■ Golf
Netherlands take the lead
Will Besseling shot a 7-under 65 on Saturday to help the Netherlands take a two-stroke lead over the US, Canada and Wales after the third round of the World Amateur Team Championship in Stellenbosch, South Africa. Joost Luiten added a 70 to give the Netherlands a 15-under 417 total. Tim Sluiter shot a 75, with only the top two scores counting in the team total. Chris Kirk and Trip Kuehne had 70s for the US, the three-time defending Eisenhower Trophy champion and 13-time winner overall. Jonathan Moore shot a 72.
■ Motorsport
Race driver shot dead
An amateur race car driver was shot dead at a track near the Colombian capital on Saturday minutes before taking his position at the starting line, the police said. Witnesses said German Neira's assailant entered the pits at a race track in Tocancipa, north of Bogota, and using a firearm equipped with a silencer shot Neira four times, in the head and back. The victim died shortly after being taken to a hospital, said Colonel Cesar Rojas, the local head of police. Police chased and captured the alleged assassin and an accomplice, both minors, but other men waiting for the two in a motorcycle and car escaped. "The assailant tried to escape through the back entrance of the race track, but an alarm call was immediately sounded and the police were able to detain him," Fernando Escobar, the manager of the track, told reporters.
■ Rugby Union
Umaga to retire next year
Former New Zealand captain Tana Umaga was to make his club debut for second division Toulon against Lyon yesterday. He is reported to be pocketing around 300,000 euros (US$382,374) for playing for Toulon until January, when he is to return home to play for the Wellington Hurricanes in the Super-14 tournament. Umaga, who was declared an honorary citizen and received a medal of honor on his arrival, said that he would play one more season in the Super 14 and then retire completely from rugby. "I'm very privileged and honored to be here, and a little bit embarrassed to be given this medal," Umaga said
■ Soccer
Matches rocked by violence
More violence accompanied German soccer matches over the weekend, with police on Saturday releasing injury and arrest totals from two separate incidents the previous day. Twenty-three police officers were injured, four of them requiring hospitalization, after they clashed with hundreds of Dresden fans at Friday's regional league game at Hertha Berlin II. Injuries ranged from bruised ribs, ankle and wrist injuries to suspected bone splinters. Reports said 15 fans were injured. In Augsburg, 56 fans were hospitalized on Friday after police also used pepper spray to halt rampaging 1860 Munich supporters at a second-division game against FC Augsburg. Augsburg police reported 21 arrests, while Berlin police said 22 Dresden fans were taken into custody.
■ Basketball
Celtics' Red Auerbach dies
Red Auerbach, who coached the Boston Celtics to nine NBA championships in the 1950s and 1960s, died on Saturday. He was 89. Auerbach won 938 games with the Celtics and was the coach with the most wins in NBA history until Lenny Wilkens overtook him in the 1994-1995 season. As general manager, the straight-talking Auerbach was also the architect of Celtics teams that won seven more titles in the 1970s and 1980s. He died of a heart attack, an NBA official said.
■ Baseball
Jones to play in Japan
Chicago Cubs outfielder Jacque Jones was added on Saturday to US Major League Baseball's roster for its All-Star tour of Japan, completing the 27-man squad. Jones hit .285 with 27 home runs and 81 RBIs this year, his first with the Cubs. The Japan All-Star Series 2006 will consist of five games in Tokyo, Osaka and Fukuoka from Nov. 3 to Nov. 8. The US MLB team also will face the Yomiuri Giants in Tokyo on Nov. 2. New San Francisco manager Bruce Bochy will manage the team.
■ Triathlon
Aussies dominate at Noosa
Australians Craig Walton and Felicity Abram won the Olympic-distance Noosa Triathlon in Australia yesterday while world and Commonwealth Games champion Emma Snowsill placed third despite an injury. Walton, who is recovering from glandular fever, led throughout the men's race to finish in a time of 1 hour, 47 minutes and 46 seconds for the 1,500m swim, 40km cycle and 10k run. New Zealanders Bevan Docherty and Kris Gemmell placed second and third. Australian Snowsill finished behind Abram -- the world bronze medalist who won Sunday in 2:00.23 -- and Australia's Annabel Luxford. Snowsill, who was trying to win her fourth Noosa title in a row, suffered a badly sprained ankle in a training run on Friday.
