■ Rugby Union
Ex-player subdues man
A former international rugby player was among passengers who helped to subdue a man who became violent during a domestic flight yesterday, New Zealand police said. The 42-year-old man apparently became agitated because he failed to take his medication and attacked a nearby passenger as the flight from Auckland came in to land at Wellington, Sergeant Roly Gascoine said. Other passengers, including former New Zealand All Black Ofisa Tonu'u, restrained the man for about 10 minutes and handed him over to police who were waiting when the airplane touched down, Gascoine said. The man had not taken his prescription medicine, Gascoine said, without providing details.
PHOTO: AP
■ Boxing
Deportees return to Cuba
Two boxers deported by Brazil were back in Cuba after they disappeared during the Pan American Games last month and were arrested at a resort where officials said they partied and ran up an exorbitant bill. Convalescing Cuban President Fidel Castro said in comments published on Sunday that the boxers would be confined to guest houses upon their return, although he promised not to harshly punish them. Guillermo Rigondeaux, Cuba's top boxer and a two-time Olympic bantamweight champion, and Erislandy Lara, an amateur welterweight world champion, arrived in Havana early on Sunday after being deported from Brazil.
■ Motorsport
Gronholm wins Finnish rally
Marcus Gronholm won the Finnish world championship rally on Sunday, beating Ford teammate Mikko Hirvonen by 24.2 seconds. World champion Sebastien Loeb of France was third in a Citroen, 1:09.9 behind. Gronholm increased his lead in the overall standings from nine to 13 points ahead of Loeb. Gronholm has 75 points, Loeb 62 and third-placed Hirvonen has 57 points. Gronholm finished the 360.34km of special stages in 2 hours, 27 minutes, 56.1 seconds. For Gronholm, world champion in 2000 and 2002, it was the seventh win in his eight last starts on home soil, the fast gravel roads in central Finland, 270km north of Helsinki.
■ Soccer
Beckham misses MLS debut
David Beckham missed his scheduled Major League Soccer (MLS) debut, failing to play in the Los Angeles Galaxy's match at Toronto FC on Sunday. Beckham, still bothered by a sore left ankle, wasn't among the starting 11 or seven substitutes for the game, played before a sellout crowd of 20,500. Beckham sprained his left ankle while playing for England against Estonia in a European Championship qualifier on June 6, then hurt it again during Real Madrid's season finale on June 17. On Saturday, the 32-year-old midfielder said he cannot plant or turn without pain and is seven to 10 days from being able to start.
■ Soccer
Porto win tournament
Portuguese champions Porto scored three first-half goals to defeat Shanghai Shenhua of China and win the Port of Rotterdam tournament on Sunday. Tarik Sektioui opened the scoring after five minutes and Leandro Lima struck twice in three minutes shortly before the interval to seal victory. Porto edged Liverpool, who fought back from a goal down to draw 1-1 against hosts Feyenoord, on goal difference. Feyenoord grabbed the lead on the stroke of halftime when Royston Drenthe netted a rebound after Andwele Slory hit the post.
Aaliyah Edwards on Monday pulled off the stunner of the opening round of the Unrivaled one-on-one tournament, beating top-seeded Breanna Stewart 12-0. The tournament to be played over three days featured 23 of the WNBA’s 36 players. A few had other commitments and a couple others were out with injuries. Stewart got the ball first against Edwards and missed a contested layup. Edwards then hit a three-pointer from the corner and a jumper from the elbow to go up 5-0. The player who scores keeps the basketball. Edwards hit two layups and a three-pointer to seal the win. Stewart, a two-time WNBA Most Valuable Player,
The Philippines curling team has been rocking it in Harbin, claiming the tropical nation’s first Asian Winter Games medal yesterday with a victory in the men’s final against South Korea. The team of Marc Pfister, Alan Frei, Christian Haller, Enrico Pfister and alternate Benjo Delarmente took gold with a 5-3 win at Harbin Pingfang Curling Arena. The Philippines Olympic Committee was quick to celebrate with a post on Instagram to mark the historic gold. “This is the first-ever medal for the Philippines at the Asian Winter Games, and the highest achievement for a Southeast Asian athlete in the Games’ history! What an incredible
Taiwan’s Lin Yun-ju and Kao Cheng-jui were defeated by their Chinese counterparts 3-0 on Saturday in the men’s doubles final at the World Table Tennis (WTT) Singapore Smash. Lin and Kao received their silver medals after being defeated by third-seeded duo Lin Shidong and Wang Chuqin of China 2-11, 4-11, 11-13. The Taiwan pair were left playing catch-up early in the match after the Chinese duo proved unstoppable in the first and second game. Although Lin and Kao picked up their pace in the third game and at one point took a 10-8 lead, they were crucially unable to take
Taiwan’s Wu Fang-hsien on Tuesday dumped compatriot and second seed Hsieh Su-wei out of the women’s doubles at the Qatar Open to set up another potential Taiwanese showdown, while world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka suffered a shock defeat in the second round. Wu and partner Jiang Xinyu, who earlier this year won the ASB Classic in Auckland and the Hobart International, defeated Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia 6-2, 6-7 (3/7), 10-5 in 1 hour, 29 minutes on Grandstand Court 3 at the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex. Wu and Jiang on Sunday advanced to the round-of-16 with a 7-6 (7/7),