■ 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.
Shohei Ohtani and Clayton Kershaw on Friday joined their Los Angeles Dodgers teammates in sticking their fists out to show off their glittering World Series rings at a ceremony. “There’s just a lot of excitement, probably more than I can ever recall with the Dodger fan base and our players,” manager Dave Roberts said before Los Angeles rallied to beat the Detroit Tigers 8-5 in 10 innings. “What a way to cap off the first two days of celebrations,” Roberts said afterward. “By far the best opening week I’ve ever experienced. I just couldn’t have scripted it any better.” A choir in the
The famously raucous Hong Kong Sevens are to start today in a big test for a shiny new stadium at the heart of a major US$3.85 billion sports park in the territory. Officials are keeping their fingers crossed that the premier event in Hong Kong’s sporting and social calendar goes off without a hitch at the 50,000-seat Kai Tak Stadium. They hope to entice major European soccer teams to visit in the next few months, with reports in December last year saying that Liverpool were in talks about a pre-season tour. Coldplay are to perform there next month, all part of Hong Kong’s
After fleeing Sudan when civil war erupted, Al-Hilal captain Mohamed Abdelrahman and his teammates have defied the odds to reach the CAF Champions League quarter-finals. They are today to face title-holders Al-Ahly of Egypt in Cairo, with the return match in the Mauritanian capital, Nouakchott, on Tuesday next week. Al-Hilal and biggest domestic rivals Al-Merrikh relocated to Mauritania after a power struggle broke out in April 2023 between the Sudanese army and a paramilitary force. The civil war has claimed tens of thousands of lives and displaced more than 12 million people, according to the UN. The Democratic Republic of the Congo-born Al-Hilal
Shohei Ohtani, Teoscar Hernandez and Tommy Edman on Thursday smashed home runs to give the reigning World Series champions the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5-4 victory over Detroit on the MLB’s opening day in the US. The Dodgers, who won two season-opening games in Tokyo last week, raised their championship banner on a day when 28 clubs launched the season in the US. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts shuffled his batting lineup with all four leadoff hitters finally healthy as Ohtani was followed by Mookie Betts, then Hernandez and Freddie Freeman in the cleanup spot, switching places with Hernandez. “There’s a Teoscar tax to
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