SOCCER
Juve three clear of Roma
Ten-man Juventus restored their three-point lead over AS Roma with a brace of goals in either half from Paul Pogba and a Carlos Tevez strike that underlined the champions’ credentials in a 3-0 win at SS Lazio on Saturday. Juventus were down to 10 after midfielder Simone Padoin saw red in the 70th minute after a foul on Italy international Antonio Candreva. However, by then, the damage had already been done, as Pogba hit the opener in the 24th minute and Tevez doubled Juve’s lead with a fine strike on 55 minutes. Pogba effectively put the match beyond reach for Stefano Pioli’s men in the 64th minute and despite Lazio making two changes in the wake of Padoin’s sending off, the hosts failed to capitalize on their advantage. Juve’s 10th win in 12 games leaves them top on 31 points, three ahead of Roma who clinched a 2-1 win away to Atalanta BC earlier in the day. Roma fought back from a Maxi Moralez goal in the first minute to prevail thanks to Adem Ljajic’s 23rd minute leveler and Radja Nainggolan’s winner three minutes from halftime. Both Roma and Juventus are in UEFA Champions League action next week, the title challengers away to CSKA Moscow, while the Serie A champions travel to Swedish champions Malmo FF on Wednesday.
GOLF
Cool Cullen wins Melbourne
Nick Cullen nervelessly struck a sublime bunker shot for a tap-in par putt on the last hole to win the A$1 million (US$867,000) Australian Masters by a stroke in Melbourne and frustrate Adam Scott’s bid for a hat-trick of titles yesterday. Clinging to a one-stroke lead on the 18th, Cullen’s approach shot found a steep sand-trap left of the green, but the unheralded Australian put his recovery within two feet of the hole to seal the biggest win of his career on a sun-drenched afternoon at the Metropolitan Golf Club. “I was trying to concentrate,” an ecstatic Cullen said as he wore the winner’s “gold” jacket. “I knew Adam was one shot back. I didn’t really want to have to go into a playoff with him... I got lucky hitting a great bunker shot on the last and didn’t have a very long putt.” The 30-year-old’s round of three-under 69 gave him a nine-under total of 279, one ahead of a trio of compatriots: world No. 2 Scott (68), James Nitties (70) and Josh Younger (69). After struggling with an opening round of 73 in searing northerly winds, Scott was forced to play catch-up all week and though he started yesterday four strokes adrift, the 34-year-old came agonizingly close to dragging Cullen into a playoff.
GOLF
PGA elects female officer
Suzy Whaley, a former LPGA player who qualified and played in a 2003 men’s PGA event, was elected on Saturday as the first femlae officer in the PGA of America’s history. The balloting all-but assures that Whaley, who was voted into a two-year term as secretary, will become the first president in the organization’s history in 2018 as officers typically rotate into higher PGA roles. Derek Sprague was elected president and Paul Levy was elected vice president. Each will serve in their post for the next two years, when Levy would typically rotate into the presidency and Whaley would move into the vice president’s role. Each step requires another vote, but typically the rotation approval is routine. Whaley, a golf teacher, became the first woman to qualify and play in a PGA event in 58 years when she took part in the 2003 Greater Hartford Open.
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