■ RUGBY UNION
Spies cleared to play
Former Springboks No. 8 Pierre Spies is en route to New Zealand to try and help slumping Super 14 champions the Bulls. Spies was cleared to play for the first time in eight months, ever since he was dropped from South Africa's World Cup squad last August, just days before the tournament that the Springboks would win. Dawie Spies, the player's uncle, told Afrikaans Sunday newspaper Sondag that specialists cleared Spies and he took the first available flight to New Zealand, where the Bulls were on tour. "It's a wonderful day for our family to get such news," Dawie Spies said. Pierre Spies coughed up blood at a Springboks practice and tests revealed blood clots on his lungs. The exact nature of his illness was never determined but he finally stopped taking blood-thinning medication at the end of last month. That allowed Spies and the Bulls to plan his return halfway through their tour. Western Force the following Friday before returning home.
■ SOCCER
Honduras grab late victory
Georgie Wilson Welcome scored in the 103rd minute to give Honduras a 1-0 victory over the US in Nashville, Tennessee, on Sunday in the final of the CONCACAF Olympic qualifying tournament. In the championship matchup of North American under-23 teams that had already booked their trips to the Beijing Olympics in August, Welcome beat US goalkeeper Dominic Cervi to the far post in the first period of extra time for the decider. The Hondurans got revenge for a 1-0 round-robin loss to the US squad eight days ago on Eddie Gaven's penalty kick five minutes into stoppage time.
■ BOXING
Pacquiao returns a hero
New World Boxing Council (WBC) super-featherweight champion Manny Pacquiao returned home to the Philippines yesterday to a hero's welcome and said he was not ruling out a second rematch with Mexico's Juan Manuel Marquez. Philippine Cabinet officials joined Pacquiao's wife and three young children in welcoming the 29-year-old slugger, a week after a bruising 12 rounder with Marquez whom he beat by a split decision to grab the title in Las Vegas. The March 16 fight was a rematch of a 2004 draw in which Pacquiao knocked Marquez to the canvas three times in the first round. Now, Marquez's camp claims errors in judging and says a second rematch would settle the matter once and for all. Pacquiao, who took home a purse of at least US$5 million from the fight, said yesterday he was looking at going up to the lightweight division to face WBC champ David Diaz. But he says that can wait and he would oblige Marquez.
■ CYCLING
Meares to miss track meet
Anna Meares, the world record holder and gold medalist in the 500m time trial at the 2004 Olympics, will miss this week's world track cycling championships, placing her Beijing Games status in doubt. Meares is still recovering from a serious race accident she suffered during a World Cup meet in Los Angeles on Jan. 20. Cycling Australia yesterday announced its final team for the world titles which begin tomorrow in Manchester, England. Meares was replaced by Kaarle McCulloch in the sprint events. Given the complexity of the Olympic qualifying process, it is unclear how Meares' absence will affect her selection chances for Beijing. The women's 500m time trial is no longer on the Olympic program, meaning that Meares would have to attempt to qualify in other sprint events for Beijing.
Freddie Freeman homered and drove in four runs, Shohei Ohtani also went deep and Roki Sasaki earned his first major league win as the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Atlanta Braves 10-3 on Saturday night for their seventh straight victory. The Dodgers have won the first two games of the series to improve to 5-0 against Atlanta this year. Los Angeles’ three-game sweep at home early in the season left the Braves 0-7. Sasaki allowed three runs and six hits over five innings. The 23-year-old right-hander gave up a home run to Ozzie Albies, but received plenty of offensive support in his
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
Bayern Munich on Sunday were crowned German champions for the 34th time, giving striker Harry Kane his first major trophy, after second-placed Bayer 04 Leverkusen drew 2-2 at SC Freiburg. Bayern’s 3-3 draw at RB Leipzig on Saturday, when the Bavarians came from two goals down to take the lead before conceding a stoppage-time equalizer, meant defending Bundesliga champions Leverkusen needed to win at Freiburg to delay the title party. Leverkusen were two goals down before scoring twice in the final 10 minutes, but Xabi Alonso’s side could not find a third, as Bayern reclaimed the title at the first attempt after
THRILLER: Raphinha gave Barca a 3-2 lead with two minutes remaining of regular time, but Francesco Acerbi equalized the game in the second minute of added time Davide Frattesi on Tuesday fired Inter into the UEFA Champions League final with an extra-time winner that gave the Italians a stunning 4-3 triumph over Barcelona, 7-6 on aggregate. Italy midfielder Frattesi won a tie for the ages under a downpour in Milan when he lashed home in the 99th minute, sending a packed and rocking San Siro wild with joy. Simone Inzaghi’s team will face either Arsenal or Paris Saint-Germain at the end of this month in Munich, Germany, where they would feel they have a great chance to be crowned kings of Europe for a fourth time after
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