■ Skiing
Bjorgen, Eigenmann win
Marit Bjorgen of Norway and Christoph Eigenmann of Switzerland won the first races on Sunday at the new Tour de Ski in Munich, Germany. The overall time winner at the six-race cross-country event will get 400 World Cup points. Eigenmann finished the 1.2km freestyle race in 2 minutes, 04.9 seconds to edge out Canada's Devon Kershaw by 1.4 seconds. Roddy Darragon of France was 2.6 back in third. Bjorgen won the women's 0.8km freestyle race in 1:35.1. Italy's Arianna Follis was second and Canada's Chandra Crawford third, both finishing 1.1 seconds behind. The event was held in Munich's 70,000-seat Olympic Stadium.
■ Biathlon
Ole Bjorndalen wins again
Ole Einar Bjorndalen won the biathlon World Team Challenge for the fourth straight year on Sunday in front of 52,000 spectators in Gelsenkirchen, Germany. Bjorndalen teamed up with fellow Norwegian Linda Grubben to capture the mixed-pair event in Gelsenkirchen's domed soccer stadium. The event isn't on the World Cup schedule, but offers competitors the year's biggest crowds. "We look forward to this event the whole year -- there is nothing like biathlon in Gelsenkirchen," Bjorndalen said. Bjorndalen and Grubben, who split 24,000 euros (US$31,000) in prize money, finished 18 rounds of 1,264m in 31 minutes, 17.2 seconds with two missed targets. Florence Bavarel and Robert-Julien Robert of France were second, followed by Germany's Martina Glagow and Michael Greis.
■ Soccer
Andres Oper nets a brace
Roda JC forward Andres Oper scored twice on Sunday to hold third-place AZ Alkmaar to a 2-2 draw in the Dutch league. Oper scored in the 23rd and 67th minutes before being sent off in the 79th for a second yellow card. Five minutes later, Barry Opdam, who had scored for AZ in the 65th, set up Danny Koevermans for the equalizer. Vitesse Arnhem rallied on a second-half goal by substitute Fred Benson to draw 2-2 with Heracles Almelo. Arnhem was in ninth place on 26 points, 27 fewer than leader PSV Eindhoven, which beat ADO The Hague 2-1 on Saturday on goals from Patrick Kluivert and Jefferson Farfan. Second-place Ajax also played Saturday and was held to a 2-2 draw at NEC Nijmegen, with Kenneth Perez and Gabri scoring for the Amsterdam team. Also on Saturday, it was: SC Heerenveen 0, FC Utrecht 0; Sparta Rotterdam 3, FC Twente 0 and RKC Waalwijk 0, FC Groningen 2. PSV has 53 points, 11 more than Ajax and 12 more than AZ. Feyenoord climbed past FC Twente into fourth on Friday with 39 points after beating Excelsior 3-1. The Eredivisie now has a 20-day winter break.
FRUSTRATION: Alcaraz made several unforced errors over four sets against Bosnian Damir Dzumhur, who had never made it past the third round in a major competition Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz reached the fourth round of the French Open after laboring past Damir Dzumhur 6-1, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 in the Friday night session. The second-seeded Spaniard had never before played Dzumhur, a 33-year-old Bosnian who had never been past the third round at any major tournament. “I suffered quite a lot today,” Alcaraz said. “The first two sets was under control, then he started to play more deeply and more aggressively. It was really difficult for me.” Dzumhur hurt his left knee in a fall in the second round, and had treatment on Friday on his right leg during the
‘DREAM’: The 5-0 victory was PSG’s first Champions League title, and the biggest final win by any team in the 70-year history of the top-flight European competition Paris Saint-Germain won the Champions League for the first time as Luis Enrique’s brilliant young side outclassed Inter on Saturday in the most one-sided final ever with teenager Desire Doue scoring twice in an astonishing 5-0 victory. Doue supplied the pass for Achraf Hakimi to give PSG an early lead and the 19-year-old went from provider to finisher as his deflected shot doubled the advantage in the 20th minute. Doue scored again just after the hour mark, ending any doubt about the outcome before Khvicha Kvaratskhelia ran away to get the fourth and substitute Senny Mayulu, another teenager, made it five. Inter were
The Greek basketball league finals between Panathinaikos and Olympiakos were suspended by the government on Monday following on-court scuffles involving rival security teams. The best-of-five series is at 1-1. The third game, scheduled for today, has been postponed. The owners of both clubs were summoned to meet with the country’s sports minister. They “will be asked to provide explicit guarantees that this situation will be brought to an end. If not, this year’s championship will be definitively canceled,” government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis said. “There can be no tolerance for such pathological phenomena of violence and delinquency.” In online posts, the owners of Panathinaikos and
Defender Steph Catley says her UEFA Women’s Champions League title win with Arsenal last week will act as motivation to secure continental glory with Australia when the country hosts the Women’s Asian Cup next year. Catley and compatriots Caitlin Foord and Kyra Cooney-Cross were part of the Arsenal squad that defeated Barcelona in Lisbon on Sunday last week, before flying to Melbourne to feature in the Matildas’ 2-0 win over Argentina on Friday. The game was the first in a two-match series against the South Americans as the Australians continue preparations for the continental championship in March next year, when they would
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