■ATHLETICS
Isinbayeva taking break
Legendary pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva is taking an indefinite break but insists she will attempt to claim a third straight Olympic gold medal at London 2012. The world-record holder has been considering resting since leaving the world indoor championships last month in Doha without a medal. “A break from competing is absolutely necessary for me,” Isinbayeva said in a statement on Saturday. “After more than eight years of very hard training and competing at the highest levels both indoors and outdoors each year I need to step back in order for my body to properly recover. It is my full intention to continue training and keep myself fit.” Isinbayeva, who has broken the indoor and outdoor marks 27 times, hasn’t ruled out returning for the European championships in Barcelona in July. “At this moment I cannot exactly say when I will return to competitions,” the 27-year-old Russian from Volgograd said. “I have not completely ruled out the entire summer circuit or the European championships in Barcelona. Nothing has changed with my long term goals which includes the 2011 and 2013 world championships and the Olympic gold in London 2012.”
■TRIATHLON
Docherty, Riveros Diaz win
Bevan Docherty of New Zealand took the men’s race and Chile’s Barbara Riveros Diaz won the women’s event at the opening ITU World Championship series races in Sydney yesterday. The 33-year-old Docherty, the 2004 Olympic silver medalist and bronze winner at Beijing in 2008, overtook the race leaders, France’s Tony Moulai and American Matt Chrabot, to win comfortably in a time of 1 hour, 51 minutes, 27 seconds. Russian Alexander Brukhankov finished second, six seconds behind, and David Hauss of France third, one second adrift of the Russian. Moulai and Chrabot finished sixth and ninth, respectively. Riveros Diaz won the women’s race in 2:04.20, with second-placed Andrea Hewitt of New Zealand finishing in the same time after being just edged out at the line. Emma Moffatt of Australia, the Beijing bronze medalist, was third, just one second behind. “I was a bit nervous heading into the final lap,” Riveros Diaz said. “I’m usually not very good at a sprint finish, but today it all worked out very well.”
■ATHLETICS
Ethiopians win in Paris
Ethiopians Tadesse Tola and Atsede Baysa won the men’s and women’s Paris marathons yesterday. In just his second marathon, the 22-year-old Tola was the first male runner home in 2 hours, 6 minutes and 41 seconds, finishing ahead of Kenyans Alfred Kering and Wilson Kipsang. Defending champion Baysa, also 22, set a new course record of 2:22.03 as she headed the women’s field.
■RUGBY UNION
Reds cruise to victory
The Queensland Reds scored four tries in the first 18 minutes and cruised to a 41-26 win over the winless Lions in round nine of the Super 14 on Saturday. The Reds weathered a second-half comeback from the Lions at Ellis Park in Johannesburg and continued their quest for a place in the tournament’s semi-finals. Quade Cooper, this season’s form No. 10 in the Super 14, scored 16 points. The Lions have lost all eight of their games in this season’s competition. Thanks to the victory the Reds moved back into fifth and improved their record to 5-3.
■SOCCER
Bordeaux suffer title blow
Girondins Bordeaux lost 3-1 at Paris Saint-Germain on Saturday as their Ligue 1 title chances took a hit. The French champions remain fifth in the standings with 56 points from 30 games. Bordeaux stay three points behind leaders Olympique Marseille, who played Nice yesterday. The turning point in the match came on the half-hour when Bordeaux goalkeeper Ulrich Rame was sent off. Sylvain Armand converted the resulting free-kick, which was deflected and gave substitute Bordeaux goalkeeper Abdoulaye Keita no chance. Mevlut Erding scored to double PSG’s advantage after 75 minutes. Bordeaux pulled one back with a goal by Ludovic Sane five minutes from time, but forward Guillaume Hoarau sealed the home side’s win. Montpellier moved up to second place with a 2-2 draw at Le Mans, while Grenoble’s slim hopes of remaining in the top flight came to an abrupt end. Grenoble’s 4-0 defeat at Toulouse combined with Saint-Etienne’s 2-0 win at Sochaux left the bottom club 20 points from the safety zone with 18 points left to play for. Montpellier moved onto 58 points from 32 games. Roland Lamah put Le Mans ahead after 17 seconds and gave the home side a share of the points 20 minutes from time. Karim Ait-Fana had leveled for Montpellier and Souleymane Camara put them 2-1 ahead with a penalty after 34 minutes.
