■GOLF
Three share Evian lead
Becky Brewerton, who only got into the Evian Masters by winning last week’s Spanish Open, shot a first round five under par 67 to share the lead after the first round on Thursday. The 26-year-old Welshwoman had seven birdies to finish top of the leaderboard alongside two South Koreans, Choi Na-yeon and Kim In-kyung. World No.1 Lorena Ochoa had a disappointing day. The Mexican, seeking a first Evian title, shot 75. Off the course, there was drama on the eve of the tournament when there was a serious fire at one of the local hotels. Several players were staying at the Hotel Pavillons du Golf, and South Korean Amy Yang threw out her mattress and jumped to the ground from the balcony. Her father suffered burns to his arm.
■TENNIS
Federer enjoys twin joy
Roger Federer is the father of twin girls after his wife Mirka gave birth on Thursday. In a statement released on his personal Web site and Facebook page. “I have some exciting news to share with you,” Federer’s Facebook page said. “Late last night, in Switzerland, Mirka and I became proud parents of twin girls. We named them Myla Rose and Charlene Riva and they are both healthy and along with their mother they are doing great. This is the best day of our lives.” The 27-year-old Federer met his wife-to-be — born Miroslava Vavrinec in Slovakia — in 2000 when they were competing for Switzerland in the Sydney Olympic Games. Mirka, 31, emigrated with her family to Switzerland as a small child, and after playing on the WTA Tour and retiring prematurely due to injury, became one of Federer’s managers.
■CURLING
Thieves steal rocks
Thieves have stolen 58 curling rocks from a refrigerated truck, representing more than a third of the total of the rocks in Australia. The 22km granite rocks, valued at US$400 each, or about US$23,200 combined, were stolen between June 16 and July 7 in a parking lot next to an ice rink at Docklands in downtown Melbourne. Police believe the thieves would have been excited about the prospect of a refrigerated trailer containing alcohol, but would have quickly discovered the rocks were useless to them. Curling competitor Paul Meissner said the theft had stopped all training for both serious curlers and people learning the sport in Melbourne. There are only about 150 curling rocks in Australia. Meissner urged the thieves to return the rocks or leave them in a safe place to be found. “They’re useless to anyone else except for us, apart from as a doorstop or propping up a coffee table,” he said. “They might be valuable ... but that won’t do you any good. They could sell them to the Canadians, but they’ve got their own rocks.”
■ATHLETICS
UK sprinters lazy: Powell
Former 100m world record holder Asafa Powell branded British sprinters lazy and said they were unlikely to beat the world’s best, reports said yesterday. The Jamaican said British runners were perhaps lacking in motivation to succeed because their lifestyles were already comfortable, the BBC reported. “I’ve said over the years that British sprinters are very lazy and don’t really want to practise,” Powell said. “Maybe it’s comfort. In Jamaica, you have to work harder for what you want. We have a different mindset. You have to make a living out of it because you don’t get a living from anywhere else. “You have to go out there and make something of yourself.” Powell takes on triple Olympic gold medallist Usain Bolt at this weekend’s London Grand Prix ahead of the World Championships in Berlin next month.
RECORD DEFEAT: The Shanghai-based ‘Oriental Sports Daily’ said the drubbing was so disastrous, and taste so bitter, that all that is left is ‘numbness’ Chinese soccer fans and media rounded on the national team yesterday after they experienced fresh humiliation in a 7-0 thrashing to rivals Japan in their opening Group C match in the third phase of Asian qualifying for the 2026 World Cup. The humiliation in Saitama on Thursday against Asia’s top-ranked team was China’s worst defeat in World Cup qualifying and only a goal short of their record 8-0 loss to Brazil in 2012. Chinese President Xi Jinping once said he wanted China to host and even win the World Cup one day, but that ambition looked further away than ever after a
‘KHELIFMANIA’: In the weeks since the Algerian boxer won gold in Paris, national enthusiasm is inspiring newfound interest in the sport, particularly among women In the weeks since Algeria’s Imane Khelif won an Olympic gold medal in women’s boxing, athletes and coaches in the North African nation say national enthusiasm is inspiring newfound interest in the sport, particularly among women. Khelif’s image is practically everywhere, featured in advertisements at airports, on highway billboards and in boxing gyms. The 25-year-old welterweight’s success in Paris has vaulted her to national hero status, especially after Algerians rallied behind her in the face of uninformed speculation about her gender and eligibility to compete. Amateur boxer Zougar Amina, a medical student who has been practicing for a year, called Khelif an
Crowds descended on the home of 17-year-old Chinese diver Quan Hongchan after she won two golds at the Paris Olympics while gymnast Zhang Boheng hid in a Beijing airport toilet to escape overzealous throngs of fans. They are just two recent examples of what state media are calling “toxic fandom” and Chinese authorities have vowed to crack down on it. Some of the adulation toward China’s sports stars has been more sinister — fans obsessing over athletes’ personal lives, cyberbullying opponents or slamming supposedly crooked judges. Experts say it mirrors the kind of behavior once reserved for entertainment celebrities before
GOING GLOBAL: The regular season fixture is part of the football league’s increasingly ambitious plans to spread the sport to international destinations The US National Football League (NFL) breaks new ground in its global expansion strategy tomorrow when the Philadelphia Eagles and Green Bay Packers face off in the first-ever grid-iron game staged in Brazil. For one night only, the land of Pele and ‘The Beautiful Game’ will get a rare glimpse into the bone-crunching world of American football as the Packers and Eagles collide at Sao Paulo’s Neo Quimica Arena, the 46,000-seat home of soccer club Corinthians. The regular season fixture is part of the NFL’s increasingly ambitious plans to spread the US’ most popular sport to new territories following previous international fixtures
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