■ Hockey
Bomb threat halts game
Police stopped a game in Sweden's first-division ice hockey league during the third period and evacuated the packed arena after receiving a bomb threat. The game between Farjestad and Modo in Karlstad in southern Sweden was stopped with less than eight minutes to go in the third period with host Modo leading 2-0. Police said two bomb threats against the arena were called in during the game, which caused officials to stop play and evacuate the 8,250 people in Lofbergs Lila arena. "In this case, the threat was deemed serious," police spokesman Christer Loof said. It was unclear whether Modo would be awarded the win or if the game would resume at a later date. Police dogs were called in to search the arena during the evening, but no bomb was immediately found.
■ Boxing
Trevor Berbick found dead
Former heavyweight boxing champion Trevor Berbick was found dead in a church courtyard on Saturday with chop wounds to his head in a suspected homicide. Berbick, who was believed to be 52 and was beset by legal problems following his retirement from the ring, lost his heavyweight title to Mike Tyson and was the last boxer to fight Muhammad Ali. Berbick's body was discovered at about 6:30am in his hometown parish of Portland, Jamaica, constable Beverly Howell said. Police have arrested a man whom they are interrogating at the Port Antonio police station, Constable Sheldon Francis said.
RECORD DEFEAT: The Shanghai-based ‘Oriental Sports Daily’ said the drubbing was so disastrous, and taste so bitter, that all that is left is ‘numbness’ Chinese soccer fans and media rounded on the national team yesterday after they experienced fresh humiliation in a 7-0 thrashing to rivals Japan in their opening Group C match in the third phase of Asian qualifying for the 2026 World Cup. The humiliation in Saitama on Thursday against Asia’s top-ranked team was China’s worst defeat in World Cup qualifying and only a goal short of their record 8-0 loss to Brazil in 2012. Chinese President Xi Jinping once said he wanted China to host and even win the World Cup one day, but that ambition looked further away than ever after a
‘KHELIFMANIA’: In the weeks since the Algerian boxer won gold in Paris, national enthusiasm is inspiring newfound interest in the sport, particularly among women In the weeks since Algeria’s Imane Khelif won an Olympic gold medal in women’s boxing, athletes and coaches in the North African nation say national enthusiasm is inspiring newfound interest in the sport, particularly among women. Khelif’s image is practically everywhere, featured in advertisements at airports, on highway billboards and in boxing gyms. The 25-year-old welterweight’s success in Paris has vaulted her to national hero status, especially after Algerians rallied behind her in the face of uninformed speculation about her gender and eligibility to compete. Amateur boxer Zougar Amina, a medical student who has been practicing for a year, called Khelif an
Crowds descended on the home of 17-year-old Chinese diver Quan Hongchan after she won two golds at the Paris Olympics while gymnast Zhang Boheng hid in a Beijing airport toilet to escape overzealous throngs of fans. They are just two recent examples of what state media are calling “toxic fandom” and Chinese authorities have vowed to crack down on it. Some of the adulation toward China’s sports stars has been more sinister — fans obsessing over athletes’ personal lives, cyberbullying opponents or slamming supposedly crooked judges. Experts say it mirrors the kind of behavior once reserved for entertainment celebrities before
GOING GLOBAL: The regular season fixture is part of the football league’s increasingly ambitious plans to spread the sport to international destinations The US National Football League (NFL) breaks new ground in its global expansion strategy tomorrow when the Philadelphia Eagles and Green Bay Packers face off in the first-ever grid-iron game staged in Brazil. For one night only, the land of Pele and ‘The Beautiful Game’ will get a rare glimpse into the bone-crunching world of American football as the Packers and Eagles collide at Sao Paulo’s Neo Quimica Arena, the 46,000-seat home of soccer club Corinthians. The regular season fixture is part of the NFL’s increasingly ambitious plans to spread the US’ most popular sport to new territories following previous international fixtures
RSS