■CRICKET
Star stunned by probe
Pakistan leg-spinner Danish Kaneria said on Saturday he was “surprised and shocked” to see his name linked with a corruption probe launched by English police. The Sun newspaper claimed that he was one of two Essex players being investigated for allegations of “match irregularities.” “Kaneria and another Essex player are to be probed following incidents in one-day matches last summer,” the Sun reported. But Kaneria insisted the allegations were baseless. “I woke up to the shocking news on Saturday,” Kaneria said. “The story in the newspaper is baseless. I have played my cricket for Pakistan as well as for Essex, with pride and honesty. I try my best for the county and played my role in helping the county return to Division One [of the county championship]. For the last two years I have been Essex’s best performer and have never done anything wrong.” Kaneria said he is ready to undergo any investigation.
■HORSE RACING
Press hails McCoy victory
The British press hailed Tony McCoy’s long-awaited Grand National win yesterday, saying his victory after 14 failed attempts had finally secured his place in the history books. “I was beginning to think it would never happen,” McCoy, the only jockey to ride 3,000 national hunt winners, admitted in the Sunday Telegraph after riding Don’t Push It to an emotional win at Aintree on Saturday. He added: “I’d won every other race going and, though it’s taken me 15 goes, I’ve finally got there.” “Tony’s McNificent” said the News of the World, adding: “Maybe now he will be recognized as one of the toughest, most talented sportsmen of his generation.”
■SOCCER
Terry’s father charged
The father of Chelsea captain John Terry has been charged with dealing cocaine media said on Saturday. Ted Terry, 55, will appear in court next month. Essex Police would not directly confirm that Ted Terry had been charged, but issued a statement. “A 55-year-old man from Chafford Hundred has been charged with supply of cocaine, a class A drug, and has been bailed to appear at Basildon magistrates on May 13,” a spokeswoman said.
Robinson Cano spent 17 seasons playing in the MLB in front of all kinds of baseball fans, but he said there is something special about his stint with the Mexican Baseball League’s Diablos Rojos. He is not alone. The league last week opened its 100th season, aiming to keep an impressive growth in attendance that began after the national team’s surprise run at the 2023 World Baseball Classic, and is already surpassing some first-division soccer clubs. After finishing third in the 2023 tournament, many casual fans, some of them soccer enthusiasts disappointed after Mexico were eliminated in the first round in the 2022
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to
Arne Slot has denied that Darwin Nunez was dropped from Liverpool’s win against West Ham because of a training-ground row with a member of his coaching staff. The Liverpool head coach on Sunday last week said that Nunez was absent from the 2-1 victory at Anfield, having felt unwell during training the day before, although the striker sat behind the substitutes throughout the game. Speculation has been rife that the Uruguay international, whom Slot criticized for his work rate against Wolves and Aston Villa in February, was left out for disciplinary reasons. Asked on Friday to clarify the situation, Slot said: “He
In-form teenager Mirra Andreeva on Thursday crashed out of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, Germany, after going down in straight sets to fellow Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova in the last 16. World No. 7 Andreeva, who already has two titles under her belt this season, lost 6-3, 6-2 against the 22nd-ranked Alexandrova in just over an hour. The 17-year-old Andreeva had defeated her elder sister Erika in the previous round on Wednesday, but Alexandrova quickly took control as she claimed her fourth win over a top-10 player this season. The 17-year-old Mirra Andreeva in February became the youngest winner of a WTA
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