■ Soccer
D.C. United edge Fire
Andy Herron scored in the 62nd minute and the Chicago Fire beat nine-man D.C. United 1-0 in a feisty Major League Soccer (MLS) match in Bridgeview, Illinois, on Sunday. United's Bryan Namoff, the recipient of a yellow card earlier in the match, was red-carded in the 73rd minute for taking down Herron. Teammate Joshua Gros was ejected in the 88th after a tackle on Thiago, who left the field holding a cloth to his face. In other MLS action, the Houston Dynamo's Alejandro Moreno apparent goal on a header in the final seconds of injury time was wiped out by an offside call, leaving them tied with Chivas USA in a 0-0 draw.
■ Golf
Poulter ends long drought
Flamboyant English golfer Ian Poulter ended a nearly two-year wait for a win on the European Tour when he won the Madrid Masters by five strokes on Sunday. Poulter carded a three-under-par 69 on his final round to finish a total of 22 under par to beat Spaniard Ignacio Garrido, who scored 66 on his final round. Welshman Phillip Price finished third, one stroke behind Garrido and one stroke ahead of Ireland's Padraig Harrington. Of the Ryder Cup team members playing in the Spanish event, Harrington finished with the best score. Spain's Jose Maria Olazabal finished nine shots behind Poulter.
■ Basketball
US women demolish France
The two-time defending champion US team crushed France 76-41 in the second round to remain unbeaten at the women's world basketball championship in Brazil on Sunday. Diana Taurasi led the US with 15 points to guarantee a berth in the final eight. With the top four advancing to the quarterfinals, the US has 8 points, the Czechs 7 and France 6, followed by Russia, Cuba and China with 5 each. The Czechs edged Russia 85-83 on 25 points from Eva Viteckova, and China beat Cuba 73-70. Australia remains the only other unbeaten team and also secured a quarterfinals spot after frustrating host Brazil 82-73. In other games, Lithuania dominated Argentina 62-47, and Spain beat Canada 85-57.
■ Soccer
Porto shuts out Naval
Two first-half goals brought FC Porto a 2-0 win over Naval and put the defending champion three points clear at the top of the Portuguese league on Sunday. Defender Marek Cech completed a counterattack with a neat scoring shot after 10 minutes. Mario Sergio deflected the ball into his own goal in the 26th as he lunged to stop a superb solo run by Bosingwa. Sporting Lisbon surprisingly lost 1-0 at home to Pacos Ferreira on Saturday, though Brazilian striker Ronny used his hand to score the goal. The referee awarded the goal despite the home team's furious protests. In other action it was, Martimo 0, Aves 0; Academica 1, Belenenses 1; Beira Mar 2, Amadora 0.
■ Soccer
Sao Paulo `reborn' with win
Smarting from its loss to Internacional in the Copa Libertadores finals last month, Sao Paulo won the second matchup 2-0 and widened its lead atop the Brazilian league on Sunday. Striker Lensilson angled in a header in the eighth minute, and even after Silva was sent off in the 54th, Sao Paulo doubled its lead when Junior drilled home his shot in the 70th. Sao Paulo was "reborn" after the victory, coach Muricy Ramalho said. The team has 46 points, followed by Gremio on 42, Internacional at 40, and Santos at 39.
■ Tennis
Baghdatis wins China Open
Third-seeded Marcos Baghdatis won his first career title on Sunday when he defeated Croatia's Mario Ancic 6-4, 6-0 in the China Open final. Australian Open runner-up Baghdatis of Cyprus upped the tempo in the second set roll past fourth-seeded Ancic, who was contesting his first tournament after a two-month layoff due to injury. After making the quarterfinals at Wimbledon this year, Ancic hurt his back and knee in a yachting accident and was sidelined until this week. The China Open was his fourth finals appearance this season.
