■ YACHTIN
‘Ericsson 4’ takes second leg
Sweden’s Ericsson 4 won the second leg of the around the world Volvo Ocean Race yesterday morning, cruising into India’s Kochi port three days ahead of schedule. The monohull yacht, skippered by Brazilian Olympic gold medallist Torben Grael, reached the southwestern port an estimated 12 hours ahead of nearest rival Telefonica Blue. Ericsson 4, which had also won the first leg into Cape Town on Nov. 1, was due in on Wednesday and now leads the eight-yacht race with 26 points as its rivals play catch-up. “Everybody is very happy,” said Grael after his yacht finished the 14-day journey from Cape Town. “It was a very tough leg with so many different conditions.”
■HORSE RACING
China tries horse betting
China has carried out horse betting on a trial basis, signaling an ambition to restore a form of gambling that was outlawed by the Communists six decades ago, state media reported yesterday. The test run took place on Saturday at the China Speed Horse Race Open in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, where spectators could bet on four races, Xinhua news agency said. Each spectator was allowed to place two bets for free, and winners were given lottery tickets that gave them a chance of winning minor money prizes, according to Xinhua.
■FOOTBALL
Giant shot in right thigh
New York Giants wide receiver Plaxico Burress was accidentally shot in the right thigh and spent the night in the hospital. The Giants said the shooting happened on Friday and he was released from the hospital early on Saturday. The team did not say where the shooting took place or in what hospital Burress was treated. The Giants termed what happened an “apparent accidental shooting.” A team official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Burress was wounded in a nightclub. The team said it has been in contact with the 31-year-old receiver since the shooting.
■BOXING
Sosa retains flyweight title
Edgar Sosa of Mexico retained his WBC light flyweight title on Saturday when he beat Filipino Juanito Rubillar by knock out in the seventh round. The 29 year-old Sosa (34-5-0), who defended his world title for the seventh time in 20 months, took control of the match in the fourth round and got the win in the seventh, when he strike a powerful left hook that rattled Rubillar and then continued throwing punches until the referee stopped the fight. Rubillar (46-11-2), a 31-year-old southpaw, was considered a big threat for the Mexican, and he looked dangerous in the first two rounds until Sosa settled in the fourth and began dominating the fight at the Arena Mexico.
■LUGE
Italians win season opener
Gerhard Plankensteiner and Oswald Haselrieder of Italy won the season-opening luge World Cup doubles race on Saturday. Plankensteiner and Haselrieder finished in a two-run combined time of 1 minute, 19.038 seconds after setting a new track record of 39.433 seconds in their first run. Andreas and Wolfgang Linger of Austria trailed the winners by 0.238 seconds to finish second, while Tobias and Markus Schiegl of Austria took third with a 0.290-second deficit. Defending overall World Cup champions Patric Leitner and Alexander Resch of Germany finished fifth. The luge World Cup event in Igls continues with women’s and men’s singles races yesterday.
Five-time champion Novak Djokovic on Saturday tumbled out of the Indian Wells ATP Masters, falling in his first match to lucky loser Botic van de Zandschulp as two-time defending champion Carlos Alcaraz advanced. “No excuses for a poor performance,” 24-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic said after 37 unforced errors in a 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 defeat. “It doesn’t feel great when you play this way on the court,” he said. “But congratulations to my opponent — just a bad day in the office, I guess, for me.” Djokovic is just the latest in Van de Zandschulp’s string of superstar victims. He
Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday held their nerve to beat Liverpool 4-1 on penalties and reach the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals after their tie finished one-apiece on aggregate, while Bayern Munich saw off Bayer 04 Leverkusen to complete a 5-0 win over both legs. Lamine Yamal and Raphinha fired Barcelona into the next round as the Catalans bested SL Benfica 3-1, and Inter booked a last-eight meeting with Bayern by seeing off Feyenoord 2-1. At Anfield, Ousmane Dembele netted the only goal of the night as PSG bounced back from Liverpool’s late winner last week to force the tie to extra-time and penalties. Maligned
Taiwanese badminton player Lin Chun-yi had to settle for silver in the men’s singles at the Orleans Masters in France on Sunday after losing in the final to his French opponent. The 25-year-old Lin, ranked world No. 14, lost to Alex Lanier 13-21, 18-21 in a match that lasted 42 minutes at the Palais des Sports arena. It was the first time that the two players were facing each other in their professional careers. In the opener, Lin was slow to warm up, which gave the 20-year-old Lanier an opportunity to take an early lead with seven consecutive points. Despite
Taiwan’s Lin Chun-yi on Wednesday inflicted a first-round defeat on former badminton world No. 1 Viktor Axelsen at the All England Open. Lin came out of top after a back-and-forth first game before Axelsen dominated the second, but the Dane was not able to keep that form in the decider as Lin reeled off six points in a row on the way to a 21-19, 13-21, 21-11 victory. “If I don’t play my best, everyone can win against me,” said Axelsen, the world No. 4. “Today’s opponent played a fantastic game; it was disappointing, but that is how it is.” “I just tried
RSS