other regions are also saying they will not continue boxing,” he said, adding that boxing would still be part of national sports events, but regional teams would not be forced to send representatives.
SOCCER
Frankfurt stun Leverkusen
Bayer 04 Leverkusen’s Bundesliga title hopes suffered a setback on Sunday with a shock 1-0 home defeat to struggling Eintracht Frankfurt. Leverkusen, who booked their place in the Champions League last 16 last week, remain in second place, but are seven points behind league leaders Bayern Munich. Eintracht, who had not won for 10 matches, scored the only goal on the hour mark, with Marco Russ heading in a corner from Sebastian Jung. The visitors squandered an opportunity to add to their tally in the sixth minute of injury-time, but Joselu had a penalty saved by Bernd Leno. Schalke 04 eased the pressure on coach Jens Keller with a 2-0 win over SC Freiburg. Schalke, who also made the Champions League last 16, moved into sixth place after an own-goal from Nicolas Hofler and a Jefferson Farfan penalty.
SOCCER
Spurs fans harass US woman
A musical theater lover who shares the same initials as former Tottenham Hotspur coach Andre Villas-Boas is tweeting song lyrics to irate Spurs fans who deluge her with abuse. Ashley Van Buren from New York uses the Twitter name @AVB. Following Tottenham’s 5-0 defeat to Liverpool on Sunday, she received a stream of abuse from fans of the club. However, instead of getting upset, she got even. Van Buren posted a tweet warning would-be abusers: “Reminder that I am NOT the U.K. football coach, so if you send me a death threat meant for him, I’m gonna tweet you a musical theatre lyric.” Van Buren stayed true to her word, replying to one detractor: “So long, farewell, auf Wiedersehen, good night. #SoundofMusic.” Another received: “The sun will come out tomorrow! #Annie.” Yet perhaps her most cutting riposte was to a user who wrote: “spurs are shit!!!!” to which she replied: “With hope in your heart/And you’ll never walk alone/You’ll never walk alone! #Carousel,” a reference to Liverpool’s anthem, You’ll Never Walk Alone, a tune from musical Carousel.
TENNIS
BBC awards ‘bored’ Murray
Andy Murray, the first British man in 77 years to win Wimbledon, claimed the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award on Sunday and then apologized if he sounded bored. Murray, 26, defeated Novak Djokovic in July’s Wimbledon championship match for his second career Grand Slam title. In Sunday’s awards, he beat British and Irish Lions rugby union player Leigh Halfpenny, who finished second, and horse racing jockey A.P. McCoy, who came third. Murray received the trophy from tennis legend Martina Navratilova at his training base in Miami. “No matter how excited I try to sound my voice always sounds boring — that’s just my voice, I’m sorry, I’m very excited right now. Thank you very much everyone,” he said.
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