■ SWIMMING
Park wins 200m, 1,500m
Park Tae-hwan won the 200m and 1,500m freestyle races at a World Cup short-course swimming meet in Stockholm on Wednesday. The South Korean took the 200m in 1 minute, 43.87 seconds, then the 1,500m in 14 minutes, 36.42 seconds, more than 10 seconds ahead of runner-up Robert Margalis of the US. Sweden's Stefan Nystrand, who set a European record in winning the 100m free in 46.48 seconds on Tuesday, won the 50m free in 21.16 seconds. Eamon Sullivan of Australia finished second in 21.35 seconds.
■ SOCCER
Benelux bid welcomed
A joint bid by Belgium, the Netherlands and possibly Luxembourg to host the 2018 World Cup finals was welcomed by FIFA president Sepp Blatter on Wednesday, the Dutch Football Federation president said. Jeu Sprengers said that far from condemning them for putting together a joint bid, the Swiss supremo of FIFA had been encouraging about it. "Mr Blatter said that we were the first candidates to come to Zurich and show their dossier to FIFA," Sprengers said. "He added that our initiative opened up the way for smaller countries who didn't dare bid on their own."
■ RUGBY LEAGUE
Samoa clinch Cup spot
Samoa became the 10th and last side to qualify for next year's rugby league World Cup when they beat Lebanon 38-16 on Wednesday in the repechage match. Samoa wrapped up victory before halftime as they took a 28-8 lead in at the break with Chris Vaegafa, Tangi Ropati, Nigel Vagana and Frank Puletua touching down in the first half. Lebanon -- who made the last World Cup back in 2000 and beat Wales to get this far -- produced a gutsy display in the second half and ended up with three tries overall through Adham El-Zbaideh, Tom Joseph and Danny Chiha. However, two more tries from Andreas Bauer and Hutch Maiava sealed Samoa's place at the sport's global showpiece in Australia which begins on Oct. 25 next year.
■ SOCCER
Stars will quit: Morientes
Star players will quit the Italian league and move to Spain or England if soccer-related violence continues in Italy, Valencia's international striker Fernando Morientes said on Wednesday. "I am convinced that if the situation stays the same, those who will benefit will be teams in England or Spain because the big names will want to leave a complicated situation like that," he told a press conference. "If I ever get an offer from Italy, I would think twice because the situation right now is very tense," he said, adding Real Madrid's Italian defender Fabio Cannavaro has said he was pleased to be playing in Spain.
■ TENNIS
Murray parts with coach
British No. 1 tennis player Andy Murray has parted company with his US coach Brad Gilbert, it was revealed on Wednesday. Gilbert, a former coach of Andre Agassi, had been coaching the current world No. 11 since July last year after signing a three-year contract with the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA). But following speculation of a deteriorating personal relationship, Murray said: "Despite being injured for almost four months this year, I am pleased with my 2007 results and am very grateful for the help that the LTA have given me by providing Brad Gilbert as a coach. But the time has come to move on to the next stage of my career.
SSC Napoli’s Italian Serie A title hopes suffered a late setback on Sunday when they were held to a 2-2 draw at home against Genoa, setting up a thrilling season finale with closest rivals Inter just one point behind. The hosts remain top with 78 points, holding a slim lead over Inter, who won 2-0 at Torino earlier on Sunday, with two rounds remaining. To make matters worse for Napoli, midfielder Stanislav Lobotka, struggling with an ankle injury, was forced off just minutes after the match began. Scott McTominay delivered a perfect pass into the box where Romelu Lukaku got
Harry Kane opened the scoring ahead of lifting his first career silverware as Bayern Munich beat Borussia Moenchengladbach 2-0, with veteran Thomas Mueller playing his last home game for the club. Bayern officially won the title on May 4 when defending champions Bayer Leverkusen were held to a 2-2 draw at Freiburg, but were presented with the Bundesliga shield in front of their home fans at full-time. Dripping wet after being showered with beer by teammates, Kane said the title win was “an incredible feeling,” and hoped it would be “the first of many.” “It’s been lot of hard work, a lot of
Taiwanese e-sports veteran Lin “ET” Chia-hung yesterday successfully defended his King of Fighters XV title at this year’s Evolution Championship Series: Japan (EVO Japan), securing his second consecutive championship. Lin claimed victory with a 3-1 win over Japanese pro gamer “mok” in the grand final, repeating his earlier 3-1 win against the same opponent in the winners’ final. The 40-year-old earned a ￥1 million (US$6,897) cash prize at the two-day tournament, which drew 294 competitors. Mok, Lin’s toughest rival in the bracket, took home ￥400,000 as runner-up. Lin remains undefeated in match sets against mok in King of Fighters XV, holding a 10-0 record,
Batting great Virat Kohli yesterday announced his immediate retirement from Test cricket, just days before India name their squad for a tour to England. Kohli, who scored 9,230 runs in 123 matches at an average of 46.85, posted his decision on Instagram five days after India captain Rohit Sharma called time on his own Test career. Since making his debut in 2011, Kohli struck 30 hundreds and 31 fifties with a highest score of 254 not out, mainly batting at number four in the order. “It’s been 14 years since I first wore the baggy blue in Test cricket,” the
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