■ ATHLETICS
Elanso wins Beirut marathon
Tamrat Elanso of Ethiopia won the Beirut International Marathon in Lebanon on Sunday, finishing the 42.2km race in 2 hours, 19 minutes, 46 seconds. Elanso, who earned US$3,000 for the win, was followed by David Kiplagat Kuino of Kenya in 2:21:51. Abraham Yilma Belete of Ethiopia was third in 2:21:54. About 20,000 runners took part in this year's race, which took a different route for the second consecutive year because of a year-long sit-in by the Hezbollah-led opposition in downtown Beirut.
■ Rodeo
Dead rider named champion
Australian rodeo rider Greg Meech was named all-round national champion on the same night he was trampled to death by a bull, news reports said yesterday. "On the completion of that bull ride we had the presentation night for the 2007 awards and Greg actually won the all-round champion in the cowboy title," National Rodeo Association spokesman Jason Hall told national broadcaster ABC. "He ... would have been crowned, or still is, the all-round champion for 2007." Meech, 33, died on Saturday in Ipswich Hospital from internal bleeding after he was thrown and trampled by a bull at a rodeo in Ipswich, near Brisbane.
■ Athletics
Psitet wins in Philadelphia
Kenya's Timothy Psitet won the Philadelphia Marathon in 2 hours, 25.01 minutes after dropping training partner and countryman Solomon Too at the 40km mark on Sunday. Too was second in 2:26.03. Kristin Price of the US won the women's title in 2:42.05. Psitet and Too broke together from the lead pack after 16km and tried to work together against the elements. At the 40th kilometer, Too began to weaken and gestured for Psitet to take over. "I told him to go ahead," Too said. "I started to have a headache and felt like I could fall down." Both winners said they were affected by the gusty winds and temperatures of around 5?C. "The winds were the worst part," Price said.
■ Motorsport
Johnson breaks record
Jimmie Johnson became the first driver to win consecutive NASCAR championships in nine years by wrapping up the title by finishing a trouble-free seventh in the season-ending Ford 400 in Florida on Sunday. He came into Homestead-Miami Speedway with a cushy 86-point lead over Jeff Gordon, his friend, mentor and teammate at Hendrick Motorsports. Although Johnson needed only to finish 18th or better, he refused to play it safe and crew chief Chad Knaus gave him a pole-winning car. Johnson led the first lap to earn a quick five-point bonus, then settled in for the 644km ride into the record books. At a time when no single team is supposed to dominate, the No. 48 crew did just that.
■ Golf
Tommy Armour takes title
Tommy Armour won the Callaway Pebble Beach Invitational, closing with a 2-under 70 for a two-stroke victory over Ronnie Black and Rocco Mediate in California on Sunday. The 48-year-old Armour, a two-time winner on the US PGA Tour, had a 16-under 272 total in the event that features both male and female players.
Black shot a 68, and Mediate had a 67. ``I just played good all week and never had a three-putt,'' said Armour, whose last tournament win was the 2003 Texas Open. ``I told myself this morning that I had to shoot 70 to win. I shot 70.
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
INTER AWAIT: Superb saves by PSG ’keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma inspired the victory, as Arsenal were punished for misses, including one by Bukayo Saka Arsenal on Wednesday fell short on the big stage again as their painful UEFA Champions League semi-final exit against Paris Saint-Germain left Mikel Arteta to rue his club’s failure to provide him with enough attacking options. Arteta’s side were unable to reach the Champions League final for the first time in 19 years as PSG clinched a tense 2-1 win at Parc des Princes. Trailing 1-0 from last week’s first leg in London, the Gunners made a blistering start to the second leg, but could not convert their chances as Gianluigi Donnarumma’s superb saves inspired PSG’s 3-1 aggregate victory. Arsenal were punished for
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,
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