■MOTOGP
Rain washes out Qatar race
The season-opening Qatar MotoGP was postponed on Sunday because of adverse weather. Qatar’s Losail International Circuit on the outskirts of Doha was lashed by heavy rain on Sunday, forcing the postponement of the night-time race to last night. The 125cc race and 250cc Grand Prix were shortened, but the main showpiece was unable to get underway. “For safety reasons it was not possible to race in the night due to the reflection of the lights on the track,” Claude Danis, Road-racing Commission president for the International Motorcycling Federation (FIM), said in a statement posted on the FIM’s Web site.
■CYCLING
Spectators mob local hero
Local Greg Minnaar was mobbed by spectators after winning the downhill race on Sunday at the World Mountain Bike Cup in Pietermaritzbug, South Africa. He received a reception normally reserved for South African soccer, rugby and cricket stars after pipping Australian Mike Hannah for first place on a forest-lined course near the KwaZulu-Natal city. Competition was fierce, with 28 finalists cracking the four-minute barrier, and Minnaar clocked 3:43.44 after sailing over jumps and pedaling furiously through flatter sections. Hannah was last to race and finished 2.25 seconds slower to settle for second spot ahead of Englishman Steve Peat on a 3km course littered with sharp drop-offs and jumps. Tracy Moseley of England turned 30 in style by winning the women’s downhill race in 4:20.15 after Emmeline Ragot and Sabrina Jonnier of France surrendered the lead. The first world mountain bike event to be staged in Africa attracted 16,000 spectators over a holiday weekend to far exceed organizers’ expectations.
■CRICKET
Vaughan suffers setback
Former England skipper Michael Vaughan suffered a setback in his attempts to force his way back into the Ashes reckoning when he made just 12 playing for the MCC against county champions Durham on Sunday. The 34-year-old is determined to claim the No. 3 spot for the coming series against the West Indies and Australia, but with the squad to face the West Indians in the first Test due to be named next weekend, time is running out. Vaughan’s only consolation was that Ian Bell, another No. 3 hopeful, was also out for 12 as the traditional curtain-raiser to the English season ended in a rain-affected draw at Lord’s. Yorkshireman Vaughan was dismissed by former Headingley colleague Mitchell Claydon — an Australian now qualified for England by virtue of his British passport — who believes the former skipper has a role to play in the Ashes.
■RUGBY UNION
Bakkies awaits his fate
The decision in the judicial hearing for Northern Bulls lock Bakkies Botha over an incident during a weekend match against the NSW Waratahs will be announced today, SANZAR said. Judicial officer Dennis Wheelahan held over his decision pending further consideration, a statement by the ruling body for Rugby Union in the southern hemisphere said. The Springbok forward was cited and charged with striking in an incident in Saturday’s Super 14 match between the Bulls and the NSW Waratahs at Sydney Football Stadium. Botha appeared before Wheelahan in Sydney on Monday, along with members of the Bulls’ team management and legal representatives, SANZAR said. Evidence tendered at the hearing included video footage supplied by the match broadcasters.
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
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
Shuttler Lin Chun-yi yesterday kept Taiwan on the board as they faced their first major challenge of the group stage after marching into the last eight at the Sudirman Cup Finals in Xiamen, China. Taiwan were losing 3-1 to South Korea as of press time last night, with only the men’s doubles match remaining. Taiwan and four-time champions South Korea have already progressed to the quarter-finals, after Taiwan on Monday blanked the Czech Republic 5-0 without giving up a single game. Before last night’s tie, Taiwan were undefeated in Group B, with a 9-1 match record, ahead of South Korea, who, although also
A man fell from the 6.4m-high Clemente Wall in right field at PNC Park in Pittsburgh during Wednesday night’s game between the Pirates and the Chicago Cubs. Right after Andrew McCutchen hit a two-run double in the seventh inning to put the Pirates ahead 4-3, players began waving frantically for medical personnel and pointing to the man, who had fallen onto the warning track. The fan was tended to for approximately five minutes by members of both the Pirates and Cubs training staffs as well as PNC personnel before being removed from the field on a cart. The team issued a statement shortly
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