ATHLETICS
Friedrich names stalker
Top German high-jumper Ariane Friedrich has posted the details of an alleged cyberstalker on her Facebook page, claiming that she wanted to name and shame the individual for sending her explicit pictures of himself. “I’ve been offended in the past, sexually harassed, and I’ve had a stalker before,” she wrote, after posting the name and e-mail address of a man who allegedly sent her a photo of his genitals. “It’s time to act, it’s time to defend myself and that’s what I’m doing.” Friedrich, who works as a police officer, has filed a complaint and her manager has refused to comment after a wave of media inquiries. The 28-year-old from Frankfurt, who is the German high-jump record holder, won bronze at the 2009 world championships and gold at the European indoor championships in 2009.
CRICKET
Bangalore down Royals
Tillakaratne Dilshan and A.B. de Villiers put on an unbroken 122-run stand off 50 balls on Monday as the Royal Challengers Bangalore defeated the Rajasthan Royals by 46 runs in the Indian Premier League. Dilshan scored 76 off 58 balls and De Villiers smashed five sixes for 59 from 23 balls to help steer Bangalore to 189-3. Left-arm spinner Prabhu Appanna polished off Rajashtan’s top order by taking 4-19 to restrict the home team’s chase to 143-7. Rajasthan had kept Bangalore in check at 67-3 in the 12th over, before Dilshan and De Villiers cut loose, with seamer Siddharth Trivedi conceding 44 runs off his four overs. Rajasthan and Bangalore have eight points.
TENNIS
Defending champion exits
Alexandra Cadantu of Romania defeated defending champion Alberta Brianti of Italy 5-7, 7-5, 6-1 on Monday in the first round of the Grand Prix SAR in Fez, Morocco. Brianti, who captured her first WTA title last year, was broken 11 times and won only 48 percent of points on first serve. Top seed Anabel Medina Garrigues of Spain beat Nina Bratchikova of Russia 6-2, 6-4. The 2009 champion has won 10 of her 11 career titles on clay. Sixth seed Chanelle Scheepers of South Africa also advanced, beating Australia’s Anastasia Rodionova 6-4, 6-4. Also winning were Mandy Minella of Luxembourg and Irina-Camelia Begu of Romania. Patricia Mayr-Achleitner of Austria downed fourth seed Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium 6-4, 6-2.
TENNIS
Milos Raonic defeats Falla
Milos Raonic took advantage of local support to record his first clay-court victory of the year, beating Alejandro Falla of Colombia 6-4, 7-6 (7/3) in the first round of the Barcelona Open in Spain on Monday. The Canadian, whose training base is at Real Club de Tenis Barcelona, served seven aces in a closely contested match to win for the first time in a month. Santiago Giraldo of Colombia beat the only seeded player to lose, winning 7-6 (7/3), 6-4 against No. 18 Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan. Jarkko Nieminen of Finland and Robin Haase of the Netherlands also won.
TENNIS
Starace dumps out Chardy
Potito Starace of Italy defeated ninth seed Jeremy Chardy of France 6-3, 6-0 in the opening round of the Nastase Tiriac Trophy in Bucharest, Romania, on Monday. Seventh seed Lukasz Kubot of Poland saved nine of 10 break points in a 6-2, 6-3 win against Gabriel Moraru of Romania, while Matthias Bachinger of Germany served nine aces in rallying to beat Filippo Volandri of Italy 3-6, 6-1, 6-3.
A stunning Lamine Yamal strike on Thursday helped crown Barcelona La Liga champions with a 2-0 win over local rivals RCD Espanyol, with victory ensuring Real Madrid cannot catch them at the top of the table. Yamal’s effort and Fermin Lopez’s goal took Hansi Flick’s side seven points clear of Los Blancos with two matches remaining, to clinch Barcelona’s 28th title and complete a superb domestic treble. Only the UEFA Champions League title escaped an exciting young Barca side this season, as they won the league for the second time in six years, at Espanyol’s ground again just as in 2022-2023. Back then,
SSC Napoli will have to wait one more week to seal the Serie A title after on Sunday being held to a goalless draw at Parma, while closest rivals Inter drew 2-2 in a dramatic game with SS Lazio. Antonio Conte’s team stayed one point ahead of Inter and were unfortunate not to win after twice striking the woodwork through Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa and Matteo Politano, while Scott McTominay also had a free-kick tipped onto the crossbar. The away side thought they would be handed a chance to take the points from the penalty spot in the 96th minute when David Neres
Jannik Sinner on Thursday marched into the semi-finals of the Italian Open after destroying Casper Ruud in straight sets 6-0, 6-1, while Coco Gauff won a marathon three-set battle with China’s Zheng Qinwen to advance to the women’s singles final. American Gauff is to face Italy’s Jasmine Paolini in today’s title match after pulling through 7-6 (7/3), 4-6, 7-6 (7/4) in a match that lasted over three-and-a-half hours. Ruud was supposed to be Sinner’s toughest test in Rome since he came back from his three-month doping ban, as the Norwegian came into the match in hot form on clay after winning in
Shohei Ohtani on Thursday delivered his first two-homer game of the season and had six RBIs as the Los Angeles Dodgers poured it on with five long balls in a 19-2 victory over the visiting Athletics. Max Muncy, Andy Pages and James Outman also hit home runs for the Dodgers, who left no doubt by taking a 13-2 lead following a seven-run third inning. Muncy and Kim Hye-seong each had three hits for Los Angeles. Dodgers right-hander Matt Sauer led off a bullpen game by allowing two runs in four innings. Left-hander Justin Wrobleski (1-1) finished with four scoreless innings after he
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