■ Sailing
Ellen MacArthur at it again
British sailor Ellen MacArthur, who last year set the fastest solo around-the-world record, embarked from Yokohama, Japan, yesterday on a new voyage to establish a series of new records between major ports in Asia. MacArthur, 29, will cover more than 7,250km in total distance over the Yellow Sea, the East China Sea and the South China Sea. The first leg will take her from Yokohama south of Tokyo to South Korea's Jeju island. She will then make stops at eight ports in China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Vietnam and Malaysia before her scheduled finish at Singapore on May 12, according to the itinerary published on her official Web site. No yacht voyage record has been set on the route, Kyodo News agency reported. In February 2005, MacArthur set the solo round-the-world record of 71 days, 14 hours, 18 minutes, 33 seconds.
■ Auto Racing
Loeb leads in Catalunya
Sebastien Loeb led the Catalunya Rally after the first six stages in Riudecanyes, Spain on Friday, on a day marred by the death of a German co-driver. Loeb took advantage of other drivers' mechanical problems to lead in his Citroen with a time of 1 hour, 16 minutes, 7 seconds. The Frenchman was 27.3 seconds ahead of Daniel Sordo of Spain, who drove his Citroen into second place. Marcus Gronholm of Finland won the first three stages before having mechanical problems with his Ford. He could only manage 10th place by the end of the day, 2:33.6 behind the leader.
■ Boxing
Bailey easily beats Arroyo
Former WBO junior welterweight champion Randall Bailey (30-5) won a lopsided unanimous decision over Costa Rica's Lenin Arroyo (15-4-1) in Miami, Florida on Friday. Bailey's speed and power shots frustrated Arroyo throughout the eight-round welterweight bout at Miccosukee Indian Gaming. Early in the second, Bailey floored Arroyo with a right to the head for the fight's only knockdown. All three judges scored the bout for Bailey, 77-74, 78-73 and 79-72.
■ Athletics
Ben Johnson a `cheetah'
Former sprint world record holder Ben Johnson is trading on his disgraced past, endorsing a sports drink called Cheetah in a TV commercial. The Toronto Star reports that Johnson is featured in two commercials for the Cheetah Power Surge sports drink. One ad is a mock interview between Johnson and Frank D'Angelo, the president and chief executive of D'Angelo Brands which makes the drink. D'Angelo asks Johnson: "Ben, when you run, do you Cheetah?" "Absolutely," Johnson says. "I Cheetah all the time." The other commercial includes Johnson and a cheetah, the world's fastest land animal, and encourages viewers to "go ahead and Cheetah." Johnson was approached by D'Angelo a few months ago about the campaign.
■ Soccer
Atletico dodges the bullet
Atletico Madrid escaped closure of its Vicente Calderon stadium after the Spanish soccer federation chose to fine the club 3,000 euros over crowd trouble that led to the temporary suspension of a match against Sevilla. Atletico has been warned that a repetition of the crowd incidence will lead to the stadium's closure, the club's Web site said yesterday.
‘AWFUL PERFORMANCE’: Golden State were always chasing the game after failing to threaten from long range, making just eight of 33 three-point attempts Aaron Gordon on Monday scored 38 points as the Denver Nuggets shrugged off the absence of Nikola Jokic to halt the Golden State Warriors’ seven-game winning streak with a 114-105 victory over their Western Conference rivals. A dazzling display from Gordon inspired what was ultimately a comfortable win for Denver, who were missing regular starters Jokic and Jamal Murray from their lineup. The absentees were barely felt by Denver, who startled the Warriors early at San Francisco’s Chase Center and led for most of the game. The Warriors threatened to stage a late rally after slashing the Nuggets’ fourth-quarter lead from 15 points
Barcelona’s Ferran Torres scored twice on Sunday to help secure a late 4-2 comeback win at Atletico Madrid in a pulsating La Liga clash that took the Catalan side back to the top of the table. Barca have 60 points and a game in hand after last week’s postponement of their home game with CA Osasuna. They are level on points with Real Madrid, who won 2-1 at Villarreal on Saturday. “I am happy and proud of this team,” Barcelona head coach Hansi Flick told a news conference. “They never give up... It’s a great three points and we are happy to
The US’ bid for a fourth consecutive CONCACAF Nations League title came to a stunning end as they fell 1-0 to Panama after a stoppage-time goal from Cecilio Waterman on Thursday in Inglewood, California. Despite dominating possession, the US struggled to break down a resilient Panama side for long periods. Panama spent the bulk of the match defending, but pounced on a giveaway by the US before substitute forward Waterman sent a shot from the right side of the area to the bottom left corner late in stoppage time. Up next for Panama in tomorrow’s final is to be Mexico, who beat
Chris Wood has fired Nottingham Forest into surprise UEFA Champions League contention and now the striker wants to score the goals to help New Zealand make history at the FIFA World Cup. New Zealand are strong favorites to qualify out of the Oceania region over the next week and reach the World Cup for only the third time. At the country’s two previous appearances at the finals, in 1982 and 2010, they have failed to win a match in six attempts. With Wood captaining the side and leading from the front, he told local media yesterday that the current squad can finally deliver
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