BOXING
Johnny Tapia dead at 45
Five-time world boxing champion Johnny Tapia has died at his house in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the Albuquerque Journal reported on Sunday, citing a family source. According to the newspaper, Albuquerque police were called to Tapia’s house on Sunday evening by a family member who found a body there. Police spokesman Robert Gibbs told the Journal that the death did not appear suspicious. Tapia, 45, was known for his battles with cross-town rival Danny Romero, Paulie Ayala and Marco Antonio Barrera. He earned world titles in the super flyweight, bantamweight and featherweight divisions in a professional career that began in 1988. Tapia, whose battles with addiction led to several brushes with the law, amassed a record of 59 wins, five losses and two draws with 30 knockouts. Tapia’s last fight was an eight-round unanimous decision over Mauricio Pastrana in Albuquerque in June last year.
INDY CAR
Franchitti wins Indy 500
Dario Franchitti won the Indianapolis 500 for the third time on Sunday after Takuma Sato crashed on the final lap. The Japanese driver went for the lead going into the first turn, pulling even with Franchitti. However, he went in too low, and the crash sent him into the outside wall. Sato’s car barely missed Franchitti, who coasted across the line under a yellow caution flag to become the 10th driver to win at least three Indy 500s. Franchitti’s teammate, Scott Dixon, finished second. Tony Kanaan, who had the lead off the last restart with six laps to go, settled for third on a blistering day.
RALLYING
Two die in Ireland crash
Police say two people have been killed and seven injured after a race car went out of control on a rural Irish road and crashed into a crowd of about 30 spectators. Sunday’s accident highlighted the regular dangers posed to drivers and viewers alike by Ireland’s annual high-speed contests on hedge-lined, narrow country roads. Organizers of the Cavan Stages Rally involving about 100 souped-up cars in the border county of Cavan canceled the event following the accident.
BASEBALL
Orioles sign Adam Jones
The Baltimore Orioles signed All-Star outfielder Adam Jones to a six-year contract that runs through the 2018 season, the American League team said on Sunday. Financial terms of the deal were not announced, but Major League Baseball’s Web site reported the deal was worth US$85.5 million, making Jones the second-highest paid center field in the MLB behind the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Matt Kemp. The contract, the richest ever for a Baltimore player, includes a no-trade provision and could be worth US$91.5 million with incentives, mlb.com said. Jones, 26, is batting .309 with 14 home runs and 31 runs batted in for 47 games this season, his seventh in the Major Leagues.
ROWING
Britain wins three golds
Britain justified its status as the rowing powerhouse heading into the London Olympics by winning three golds on its way to a table-topping haul of five medals at the World Cup regatta in Switzerland on Sunday. China also placed first in three finals on the Rotsee course in Lucerne, which attracted the world’s top crews two months before the Olympic regatta begins on Dorney Lake outside London. The men’s four and the women’s pair and double sculls all won for Britain.
SOCCER
Fan killed in shooting
Two people were being treated on Sunday for bullet wounds after a shooting that claimed the life of a 21-year-old member of a gang of Argentine soccer hooligans. The shooting occurred on Saturday in Buenos Aires outside the stadium where a first-division match between Lanus and All Boys was about to start. Officials identified the dead man as Daniel Sosa, who was shot in the chest as three motorcycles passed by and gunmen opened fire, police said. Violence has intensified in Argentina, with at least five dying this year in soccer-related violence, according to non-profit group Let’s Save Football. Juan Moretti, director of the hospital, said neither of the other two men hit during the shooting had suffered life-threatening injuries. Moretti also said that two other people were taken to the hospital with minor injuries after the attack, but fled before being treated. He said they got away “amid the confusion.” The incident is the latest of the unrelenting violence that haunts the game in Argentina. “It’s sad what’s happening with football in Argentina,” Lanus coach Gabriel Schurrer told reporters. “If one really wanted to get rid of the violence, it could be done. English football was more violent and they did it. If England and other countries can get rid of it, I don’t understand why it can’t be done here.”
SOCCER
Deportivo back in top flight
Real Club Deportivo de La Coruna returned to the Spanish top flight on Sunday after their 2-1 success at SD Huesca assured them of the second division title with one game to play. The side from Galicia in the northwestern corner of Spain were relegated last season, but are top of the second division with 88 points and cannot be caught by Real Club Celta de Vigo or Real Valladolid with just one game to go. Deportivo won their only La Liga title in 2000 and two year’s later they won both the Copa del Rey and the Spanish Super Cup. They were relegated after finishing 18th last year.
SWIMMING
Evans finishes 800m in sixth
Janet Evans finished sixth in the 800m freestyle at the Speedo Grand Challenge in Irvine, California, in her last tuneup meet before the national trials next month when she will try to make the US team at 40. Haley Anderson, who also competes in open water swimming, won the race on Sunday in 8 minutes, 33.65 seconds. Anderson raced former Olympian Kate Ziegler to the wall, with Ziegler touching second in 8:33.97. Ziegler won the 200m and 400m freestyles earlier in the three-day meet. Megan Rankin, an 18-year-old who trains with Evans, was third. Former Olympic champion Evans finished in 8:49.36. She stayed close to the top three in the early stages of the 16-lap race, before fading in the second half.
BADMINTON
China retain Thomas Cup
Lin Dan inspired China to retain the biennial Thomas Cup for a record-equaling fifth time after a comprehensive 3-0 victory over South Korea. Lin outplayed Lee Hyun-il 21-14, 21-17 in 54 minutes to set the hosts on their way in Wuhan on Sunday. Doubles pair Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng increased the lead with a 21-16, 25-23 victory over Lee Yong-dae and Kim Sa-rang, before Chen Long secured the title by brushing aside Shon Wan-ho 21-9, 21-13. The Uber Cup women’s team event on Saturday again saw the Chinese beating South Korea 3-0. Wang Yihan took the honors, surviving four match points before outlasting Sung Ji-hyun 14-21, 22-20, 21-13.
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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