RUGBY UNION
Argentina win first Test
Captain Felipe Contepomi scored 22 points as Argentina made a winning start to their program of Tests this month with a 37-22 victory over Italy in San Juan, Chile, on Saturday. Contepomi ran in one of four tries by his team and also kicked three penalties and four conversions for the Pumas. Italy had the better of the opening half hour at the Estadio Bicentenario with Kristopher Burton slotting an early penalty and the pack earning a penalty try converted by the flyhalf. However, Argentina changed ends 13-10 ahead after flanker Tomas Leonardi’s try and a conversion by Contepomi, 35. Italy scrumhalf Edoardo Gori scored a try from a scrum early in the second half. The home side then took the upper hand. Prop Rodrigo Roncero, Leonardo Senatore and Contepomi ran in tries between the 54th and 72nd minutes to settle the match. Flanker Mauro Bergamasco then grabbed another try for Italy converted by replacement back Riccardo Bocchino.
FORMULA ONE
Vettel grabs pole position
Sebastian Vettel secured his second pole position of the season and 32nd of his career in Montreal on Saturday when he clocked the fastest time during qualifying for yesterday’s Canadian Grand Prix. The 24-year-old Red Bull driver, last year’s pole-winner, scorched to the front of the grid in dramatic style with a fastest lap of the Gilles Villenauve circuit in 1 minute, 13.784 seconds. That meant he wound up a third of a second faster than second-placed Briton Lewis Hamilton of McLaren, closely followed by championship leader Spaniard Fernando Alonso of Ferrari, who was third quickest.
CYCLING
Sagan claims stage win
Versatile Slovakian Peter Sagan claimed another stage win on the Tour of Switzerland on Saturday after beating home hope Fabian Cancellara in the opening time trial. RadioShack’s Cancellara, a former four-time world time trial champion, had won on the same course in Lugano the past two years. However, Sagan (Liquigas), the winner of two stages last year, scorched over the 7.3km course to clock a time of 9 minutes, 43 seconds to beat the Swiss by four seconds.
GOLF
O’Hern joins threesome
Nick O’Hern birdied three of the last five holes to surge into a three-way tie for the lead in Saturday’s third round of the St Jude Classic in Memphis, Tennessee, while overnight pacesetter Rory McIlroy slipped back. Australian left-hander O’Hern, still seeking his first USPGA Tour title since joining the circuit in 2005, carded a second successive three-under par-67 on a tricky day for scoring at the wind-swept TPC Southwind. O’Hern rattled up three consecutive birdies from the par-three 14th to finish at six-under 204, level with US Ryder Cup captain Davis Love III (68) and his fellow American John Merrick (69).
GOLF
Westwood wins in Sweden
World No. 3 Lee Westwood completed his buildup to next week’s US Open with a convincing five-shot win at the Scandinavian Masters in Stockholm on Saturday. Taking a three-shot advantage over fellow Briton and Ryder Cup teammate Ross Fisher into the final round, Westwood maintained plenty of distance between himself and the chasing pack all day. He made sure of victory with an eagle three at the par-five 12th before closing with a three-under 69 and a four-round tally of 269, 19 under.
SOCCER
Messi stars in Argentina win
Lionel Messi recorded his second international hat-trick as Argentina edged Brazil 4-3 in a friendly on Saturday. Messi, who finished the season with a club and country record 82 goals, scored all three times off sizzling dashes through the Brazil defense. Romulo opened the scoring in the 23rd minute five-time world champions Brazil, who went with a young squad in front of a crowd of 81,994 at the MetLife Stadium in New York. Messi gave Argentina a 2-1 lead with goals in the 31st and 34th minutes on superb runs. Brazil’s Oscar tied the score in the 56th minute and Hulk converted a corner dropped by goalkeeper Sergio Romero in the 72nd. Argentina rallied three minutes later when Federico Fernandez scored off a corner by Sergio Aguero. In the 84th minute, Messi picked up the ball in the midfield, charged ahead and blasted a left-footed shot from long range that went in just under the crossbar.
