SOCCER
FC Seoul take league title
FC Seoul won their first K-League title in a decade after beating Jeju United 2-1 at Seoul World Cup Stadium. After battling to a 2-2 draw in Jeju in the first leg on Wednesday, Seoul rallied from a goal down on Sunday to claim the title with a 4-3 aggregate victory in front of more than 55,000 fans. After having a goal disallowed as offside in the 10th minute, Seoul fell behind to Brazilian Santos’s goal 15 minutes later. However, Seoul striker Jung Jo-gook equalized with a penalty three minutes later before Adilson Dos Santos headed the winner from a corner in the 72nd minute. The team last won the K-League title in 2000, when they were based in Anyang, South Korea.
CYCLING
Meyer wins ‘Oppy’ medal
Cameron Meyer was awarded the Hubert “Oppy” Opperman medal when he was named this year’s Australian Cyclist of the Year at a gala ceremony in Melbourne late on Sunday. Meyer, 22, won the medal for the first time ahead of former winners Cadel Evans and Anna Meares. He also claimed the track rider of the year award. While Evans was the favorite to win his fourth medal in five years, Meyer was a deserving winner after an outstanding year. The West Australian won three titles at the world track championships in Copenhagen in March and another three gold medals at the New Delhi Commonwealth Games in October.
SOCCER
Four spots left to fill
With Europe’s major powers already through to the Champions League knockout stages, there are only four spots left to fill following this week’s final group matches. Rubin Kazan is at already-qualified Barcelona, needing to better FC Copenhagen’s result against Panathinaikos to edge the Danish side to the Group D runner-up spot, while AS Roma will be guaranteed progress from Group E if they avoid defeat at lowly Cluj. That leaves only Group H with both spots open, although Shakhtar Donetsk and Arsenal each need only to avoid defeat to freeze out third-place Braga. Elsewhere, Inter are at Werder Bremen, but need Tottenham to slip up at FC Twente to have any chance of winning Group A and secure a more favorable draw for the next round. Newcomer Tottenham lead defending champion Inter courtesy of a superior head-to-head record and the Italian side’s morale took another hit on Friday with a 3-1 Serie A loss to Lazio. That was Inter’s fourth domestic defeat, the same as they took in winning last season’s title. Inter head to Bremen for one of today’s eight matches without goalkeeper Julio Cesar, fullback Maicon, midfielder Coutinho and defender Walter Samuel — the latter out for the season with a knee injury
SOCCER
Sporting Lisbon win
Sporting Lisbon scored three first-half goals on Sunday to beat Portimonense 3-1 and jump from fifth to third place in the Portuguese league. Helder Postiga put Sporting ahead in the 23rd minute. Portimonense striker Jorge Pires scored his first league goal to equalize in the 38th, but Nuno Oliveira made it 2-1 in the 43rd from a cross by left back Evaldo. Andre Santos sealed Sporting’s win as the first half ended. Also on Sunday, Rio Ave drew 1-1 with Beira Mar. The other two matches scheduled for Sunday were postponed.
SOCCER
Monterrey win Apertura title
Chilean striker Humberto Suazo scored twice as Monterrey defeated Santos 3-0 on Sunday to win the Mexican Apertura title 4-2 on aggregate. Suazo, who returned to Mexico after a six-month stint with Zaragoza in Spain, scored in the 28th and 85th minutes as Rayados won the Mexican crown for the fourth time in their history and second in the last three seasons. Argentine defender Jose Maria Basanta also scored in the 72nd for a Monterrey team that also has titles in the Mexico 1986 tournament, the Clausura in 2003 and last year’s Apertura. Santos, which was also the runner-up in May in the Clausura final, wasted a 2-1 lead from the first leg on its home pitch. The victory was the seventh Mexican league title for Monterrey coach Victor Manuel Vucetich, who is known as the “King Midas” of Mexican soccer.
RUGBY UNION
Coach hails son’s play
Saracens coach Andy Farrell hailed his son Owen’s match-winning performance in a 26-14 win over the Harlequins that lifted his side up to third in the Premiership on Sunday. The 19-year-old fly-half, standing in for the injured Derick Hougaard and Alex Goode, kicked four penalties and converted tries by David Strettle and Schalk Brits. “I have been watching him and analyzing him all of his life, so he knows I will be an objective critic. But he played a very fine game out there and I’m very happy he was made man of the match,” Farrell senior said. “It was particularly good to see Owen kicking so well tactically, taking his time and making his decisions calmly. The best fly-halves play as if they are wearing dinner suits, that is when they are controlling things and looking settled.”
