BOXING
Froch stops Bute in the fifth
Britain’s Carl Froch stopped Romanian title holder Lucian Bute in the fifth round to claim the IBF world super-middleweight crown on Saturday. The 34-year-old Froch’s comfortable victory over the unbeaten Bute in his home town of Nottingham, England, made him a three-time world champion after his previous two WBC title wins. Froch, whose record is now 29-2, started brightly and had the 32-year-old Bute in trouble in the third round and again late in round four, roared on by a raucous home crowd. Bute, who came into the fight with a 30-0 record, including 24 knockouts, was caught by a right hand in the fifth, before a flurry of punches from Froch culminated in another right that forced Bute to hang on to the ropes. Referee Earl Brown started a standing count, but Bute’s corner came into the ring to save the Canadian-based fighter from further punishment. “I came here more determined than I’ve ever been before,” Froch told Sky Sports. “I’ve been guilty of switching off in the past, but tonight I’ve been very focused.”
RUGBY UNION
Harlequins win first title
Harlequins sealed their first English league title with a 30-23 victory over Leicester at a sun-drenched Twickenham in London on Saturday, holding off a late surge from the nine-time champions to win a dramatic and entertaining final. England captain Chris Robshaw’s 57th-minute try put daylight between the sides after the first half ended 14-13 to Harlequins, the London-based club who were in disgrace just three years ago following the notorious “bloodgate” scandal. A sixth Nick Evans penalty stretched the lead to 30-13, but Leicester center Anthony Allen instantly reduced arrears with a try and flyhalf George Ford’s penalty took the midlands club to within seven points. Leicester battered the Harlequins line in the hope of forcing extra-time, but they fell short in a thrilling finish. Harlequins winger Tom Williams, who almost quit rugby after the bloodgate incident in which he was found to have fabricated an injury with fake blood to facilitate a tactical substitution during a Heineken Cup quarter-final, sped over for the opening try after nine minutes.
SWIMMING
Pellegrini dominates field
Italy’s Federica Pellegrini dominated the women’s 200m freestyle to retain her title at the European championships in Debrecen, Hungary, on Saturday and put down a marker ahead of the London Olympics in two months time. While her time, 1 minute, 56.76 seconds, was hardly spectacular, being only the 12th fastest in the world this year, it was the way in which she controlled the race that caught the eye. She touched the wall almost two seconds up on Germany’s Silke Lippok. Among the men, Serbia’s Milorad Cavic posted the fastest time in the world this year when claiming the 100m butterfly in 51.45 seconds, with Hungarian Laszlo Cseh second in 51.77. Poland’s Radoslaw Kawecki won his first major title when lifting gold in the men’s 200m backstroke.
CYCLING
Zabriskie wins time trial title
Garmin-Barracuda rider David Zabriskie won his seventh US national time trial title on Saturday in Greenville, South Carolina, ahead of BMC’s Tejay van Garderen. Zabriskie clocked 40 minutes, 41.44 seconds over the 33.3km course to retain his title. Van Garderen was second in 40:47.90 and Brent Bookwalter was third in 41:08.06. Zabriskie, 33, won his first national time trial title in 2004. He won four in a row from 2006 to 2009 and added a sixth last year.
US national team star Folarin Balogun was among the scorers as AS Monaco on Friday won 3-1 at Paris Saint-Germain, dealing a blow to the side from the French capital before they face Chelsea in a crunch UEFA Champions League round-of-16 tie. Maghnes Akliouche gave Monaco a first-half lead at the Parc des Princes, and Aleksandr Golovin doubled their advantage early in the second half of the French Ligue 1 clash. Bradley Barcola pulled one back for the reigning European champions, but Balogun struck shortly after with a fifth goal in his last five games as Monaco claimed a precious
Teenage star Lamine Yamal’s superbly-taken goal on Saturday earned Barcelona a 1-0 win at Athletic Bilbao in Spanish La Liga. The champions restored their four-point lead over second-placed Real Madrid, who had on Friday temporarily closed the gap by beating Celta Vigo. Atletico Madrid tightened their grip on third with an entertaining 3-2 win over Real Sociedad. Yamal, 18, curled into the top corner after 68 minutes to split the sides at Athletic’s San Mames stadium. “We’re already seeing what Lamine can do — he puts it right in the top corner, and there’s nothing the keeper can do,” Barca
West Ham United on Monday advanced to the FA Cup quarter-finals with a 5-3 penalty shoot-out win against Brentford, who paid the price for Dango Ouattara’s spot-kick blunder. Nuno Espirito Santo’s side twice blew the lead as Jarrod Bowen’s double was canceled out by an Igor Thiago brace to force extra-time in the 2-2 draw at the London Stadium, but in the shoot-out, Brentford winger Ouattara attempted a chipped Panenka penalty, but his woeful effort was straight at West Ham goalkeeper Alphonse Areola. It was an awful mistake by the Burkina Faso international and West Ham took full advantage. Bowen, Valentin Castellanos, Callum
CHANCE TO QUALIFY: Both teams now have three points from two games, and Taiwan sit ahead of Vietnam and behind Japan, who last night beat India 11-0 Taiwan yesterday defeated Vietnam 1-0 to move into second place in Group C at the AFC Women’s Asian Cup with one match remaining. Su Yu-hsuan scored the decisive goal in the 26th minute after Taiwan midfielder Saki Matsunaga’s shot hit the crossbar, leaving Su to nod the rebound into an empty net for the team which won the last of their three Asian Cup titles in 1981. It was a deserved victory for Taiwan, 2-0 losers to Japan on Wednesday, who created several chances to extend their lead. Vietnam, the 2022 quarter-finalist, beat India in their opener, but struggled to
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