■SOCCER
Wolves clinch the title
Wolverhampton Wanderers were crowned champions of the English Championship (second division) on Saturday after a 1-1 draw at Barnsley. Wolves were already assured of promotion to the Premier League they last visited in 2004, but guaranteed top spot when Kyel Reid got their 84th-minute equalizer against a Barnsley team fighting to avoid relegation. “We’ve deservedly won it, but today Barnsley probably wanted it a bit more than us,” Wolves manager and former Barnsley defender Mick McCarthy told Sky Sports News. “It’s important to win the league and it’s important not to lose.” Birmingham City failed to seal automatic promotion after losing 2-1 at home to playoff-chasing Preston North End and are now just one point ahead of third-placed Sheffield United, who beat Swansea City 1-0. Southampton will be playing in the third tier for the first time in 50 years after their 2-2 home draw with Burnley ensured they were relegated. They will also start life in League One on minus 10 points after going into administration earlier this month. Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson’s son Darren celebrated a second successive promotion with Peterborough United, who won 1-0 at Colchester United to go up to the Championship along with League One champions Leicester City.
■CRICKET
Deccan grab third victory
A half-century by Herschelle Gibbs and Pragyan Ojha’s three wickets helped Indian Premier League leaders Deccan Chargers record a 12-run win over the Mumbai Indians on Saturday. The day’s other match between the Chennai Super Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders in Cape Town was abandoned without a ball being bowled because of rain. Gibbs struck 58 off 44 balls as the Chargers posted 168 for nine before left-arm spinner Ojha claimed three for 21 to restrict Mumbai to 156 for seven in Durban. It was the third victory in three matches for Deccan, who are now two points clear at the top of the table.
■SOCCER
Janssen rescues a point
Theo Janssen scored from a 90th-minute free-kick for FC Twente to salvage a 1-1 draw at Heerenveen in the Dutch league on Saturday. After losing to Feyenoord last weekend, Steve McClaren’s Twente dropped more points in the race for a top two spot and a place in next season’s Champions League. Twente remained second in the Eredivisie, but only two points ahead of Ajax. Paulo Henrique headed Heerenveen into the lead in the 77th minute off a pass from Danijel Pranjic, before Janssen converted a 25m free-kick in the final minute. Balazs Dzsudzsak and Danny Koevermans scored as PSV Eindhoven beat Heracles Almelo 2-0 to keep PSV in fourth place and on target for a spot in next season’s Europa League. At the other end of the table, second-to-last Roda JC drew 1-1 with Volendam.
■RUGBY UNION
Japan thrash Kazakhstan
Defending champions Japan trounced Kazakhstan 87-10 in the opener of the HSBC Asian Five Nations rugby tournament on Saturday. Meanwhile, South Korea, the runners-up in last year’s inaugural competition, whitewashed Singapore 65-0 in Seoul. Despite the slippery conditions, Japan looked for width at every opportunity at Osaka’s Hanazono Stadium and ran three early kickable penalties as they looked to open their account with a try. The gamble paid off in the ninth minute when flyhalf Shaun Webb broke from a scrum 5m out and fed left center Yuta Imamura. Webb was top-scorer with two tries and nine conversions.
■FOOTBALL
Lions snap up Stafford
The Detroit Lions began one of the biggest rebuilding jobs in NFL history by drafting Georgia quarterback Matthew Stafford first overall on Saturday. Then the New York Jets rocked Radio City Music Hall by trading with the Cleveland Browns — and coach Eric Mangini, whom they fired in January — for the fifth overall spot. The Jets took the other premier quarterback in the draft, Mark Sanchez of Southern California. Baylor offensive tackle Jason Smith was the second pick, by the St Louis Rams. Kansas City selected LSU defensive end Tyson Jackson third. Wake Forest linebacker Aaron Curry landed in Seattle at No. 4. Cleveland gave its No. 5 pick to the Jets, in return for the No. 17 and No. 52 overall choices, plus defensive end Kenyon Coleman, safety Abram Elam and quarterback Brett Ratliff, to Cleveland.
■BOXING
Froch holds on to title
Briton Carl Froch recovered from an early knockdown to stop American Jermain Taylor in the final round of his WBC super middleweight title defense at the MGM Grand at Foxwoods in Mashantucket, Connecticut, on Saturday. Behind on the judges scorecards, Froch (25-0, 20 KOs) hurt Taylor with a big right early in the round and the Englishman continued to attack his reeling opponent, until another pair of booming rights dropped the American in the corner. Taylor struggled to his feet at the count of eight but another barrage of punches caused referee Michael Ortega to halt the contest with 14 seconds remaining.