BASEBALL
Werth signs with Nationals
Jayson Werth, who helped Philadelphia win the 2008 World Series, agreed on Sunday to a seven-year Major League Baseball contract worth US$126 million with the Washington Nationals. The 31-year-old free agent outfielder batted .296 with 27 home runs, 85 runs batted in and a National League-best 46 doubles this year with the Phillies, who won the NL East division crown in all four of his seasons on the team. By contrast, the Nationals went 69-93 and have not managed a winning season since 2003 when they were based in Montreal. “He’s going to be a big piece of the puzzle,” Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo said. “We certainly have more holes to fill. We had more work to do, and we’re certainly aggressively going on from here and beyond.” Washington lost slugger Adam Dunn to the Chicago White Sox on Friday, but replaced his big bat in their lineup with Werth, who spent two seasons each with Toronto and the Los Angeles Dodgers before joining the Phillies.
SOCCER
Velez beat Godoy Cruz
Santiago Silva scored twice as Velez beat Godoy Cruz 4-0 on Sunday to stay in the race for the Argentina Apertura title with two rounds remaining. Silva scored in the 32nd minute from close range and again in the 52nd, chipping in from in front. Maxi Moralez scored in the 56th and Jonathan Cristaldo added the final goal seven minutes from the end. Velez moved to 37 points. League-leading Estudiantes had a 3-1 victory over Argentinos Juniors on Saturday to move to 39 points. Maxi Nunez and Gabriel Mercado scored second-half goals for Estudiantes. Only Velez or Estudiantes can win the title, which will be decided in the next week.
More than 180 years of horse racing came to an end in Singapore on Saturday, as the Singapore Turf Club hosted its final race day before its track is handed back to the Singaporean government to provide land for new homes. Under an overcast sky, the air-conditioned VIP boxes were full of enthusiasts, socialites and expats, while the grounds and betting halls below hosted mostly older-generation punters. The sun broke through for the last race, the last-ever Grand Singapore Gold Cup. The winner, South African jockey Muzi Yeni, echoed a feeling of loss shared by many on the day. “I’d
Former world No. 2 Paula Badosa has withdrawn from this week’s Wuhan Open, organizers said on Tuesday, amid a racism row over an online photograph. Tournament organizers said the Spaniard had pulled out of the WTA 1000 tournament, citing a gastrointestinal illness, hours before her first-round match against Australian Ajla Tomljanovic. News outlets including Britain’s the Telegraph earlier reported that Badosa had posted a photo on Instagram in which she appeared to imitate a Chinese face by placing chopsticks on the corners of her eyes. The photo was taken last week in a restaurant in Beijing, where she reached the semi-finals of the
PREDICTION: Last week, when Yu’s father made a wrong turn to the former champions’ parking lot, he said that his son could park there after this year With back-to-back birdies on the 18th hole, Kevin Yu fulfilled his driving range-owning dad’s prediction that he would win the Sanderson Farms Championship and become Taiwan’s third golfer to claim a US PGA Tour title. The Taoyuan-born 26-year-old, who represented Taiwan in the Olympic golf at Paris, saw off Californian Beau Hossler in a playoff at the Country Club of Jackson, Mississippi, on Sunday. Having drained a 15-foot putt to claw his way into the playoff, Yu rolled in from five feet on the first extra hole, ensuring he joined Chen Tze-chung (LA Open in 1987) and Pan Cheng-tsung (RBC
LeBron James and eldest son Bronny James claimed a piece of NBA history on Sunday after making their long-awaited first appearance alongside each other for the Los Angeles Lakers. The duo appeared together at the start of the second quarter in the Lakers’ 118-114 preseason defeat to the Phoenix Suns in Palm Desert, east of Los Angeles. While LeBron James impressed with 19 points in just 16 minutes and 20 seconds on court before sitting out the second half, Bronny found the going harder with zero points in just over 13 minutes on court. The younger James attempted just one
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