■TENNIS
Taiwanese duo loses final
Japanese duo Kimiko Date-Krumm and Rika Fukiwara defeated Taiwan’s Chan Chin-wei and Chen Yi in straight sets to claim the doubles title at the women’s hardcourt tournament in Tokyo yesterday. The No. 3 seeds won 7-5, 6-3 against 23-year-old Chan and 21-year-old Chen, who were the top seeds. Ayumi Morita of Japan defeated Slovakia’s Jarmila Gajdosova 6-2, 2-6, 6-3 to claim the singles title. The No. 3 seed outlasted the winner of last month’s OEC Taipei Ladies Open title to earn her first singles title of the year.
■SOCCER
Nationalism fuels violence
More than 50 people were injured in nationalistic-fueled violence at a match in southwestern Slovakia. Thirty-one people were arrested in Saturday’s rioting — 18 fans for the home team in Dunajska Streda, one of the most important centers for Slovakia’s ethnic Hungarian minority, and 13 from the away team from Bratislava, a police spokeswoman said. Violence had been feared ahead of the championship game between AC Dunajska Streda and Slovan Bratislava as hundreds of hooligans and neo-Nazis from Hungary were expected to travel to the match. Nationalistic tensions have intensified between Hungary and Slovakia recently and have been fuelled by nationalists from both sides through provocative public statements. Police numbers were increased to provide security for the match, that Bratislava won 4-0, but violence broke out between both sets of fans and with the police. A police spokeswoman said that fans from the home team had hurled stones while internet forums accused police of targeting Hungarian fans. The most serious injuries occurred in a crush of Hungarian fans that developed after a police intervention, television reports said.
■RALLYING
Loeb clinches record title
Citroen’s Sebastien Loeb clinched a record fifth world title in a row after surviving a late spin to finish third in the Japan Rally yesterday. Rival Mikko Hirvonen led Jari-Matti Latvala in a Ford one-two but it was not enough to keep the title race alive. A spin on the penultimate stage almost cost the Frenchman third place and his hopes of glory in Sapporo as torrential rain made conditions treacherous. Hirvonen won by 31.1 seconds from fellow Finn Latvala. The Frenchman had wanted to secure the title in Japan in order to drive flat-out in the last race in Britain later this month in a bid to break his own record of 10 wins in a season.
■SOCCER
River horror run continues
Titleholders River Plate slumped to a 2-0 defeat at Lanus on Saturday, extending their winless domestic run to an unprecedented 11 games. The defeat guaranteed beleaguered coach Diego Simeone’s team, who have nine points from their 13 games, would finish the weekend bottom of the Apertura championship. Simeone made nine changes from the team that drew 1-1 with Newell’s Old Boys on Wednesday but saw his side fall behind after only five minutes to a goal from Diego Lagos. Maximiliano Velasquez added a second early in the second half to lift Lanus to fourth in the table. River’s next match is a Copa Sudamericana quarter-final second leg tie away to Mexican side Guadalajara on Thursday and Simeone is expected to face the sack if his side fail to overturn their 1-0 deficit. The only consolation for River, one of Argentina’s biggest clubs, is that they are in no danger of relegation, which is decided over three seasons.
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
If all goes well when the biggest marathon field ever gathered in Australia races 42km through the streets of Sydney on Sunday, World Marathon Majors (WMM) will soon add a seventh race to the elite series. The Sydney Marathon is to become the first race since Tokyo in 2013 to join long-established majors in New York, London, Boston, Berlin and Chicago if it passes the WMM assessment criteria for the second straight year. “We’re really excited for Sunday to arrive,” race director Wayne Larden told a news conference in Sydney yesterday. “We’re prepared, we’re ready. All of our plans look good on
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
When details from a scientific experiment that could have helped clear Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva landed at the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the leader of the organization’s reaction was unequivocal: “We have to stop that urgently,” he wrote. No mention of the test ever became public and Valieva’s defense at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) went on without it. What effect the information could have had on Valieva’s case is unclear, but without it, the skater, then 15 years old, was eventually disqualified from the 2022 Winter Olympics after testing positive for a banned heart medication that would later
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