■ Tennis
Youzhny wants revenge
Mikhail Youzhny hopes to teach Andy Roddick a lesson in clay court tennis when Russia host the US in the Davis Cup semi-final this week in Moscow. Youzhny said he would love to avenge his defeat to the big-serving American in the US Open semi-finals earlier this month. "Hopefully, if we meet again the outcome would be totally different," the Russian said in an interview ahead of the three-day tie on clay at the Olympic Sports Complex. "It would be a totally different match, having little resemblance to our last meeting. It was on his terms as it was played on a hard court in New York, now we're going to meet on clay and in Moscow."
■ Soccer
German referee warns fans
A German referee threatened to end a Bundesliga match because of racist taunts from the crowd. Michael Weiner warned fans over the loudspeaker that he would end Saturday's game between Alemannia Aachen and Borussia Moenchengladbach if the words "asylum seeker" were heard again. It was directed at Moenchengladbach's Brazilian forward, Kahe, during Aachen's 4-2 home win. "The decision from Mr. Weiner was completely right," German referees head Volker Roth said on Sunday. "Racism doesn't belong in a football stadium -- that's why the referees were told again not to tolerate such smears." Germany striker Gerald Asamoah, who is black, was racially taunted last week in a German Cup match. On Friday, the German soccer federation fined Hansa Rostock 20,000 euros (US$25,446) because fans of its development team had taunted the Schalke player.
■ Rugby Union
Waseda defeat Dark Blues
A penalty goal by Ayumu Goromaru with three minutes to go lifted Tokyo's Waseda University to a 22-20 victory over Oxford University in rain in Tokyo on Sunday. The Dark Blues completed their three-match tour of Japan with one win and two defeats. They beat Osaka's Doshisha University 34-28 on Sept. 9 but lost to Kanto Gakuin University 17-7 here last Wednesday. Full back Goromaru scored the winner in the 37th minute of the second half after the home side yielded a try to Oxford in the 27th minute and gave up their 19-15 lead.
More than 180 years of horse racing came to an end in Singapore on Saturday, as the Singapore Turf Club hosted its final race day before its track is handed back to the Singaporean government to provide land for new homes. Under an overcast sky, the air-conditioned VIP boxes were full of enthusiasts, socialites and expats, while the grounds and betting halls below hosted mostly older-generation punters. The sun broke through for the last race, the last-ever Grand Singapore Gold Cup. The winner, South African jockey Muzi Yeni, echoed a feeling of loss shared by many on the day. “I’d
Former world No. 2 Paula Badosa has withdrawn from this week’s Wuhan Open, organizers said on Tuesday, amid a racism row over an online photograph. Tournament organizers said the Spaniard had pulled out of the WTA 1000 tournament, citing a gastrointestinal illness, hours before her first-round match against Australian Ajla Tomljanovic. News outlets including Britain’s the Telegraph earlier reported that Badosa had posted a photo on Instagram in which she appeared to imitate a Chinese face by placing chopsticks on the corners of her eyes. The photo was taken last week in a restaurant in Beijing, where she reached the semi-finals of the
PREDICTION: Last week, when Yu’s father made a wrong turn to the former champions’ parking lot, he said that his son could park there after this year With back-to-back birdies on the 18th hole, Kevin Yu fulfilled his driving range-owning dad’s prediction that he would win the Sanderson Farms Championship and become Taiwan’s third golfer to claim a US PGA Tour title. The Taoyuan-born 26-year-old, who represented Taiwan in the Olympic golf at Paris, saw off Californian Beau Hossler in a playoff at the Country Club of Jackson, Mississippi, on Sunday. Having drained a 15-foot putt to claw his way into the playoff, Yu rolled in from five feet on the first extra hole, ensuring he joined Chen Tze-chung (LA Open in 1987) and Pan Cheng-tsung (RBC
LeBron James and eldest son Bronny James claimed a piece of NBA history on Sunday after making their long-awaited first appearance alongside each other for the Los Angeles Lakers. The duo appeared together at the start of the second quarter in the Lakers’ 118-114 preseason defeat to the Phoenix Suns in Palm Desert, east of Los Angeles. While LeBron James impressed with 19 points in just 16 minutes and 20 seconds on court before sitting out the second half, Bronny found the going harder with zero points in just over 13 minutes on court. The younger James attempted just one
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