■ RALLYING
Hirvonen takes lead
Finland's Mikko Hirvonen, driving a Ford Focus, led the Rally of Great Britain after Friday's rain-hit opening day, ahead of Marcus Gronholm and three-time defending world champion Sebastien Loeb. After the day's six special stages, or 140km of timed sections, Hirvonen led Finland's Gronholm by 39 seconds and Loeb by 57 seconds. Hirvonen won five of the six special stages.
■ Stunt riding
Legendary daredevil dies
Motorcycle daredevil Evel Knievel, who wowed and terrified crowds with his daring long-distance leaps and equally spectacular falls, died on Friday at the age of 69, his Web site said. The site gave no cause of death for Knievel, the man who survived death-defying stunts in the 1960s and 1970s, notably a 1974 jump over the Snake River Canyon in Idaho with a rocket-propelled bike. But US media said Knievel died of lung failure. He also suffered from diabetes and liver disease. Knievel finally retired at the end of the 1970s, without achieving his dream of leaping the Grand Canyon on his bike, as the authorities refused permission to install the necessary ramp in the national park.
■ Soccer
Hannover leave it late
Frank Fahrenhorst scored in the 84th minute to spark a late goal burst as Hannover 96 beat Hansa Rostock 3-0 on Friday, Rostock's third loss in four games. Fahrenhorst scored from a header while Mike Hanke followed in the 86th and Jiri Stajner a minute later as Hannover won for the second time in six games and moved up to sixth place in the Bundesliga. The game appeared to be headed toward a draw in the last 10 minutes when Szabolcs Huszti's free kick was deflected toward Fahrenhorst, who converted to spark the goal spree.
■ Soccer
South Africa drop McCarthy
South Africa have ditched star striker Benni McCarthy for next year's African Nations Cup in Ghana. Brazilian coach Carlos Alberto Parreira also dumped first choice defender Bradley Carnell and midfielders Delron Buckley and Macbeth Sibaya from a 23-man squad named on Friday. McCarthy's Blackburn Rovers teammate Aaron Moekoena (68 caps) and Arminia Bielefeld striker Sibusiso Zuma (59) are easily the most experienced members of a group that includes eight overseas-based players and 15 from the South Africa Premiership. Goalkeeper Itumeleng Khune from Kaizer Chiefs and striker Excellent Walaza from Orlando Pirates are the two uncapped players in a squad grouped with Angola, Senegal and Tunisia in a wide open Nations Cup mini-league.
■ Soccer
Champions League changing
UEFA is opening up the Champions League to more clubs from smaller countries. In a number of changes to the competition approved on Friday, UEFA also said three English, Italian and Spanish clubs will qualify automatically for the Champions League starting in 2009. Under the current format, only the top two teams from the English Premier League, Italy's Serie A and Spain's La Liga are guaranteed a spot in the group stage. That season's final in 2010 will then be held on a Saturday for the first time, instead of its traditional Wednesday date. UEFA's executive committee said six of the 32 places in the group stage would be reserved for champions from Europe's less competitive leagues, to bring more countries into the continent's top club competition.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
Japanese players are moving to English soccer in record numbers and more look set to follow with clubs attracted by their quality, strong work ethic and value for money. Kaoru Mitoma is the standout talent of five Japanese players in the English Premier League, with eight more in the Championship and two in League One. Liverpool midfielder Wataru Endo, the captain of Japan, believes his compatriots are “being held in higher esteem” by English clubs compared with the past. “The staff at Liverpool ask me about lots of Japanese players, not necessarily with a view to a transfer, but just saying this or
Taiwan yesterday survived Bosnia and Herzegovina to win their Davis Cup World Group I tie at the Taipei Tennis Center. The tight series started on Saturday with world No. 123 Jason Tseng losing 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 to Mirza Basic in the opening singles matchup. However, teammate Tony Wu kept the tie even, dominating world No. 86 Damir Dzumhur 6-2, 6-1. Yesterday, 24-year-old Ray Ho and partner 25-year-old Hsu Yu-hsiou kept up the momentum, making short work of Basic and Nerman Fatic, winning 6-3, 6-4. Tseng then suffered another defeat, losing 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 to Dzumhur in a brutal match that lasted more than two
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