SOCCER
PSV win Dutch Super Cup
PSV Eindhoven coach Dick Advocaat and captain Mark van Bommel celebrated their return to the club with a 4-2 victory over champions Ajax to claim the Dutch Super Cup on Sunday. Advocaat is back coaching in the Dutch league after 14 years with a mission to win the title and take PSV back to the Champions League, which they have not graced for four seasons. PSV dominated from the start and took a 2-0 lead after just 11 minutes, with midfielder Van Bommel, who last played for the club in 2005 before joining Barcelona, driving them forward. Sweden forward Ola Toivonen netted at the front post from a Dries Mertens corner after three minutes for the Dutch Cup winners and Jeremain Lens doubled their lead after recovering the ball up in midfield and finishing with a superb chip. Ajax defender Toby Alderweireld was the most dangerous player for the injury-hit champions, whose average age was less than 23. He had a header cleared off the line by Van Bommel early on, but pulled a goal back on the stroke of halftime. Eight minutes after the break, PSV left back Jetro Willems’ fine individual run took him past three players, before he set up Toivonen to restore a two-goal lead. Marcelo’s own goal 15 minutes from time raised Ajax’s hopes of drawing level, but PSV substitute Georginio Wijnaldum wrapped up the win when he ran onto a Lens’ pass to score in stoppage-time.
SOCCER
Rubin Kazan signs Rondon
Malaga’s Venezuelan international forward Salomon Rondon has signed a four-year deal with Russian first division side Rubin Kazan, the Spanish club confirmed on Sunday. The 22-year-old from Caracas will become the first Venezuelan to play in Russia. Rondon has scored 23 goals in 60 matches during his two seasons with Malaga, who qualified for the Champions League after finishing fourth last season.
RUGBY UNION
Chiefs coach burglarized
Burglars ransacked the home of Waikato Chiefs coach Dave Rennie while his side were winning a maiden Super 15 title in Hamilton, he has revealed. Rennie said his Huntington home was badly damaged when thieves stole a safe holding his wife’s jewelry as the Chiefs cruised to a 36-7 victory over South Africa’s Coastal Sharks at Waikato Stadium, a few kilometers away. Rennie believed he had been deliberately targeted because the burglars knew he would be at Saturday’s game, with star center Sonny Bill Williams the victim of a similar burglary in May during a match against the Northern Bulls.
Golf
Henry wins Reno-Tahoe
American J.J. Henry posted seven points in the fourth round to win the PGA Tour’s US$3 million Reno-Tahoe Open by one point over Brazil’s Alexandre Rocha. Henry finished with 43 points in the Stableford scoring system, which awards eight points for double eagles, five for eagles, two for birdies, zero for pars. One point is subtracted for bogeys and three points deducted for double-bogey or worse. Henry led going into the final round and then hung on for his second USPGA Tour title. Brazil’s Alexandre Rocha carded three birdies in the last six holes to close the gap at the Montreaux Golf and Country Club. He earned nine points on Sunday, to end with 42. Argentina’s Andres Romero finished third with 37 points after scoring a half dozen points in the final round. American John Mallinger had two points Sunday to finish by himself in fourth with 34. John Daly (five) and Justin Leonard (seven) shared fifth place with 33 points.
After letting another big lead slip with an error-strewn performance at the French Open on Wednesday, top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka felt like getting as far away from the courts as possible. “Just want to quit tennis right now,” Sabalenka said after wasting a lead of a set and two breaks in a 3-6, 7-5, 6-0 loss to Diana Shnaider in the women’s singles quarter-finals. “We’ll see in few days. Hopefully I’ll get back on track mentally.” Sabalenka’s wait for a first French Open title continues despite the four-time major winner leading 4-1 in the second set and being two points from victory while
BIG NAMES GONE: Zverev is the clear favorite for a maiden Grand Slam title, reaching semi-finals for the fifth time in six years and finishing second on three occasions Alexander Zverev on Tuesday breezed past Rafael Jodar to stay on course for an elusive Grand Slam title at the French Open, while Jakub Mensik halted Joao Fonseca’s scintillating run in the quarter-finals. Zverev, the highest-ranked player left in the men’s draw, put an end to Spanish teenager Jodar’s impressive Roland Garros debut, easing into the semi-finals with a 7-6, (7/3), 6-1, 6-3 win. The 29-year-old Zverev is the clear favorite for a maiden Grand Slam title. He has finished runner-up on three occasions, including at the 2024 French Open. “I want to win the matches that are ahead of
For some, Cristiano Ronaldo remains the essential spearhead for Portugal’s FIFA World Cup bid, while others believe his presence would prevent Roberto Martinez’s strong side from flourishing. The debate around the five-time Ballon d’Or winner rages on, as it did at UEFA Euro 2024 and four years ago in Qatar — yet Ronaldo endures, ready to play in a record sixth World Cup. The 41-year-old remains a global superstar despite swapping the European elite for Saudi Arabia’s Al-Nassr, and is the leading men’s international goalscorer with 143 strikes. With 25 of those coming in 30 games under Martinez, the coach
Taiwanese sprinter Chen Yi-cen on Friday won the silver medal in the women’s 400m final at the Asian U20 Athletics Championships in Hong Kong, with a time of 53.16 seconds. Chen, 15, was the youngest among the eight finalists, and her performance also met the qualifying standard of 53.50 seconds for the Nagoya Asian Games in Japan in September and October. Chen first made her mark at the National Games in Tainan in 2023, at the age of 13, winning the women’s 400m final in 55.55 seconds to become the youngest gold medalist in the history of the event. Meanwhile,
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