■ FIELD HOCKEY
Aussies lose to Germany
Australia slumped to a 2-1 defeat against Germany, while the Netherlands saw off China 3-1 on the second day of the women’s Champions Trophy field hockey tournament on Sunday. Australia lacked the determination to win the 50/50 contests, which gave Germany the scoring opportunities to lead 2-0 at the break through a field goal by Anke Kuhn and a penalty corner conversion by Anneke Bohmert. Megan Rivers scrambled a goal five minutes before the end for Australia. The Netherlands’ decisive 3-1 win over China was crafted by Marilyn Agliotti deflecting in two short corners and Minke Smabers converting a penalty stroke following China’s early goal by Yudiao Zhao. Argentina, the world No. 2, were fortunate to win 2-1 over Japan in a low quality match.
■SOCCER
Taiwan win, head to India
Taiwan notched a convincing 5-1 win against BML champions Taipei City FC at Zhongshan Stadium on Sunday. The national side are heading to India where they will take on the hosts in two friendly internationals in Goa on Saturday and Chennai next Tuesday. India are using the games as warm-ups for next month’s South Asian Football Federation Championships. India, ranked by FIFA at No. 151 in world, 19 places ahead of Taiwan, are likely to be well prepared by coach Bob Houghton, who boasts an impressive resume. The Englishman has coached the Saudi Arabia, China and Uzbekistan national sides, and took Malmo to the European Cup final in 1979, as well as earning a number of domestic league and cup triumphs with the Swedish side. He has also coached English club Bristol City and Swiss side FC Zurich.
■FORMULA ONE
MI5 mixed up with Mosley
To a sordid story already dripping with sex and allegations of Nazi role-play, add a dash of espionage. British newspapers reported on Sunday that a call girl involved in a five-girl sex romp with auto racing boss Max Mosley was married to an agent from Britain’s domestic intelligence service MI5. The Sunday Times said the agent left MI5 in April after admitting that his wife was one of five prostitutes who took part in the sex acts, the details of which were splashed across the pages of Britain’s biggest-selling Sunday newspaper for two weeks straight. The ensuing scandal has Mosley struggling to cling to his job as the president of Formula One’s governing body.
■CYCLING
Bennati clinches stage win
Italy’s Daniele Bennati of the Liquigas team clinched the ninth stage of the Tour of Italy on Sunday in a thrilling photo-finish. Bennati just edged fellow Tuscan and world champion Paolo Bettini in a sprint finish which stormed through the final 3,000m at the end of a grueling 218km stage. Australia’s Robbie McEwen was third on the day, just ahead of Germany’s Erik Zabel. Italian champion Giovanni Visconti, of the Quick Step team, stayed in the overall lead.
■MOTOGP
Rossi wins French GP
Valentino Rossi won the French Grand Prix on Sunday to celebrate his 90th victory in all categories and take the lead in the MotoGP world championship. The Italian, who started from the second row on a rainy day, finished comfortably ahead of Spanish teammate Jorge Lorenzo, cleared to race despite injuring both his ankles in a crash in China two weeks ago. American Colin Edwards completed a Yamaha sweep of the podium places with third.
Memphis Grizzlies forward Brandon Clarke, 29, has died, the NBA team said in a statement on Tuesday, while the family of Jason Collins, the first openly gay man to play in a major US pro sports league, announced the former Grizzlies and Brooklyn Nets player had died after a battle with brain cancer. “We are heartbroken by the tragic loss of Brandon Clarke,” the Grizzlies said in a statement posted on social media. “Brandon was an outstanding teammate and an even better person whose impact on the organization and the greater Memphis community will not be forgotten.” The statement did not provide
Taiwan’s top male badminton player, Chou Tien-chen, on Saturday bowed out in the men’s singles semi-finals at the Thailand Open after losing in straight games to Thailand’s Kunlavut Vitidsarn. The world No. 6 Chou, seeded fourth at the Super 500 tournament, lost to the world No. 2 Thai 21-7, 21-19 in 53 minutes. The victory improved Vitidsarn’s head-to-head record against Chou to 3-5. Chou, 36, trailed throughout the opening game after the score was tied 2-2. His relatively passive approach allowed the 25-year-old Thai to capitalize on Chou’s defensive clears with powerful smashes while committing few unforced errors. The Taiwanese
FRUSTRATION: Gauff smacked herself on the head with her racket before storming down the tunnel, emerging afterward to have a heated discussion with her coach Elina Svitolina on Saturday won the Italian Open after beating Coco Gauff 6-4, 6-7 (3/7), 6-2 to claim her third Rome title, while Jannik Sinner set a date with Casper Ruud in the men’s final. Ukraine’s Svitolina had not claimed a WTA 1000 title since her last victory at the Foro Italico eight years ago, but prevailed over the ever-erratic Gauff to claim her 20th tournament triumph. Saturday’s win over Gauff was her third in a row against a player in the top four of the world rankings — including Iga Swiatek and Elena Rybakina — ahead of the French
West Ham United’s 3-1 defeat at Newcastle United on Sunday left Tottenham Hotspur realistically only needing one more point to win the battle for English Premier League survival, while Bruno Fernandes made history in Manchester United’s 3-2 win over Nottingham Forest. Spurs can avoid dropping out of the English top flight for the first time in nearly 50 years with victory at Chelsea today, but a draw would also likely suffice thanks to their much superior goal-difference over West Ham. “Overall bad performance. Too many things [went wrong], I think we gifted them the goals,” West Ham head caoch Nuno Espirito Santo
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