SOCCER
Chile win to top group
Chile made light of indiscipline in their squad to score two late goals for a 2-0 win over Venezuela that put them top of the South American World Cup qualifying group on Saturday. Chile have 12 points from six matches to Argentina’s 10 from five. The visiting team broke the deadlock in Puerto la Cruz, Venezuela, with five minutes remaining when midfielder Matias Fernandez, the best player on the field, entered the box from the right and scored with a shot that took a slight deflection. With a tired Venezuela side looking for an equalizer, striker Charles Aranguiz scored from substitute Sebastian Pinto’s cross to make the result safe for Chile a minute into stoppage-time.
SOCCER
Bolivia down Paraguay
Bolivia finally took full advantage of their high altitude home venue in La Paz with a 3-1 victory over Paraguay in a World Cup qualifier on Saturday. The victory, Bolivia’s first in six matches, lifted them off the bottom of the South American group standings with four points. Striker Alcides Pena put Bolivia ahead in the 11th minute and midfielder Pablo Escobar scored twice in 10 minutes late in the second half to secure the points after Paraguay goalkeeper Justo Villar had saved a penalty by Gualberto Mojica. Cristian Riveros pulled one back for the visitors.
CRICKET
Sri Lanka win to tie series
A superb all-round display by Thisara Perera and Tillakaratne Dilshan’s 13th one-day century helped Sri Lanka beat Pakistan by 76 runs at the Pallakele Stadium in Kandy, Sri Lanka, on Saturday to level the five-match series 1-1. Man-of-the-match Perera took a career-best six for 44 as Pakistan were bowled out for 204 in reply to the home team’s 280 for four. Sri Lanka’s innings revolved around Dilshan’s unbeaten 119 off 139 balls that included 11 fours and one six.
BOXING
Rigondeaux retains title
Cuba’s Guillermo Rigondeaux retained his World Boxing Association super-bantamweight world title in Las Vegas on Saturday with a fifth-round technical knockout of Teon Kennedy of the US. Rigondeaux remained unbeaten as a professional, improving to 10-0 with eight knockouts. Rigondeaux knocked Kennedy down with a punishing left in the first round and sent him to the canvas twice in the second, then again in the fourth. When another left sent Kennedy reeling in the fifth, referee Russell Mora called a halt.
Taiwan’s Lee Hao-yu on Friday went 0-for-3 in his MLB debut for the Detroit Tigers against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park, becoming the 19th Taiwan-born player to reach the big leagues. The Tigers ultimately lost 1-0 in 10 innings, ending their six-game winning streak. The 23-year-old started at third base and batted eighth for Detroit. He was promoted from Triple-A Toledo ahead of the four-game series against the Red Sox at the latter’s home stadium, replacing injured utility player Zach McKinstry. “Being right-handed, and given our schedule, I think six of the next 12 games are going to
Matheus Cunha on Saturday fired Manchester United toward the UEFA Champions League with a 1-0 win at Chelsea, while Tottenham Hotspur remain in the relegation zone after twice blowing the lead to draw with Brighton & Hove Albion. Chelsea failed to take advantage of a United defense ravaged by injury and suspension as a fourth straight league defeat for the Blues left their Champions League hopes in ruins. United have missed out on the riches of Europe’s elite competition for the past two seasons, but are closing in on a return thanks to an upturn in fortunes under interim manager
Denmark’s double Olympic badminton champion Viktor Axelsen, long a rival of Taiwan’s former world No. 2 Chou Tien-chen, yesterday announced his retirement at age 32, saying back problems meant he could no longer “compete and train at the highest level.” Axelsen, who won gold at the Tokyo Games in 2021 and again in Paris in 2024, had back surgery in April last year and said he had not overcome his physical issues. “Accepting this situation has been incredibly difficult,” he said in a statement. “But I have now reached a point where my body won’t allow me to continue.” Axelsen retires as one
Italian soccer is at its lowest ebb in nearly 40 years after a wholesale European exodus at club level followed the nation’s failure for the third successive time to qualify for the FIFA World Cup, and compounded a leadership and structural crisis. The exits suffered by Bologna and ACF Fiorentina on Thursday in the UEFA Europa League and UEFA Conference League respectively meant no Italian teams are left in European competition this season. Italy’s last remaining UEFA Champions League contenders, Atalanta BC, went out in the round of 16 last month. It is the first time since the 1986-1987 campaign that Italian clubs
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