TENNIS
Pliskova claims Linz title
Czech seventh seed Karolina Pliskova clinched her third career title after saving a match point to beat Italy’s Camila Giorgi 6-7 (4/7), 6-3, 7-6 (7/4) in the Linz WTA final on Sunday. Pliskova was match point down at 6-5 in the final set before rallying to add the Austrian trophy to triumphs in Kuala Lumpur last year and Seoul last month. Giorgi has now lost the two finals in which she has appeared. “It could have been a little easier, but I’m still happy I won the title,” the 22-year-old Czech said. “After I was 5-1 up [in the final set] and she came back and had match point, I was already thinking I would lose.”
GOLF
Levy wins amid rain
France’s Alexander Levy claimed a second career title on Sunday when he won the Portugal Masters after the third and final round had to be abandoned due to heavy rain in Vilamoura. In a tournament already reduced to 54 holes by lightning and heavy rain, another deluge left parts of the course unplayable shortly after the final group had teed off at 1pm. The result was then called at 36 holes. Levy, 24, carded rounds of 63 and 61 to finish with an 18-under-par total having been just one of six players to complete their second rounds on Friday. His title came after winning the China Open in April. Belgium’s Nicolas Colsaerts, who just missed a first ever 59 on the European Tour in the first round, was in second place, three shots back.
SOCCER
Algeria, Mali lead group
Algeria and Mali scored identical wins in the Africa Cup of Nations on Sunday to keep them in qualifying places from Group B. Algeria won 2-0 in Malawi and Mali matched that result in Ethiopia. In Group C, Gabon jumped above Burkina Faso after a double from Borussia Dortmund’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang delivered a 2-0 home win. Ghana top Group E after Asamoah Gyan scored in a fighting 1-1 draw against Guinea in neutral Morocco, and Cape Verde and surprise package Mozambique are on course to qualify from Group F ahead of 2012 African champions Zambia. Egypt won 2-0 in Botswana for their first win in the final qualifying competition, but are still four points behind Senegal and Tunisia in Group G.
RUGBY LEAGUE
Flower apologizes over hits
Wigan prop Ben Flower has apologized for a sickening attack on former New Zealand international Lance Hohaia that tarnished the Super League Grand Final on Saturday. Welshman Flower was sent off scarcely two minutes into St Helens’ 14-6 win at Old Trafford after punching Saints stand off Lance Hohaia in the face and kneeling over him to strike him flush to the head again. The incident put Hohaia out of the game and prompted a melee between players from both sides. Police were also reviewing the incident, British media reported. “There is no defense for my actions,” Flower said in a statement released by Wigan. “It was something that happened in the heat of the moment when our emotions and adrenaline was running high. I instantly regretted it and am devastated that I allowed myself to punch someone like this.” Wigan chairman and owner Ian Lenagan and head coach Shaun Wane also apologized for Flower’s “totally inappropriate” behavior. “Rugby league is a tough sport, which we are proud of, but such a response is neither encouraged nor condoned,” they said in a joint statement. Hohaia said he holds no grudges. “He’s probably disappointed in himself for not being able to play a part in the game as well,” Hohaia 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
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