■ Rugby
Maori battle to defeat Fiji
The New Zealand Maori rugby team geared up for next week's match against the British and Irish Lions with a tense 29-27 win over Fiji at National Stadium in Suva, Fiji yesterday. Both teams scored four tries but Fiji's most-capped player, flyhalf Nick Little, drifted a late conversion wide of the posts to prevent his team from earning a deserved draw. The match served as a preparation for both teams for larger encounters -- for Fiji against the All Blacks at Auckland on June 10 and for the Maori against the Lions at Hamilton on June 11. "Fiji played very well and were very combative," said Maori captain Jono Gibbes. "Another week together before we face the Lions will be of real benefit. Our set pieces overall were very stable and we worked off that well. I thought our midfield backs were also very penetrative. In terms of the Lions match this was invaluable. That's going to be a massive step up. I'm sure the Lions will be as passionate as Fiji were today."
■ Olympics
US employs star power
Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird and Larry Brown are among the who's-who list of stars who agreed on Thursday to help choose the US Olympic men's basketball team. USA Basketball, the sport's national governing body, wants to avoid the trouble that came in selecting the 2004 Olympic team, which finished third at the Athens Games. Last week, USA Basketball announced Jerry West, Ernie Grunfeld and a handful of NBA team presidents and general managers would be part of the advisory group. Other former players on the list this week included David Robinson, Charles Barkley, Bill Russell and Oscar Robertson. Other coaches included Dean Smith, Bob Knight, John Thompson and Chuck Daly. "I'm so grateful that these Olympians, both players and coaches, have chosen to assist, serve and engage in this process," said Phoenix Suns chairman Jerry Colangelo, who last month was appointed managing director of USA Basketball's senior men's program.
■ Soccer
Stuttgart fires Sammer
Stuttgart fired coach Matthias Sammer on Friday, ending its former player's tenure after just one season. Sammer, who as a player led Stuttgart to the Bundesliga championship in 1992, had two years left on contract. "We agreed this morning to go separate ways," Stuttgart president Erwin Staudt said, without naming a replacement. Sammer, a winner at the 1996 European Championship with Germany, replaced Felix Magath, who moved to Bayern Munich in May 2004. Before that, Sammer served four years as coach of Borussia Dortmund. Stuttgart finished the season in fifth place, failing to qualify for the lucrative Champions League.
■ Rugby
Wendell Sailor signed
Australian rugby union test winger Wendell Sailor said in Brisbane, Australia, yesterday, that he has signed a two-year contract to play for New South Wales next season, leaving the Queensland Reds and the state where he has played all of his professional football career. Sailor, who played 17 rugby league State of Origin matches for Queensland before switching codes in late 2001, also formerly played for the Brisbane Broncos rugby league team. Sailor, 30, had been frustrated by a lack of opportunities on the wing for Queensland.
TIGHT GAME: The Detroit Pistons, the NBA’s second-best team, barely outlasted the Washington Wizards, who fell to an NBA-worst 1-10 with their ninth consecutive loss Cade Cunningham’s triple double, Daniss Jenkins’ three-pointer at the buzzer and Javonte Green’s overtime dunk lifted Detroit past Washington 137-135 on Monday, stretching the Pistons’ win streak to seven games. In an unexpected thriller, the NBA’s second-best team barely outlasted a Wizards club that fell to an NBA-worst 1-10 with their ninth consecutive loss. “We knew how big this game was for us,” Jenkins said. “We wasn’t going to let nothing stop us from getting this W.” Cunningham made 14-of-45 shots and 16-of-18 free throws for a career-high 46 points, and added 12 rebounds, 11 assists, five steals and two
LIKE FINE WINE: Thirty-eight-year-old Djokovic won his 101st title of his career in Athens, becoming the oldest tournament winner since Ken Roswell, 44, in 1977 Elena Rybakina on Saturday clinched her biggest title since Wimbledon in 2022, defeating world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka 6-3, 7-6 (7/0) at the WTA Finals in Riyadh. The world No. 6 put on yet another serving masterclass and was at her returning best as she became the first Kazakh and the first player representing an Asian country to lift the WTA Finals singles trophy. Having gone 3-0 in round-robin play, Rybakina earned a record US$5.235 million and would finish the year ranked No. 5 in the world. “It’s been an incredible week, I honestly didn’t expect any result, and to go so far,
EMPTY STANDS: Maccabi fans were banned from attending by police, who cited violence and hate crimes when the team played Ajax in Amsterdam last season Aston Villa beat Israeli club Maccabi Tel Aviv 2-0 on Thursday in a Europa League game played amid heightened security measures, with more than 700 police officers deployed to deal with possible protests. Morgan Rogers put through Ian Maatsen in first-half stoppage time for the defender to score from a tight angle and Villa doubled the lead on the hour with Donyell Malen hitting the bottom corner from the penalty spot. It was Villa’s third win from games in the competition. The game at Villa Park had become the center of a political debate after Maccabi fans were banned from attending, as
An amateur soccer league organized by farmers, students and factory workers in rural China has unexpectedly drawn millions of fans and inspired big cities to form their own, raising hopes China can grow talent from the ground up and finally become a global force. The nation of 1.4 billion people has about 200 million soccer fans, more than any other country, but it has failed to build world-class teams, partly due to a top-down approach where clubs pick players from a very small pool of prescreened candidates. The professional game is marred by a history of fixed matches, corruption, and dismal performances,
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