■FORMULA ONE
Hamilton takes pole
Lewis Hamilton placed his McLaren on pole position for the floodlit first Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Saturday to leave new champion Jenson Button and other rivals reeling in his wake. Formula One’s outgoing world champion grabbed the 17th pole of his 52-race career to knock Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel into second place at the glittering new Yas Marina circuit that was to host yesterday’s season-ender. Briton Hamilton was nearly 0.7 seconds quicker than Vettel in final qualifying and, despite his car being 4.5kg lighter on fuel than the German, should run away with the sport’s first day-to-night race. Fellow Briton Button, who clinched the title in Brazil with a race to spare, will line up fifth after complaining of juddering when he hit the brakes in the final session. While both titles have been decided already in favor of Button and Brawn GP, McLaren are only a point ahead of Ferrari in third place in the constructors’ standings with significant prize money at stake. Hamilton can count on the KERS energy recovery system he said offered an advantage of three to four tenths of a second a lap at such a circuit and that the Red Bulls and Brawns lack. “I think both of us were a little surprised by the gap,” said Vettel, whose Australian teammate Mark Webber qualified in third place. Brazilian Rubens Barrichello, fighting Vettel for second place overall, starts fourth for Brawn.
■RUGBY LEAGUE
Kangaroos trump Lions
Australia revived their Four Nations hopes with a 26-16 win over England here at the DW Stadium on Saturday in a match where both sides dominated for a half each. The Kangaroos, badly in need of a win after a 20-20 draw with New Zealand first time out, seemed set to repeat last year’s World Cup humbling of England as they raced into a 26-0 half-time lead. Australia scored five tries, with captain Darren Lockyer, Billy Slater, who touched down twice, Greg Inglis and Brett Morris all crossing England’s try-line. But England hit back in the second-half with tries from Sam Burgess, Gareth Ellis and Lee Smith although the home side were unable to catch up.
■CYCLING
No France for Landis
American cyclist Floyd Landis has told a New Zealand newspaper it is unlikely he will compete again in the Tour de France. Landis, 34, who is in New Zealand to ride the six-day, nine-stage Tour of Southland, told the Herald on Sunday newspaper that politics in cycling would likely prevent him contesting the world’s premier cycling road race. Landis won the 2006 Tour de France, but was disqualified and banned for two years when doping tests revealed abnormally elevated testosterone levels. He returned at the Tour of California in February. “I don’t think it’s a possibility next year, or ever, for that matter,” Landis said.
■BOXING
Perez dethrones Agbeko
Colombia’s Yonnhy Perez seized the International Boxing Federation bantamweight title on Saturday, dethroning Ghana’s Joseph Agbeko with a unanimous 12-round decision. Perez emerged from the action-packed bout still unbeaten, improving to 20-0 with 14 wins inside the distance. He was credited with a knockdown late in the 10th round, sending Agbeko to the canvas when Agbeko had turned away to complain to referee Robert Byrd about a headbutt. “I didn’t see whether it was a headbutt or a punch, therefore I had to rule it was from a punch,” Byrd said. Two of the ringside judges scored the bout 117-110 for Perez, while a third saw it 116-111.
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
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