■BOXING
Sturm batters Sato
Felix Sturm handed Koji Sato his first defeat by stopping the Japanese challenger in the seventh round to retain his WBA middleweight title in Krefeld, Germany, on Saturday. Sturm dominated with his left jab, nearly closing Sato’s right eye. The referee stopped the fight with 14 seconds remaining in the round with Sato’s trainer about to throw it the towel. Sturm improved to 32-2 with one draw. Sato suffered his first loss in 15 fights. From the first round, Sturm established control with his quick left jab and parried most of Sato’s attempted combinations. By the end of the fourth round, Sato’s right eye was swelling. By the time the fight was stopped, Sato was bleeding from cuts on both sides of his face. “The champion was very strong tonight,” Sato said. Sturm said the fight was almost perfect. “It went the way I wanted,” the champion said.
■MOTOGP
Lorenzo wins in Japan
Spain’s Jorge Lorenzo led a Yamaha one-two by powering to victory over MotoGP world champion Valentino Rossi in the Japanese Grand Prix yesterday. Lorenzo’s second win since moving up from 250cc last year also gave him a slender one-point lead over Rossi in the world championship standings. The 21-year-old, who had been suffering with a cold in the build-up to the race at Motegi’s Twin Ring circuit, has 41 points to the Italian’s 40 after two rounds. Rossi began on pole after Saturday’s qualifying had been washed out by rain and combined practice times used to determine grid positions. However, Lorenzo roared past the six-times premier-class world champion on lap nine and finished the 24-lap race in 43 minutes 47.238 seconds, 1.304 seconds ahead of Rossi. Honda’s Dani Pedrosa, who rocketed from 11th on the grid to second at the end of the first lap, took third place following a see-saw battle with Rossi for second.
BOUNCE BACK: Curry scored 46 points in the Warriors’ victory over the Spurs, after ‘everybody stepped up’ following Tuesday’s blowout loss to Oklahoma City Nikola Jokic scoring 50 or more points had never been enough for the Denver Nuggets to win — until now. Jokic on Wednesday night tied the highest-scoring performance in the NBA this season with 55 points, as the Nuggets beat the Los Angeles Clippers 130-116 for their sixth straight victory. The Nuggets were 0-4 in his previous 50-point outbursts. “It’s a good feeling,” the three-time NBA Most Valuable Player said. He equaled Oklahoma City Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who had 55 in a double-overtime game at the Indiana Pacers on Oct. 23. Jokic has been on a roll during Denver’s winning streak. He is the
TIGHT GAME: The Detroit Pistons, the NBA’s second-best team, barely outlasted the Washington Wizards, who fell to an NBA-worst 1-10 with their ninth consecutive loss Cade Cunningham’s triple double, Daniss Jenkins’ three-pointer at the buzzer and Javonte Green’s overtime dunk lifted Detroit past Washington 137-135 on Monday, stretching the Pistons’ win streak to seven games. In an unexpected thriller, the NBA’s second-best team barely outlasted a Wizards club that fell to an NBA-worst 1-10 with their ninth consecutive loss. “We knew how big this game was for us,” Jenkins said. “We wasn’t going to let nothing stop us from getting this W.” Cunningham made 14-of-45 shots and 16-of-18 free throws for a career-high 46 points, and added 12 rebounds, 11 assists, five steals and two
The tri-nation Twenty20 international series featuring hosts Pakistan, as well as Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe, is to be played entirely in Rawalpindi from Tuesday next week, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said yesterday, after this week’s suicide bombing in the capital, Islamabad. The change came after at least eight Sri Lankan players asked to leave over security fears following Tuesday’s bombing that killed 12 people and wounded 27. Their country’s cricket board issued a stern directive to the team to stay put or face consequences. Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) said the decision to stay was taken after “close consultations” with hosts Pakistan who
LIKE FINE WINE: Thirty-eight-year-old Djokovic won his 101st title of his career in Athens, becoming the oldest tournament winner since Ken Roswell, 44, in 1977 Elena Rybakina on Saturday clinched her biggest title since Wimbledon in 2022, defeating world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka 6-3, 7-6 (7/0) at the WTA Finals in Riyadh. The world No. 6 put on yet another serving masterclass and was at her returning best as she became the first Kazakh and the first player representing an Asian country to lift the WTA Finals singles trophy. Having gone 3-0 in round-robin play, Rybakina earned a record US$5.235 million and would finish the year ranked No. 5 in the world. “It’s been an incredible week, I honestly didn’t expect any result, and to go so far,
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