BOXING
Moreno beats Urina
Anselmo Moreno scored a unanimous decision over William Urina on Saturday in Panama City to defend his WBA bantamweight title for the 11th time. The three judges scored the match 116-112, 118-110 and 118-110 for the Panamanian fighter. “This is the result of hard work in the gym and the hard work of my trainers,” Moreno said. “Urina is a heavy-hitting opponent, but tonight in the ring my physical condition was better.” Moreno received a cut on the right cheek that caused him to bleed after the seventh round, but the 28-year-old landed better shots and avoided most of Urina’s punches. “It’s hard to fight Moreno, even more so at home,” Urina said. Moreno improved 34-2-1. Urina fell to 24-3. Urina launched one of his few successful attacks in the ninth round, connecting with a left hook to the face, but the 27-year-old Colombian could not follow up with significant additional punches.
ATHLETICS
Discus thrower injured
Discus thrower Natalia Semenova of Ukraine was injured in qualifying on Saturday at the world championships in Moscow in a freak accident. Semenova was sitting on the bench in the infield when Zaneta Glanc of Poland spread her arms and imitated a throwing motion while holding the disc in her hand and hit Semenova on the nose. Semenova’s coach said the athlete’s nose may have been broken, but there was no immediate word from the Ukrainian team on the severity of the injury. She made one throw of 55.79m, but failed to reach yesterday’s final.
RUGBY UNION
Chiefs offer Williams deal
The New Zealand Rugby Union says it has made an offer to code-swapping star Sonny Bill Williams to return to the Super 15 champion Waikato Chiefs next year. New Zealand media reports that the union has offered Williams a three-year deal that would see him return to rugby union next season and extend his 19-test All Blacks career. Chief executive Steve Tew confirmed the union had made the offer, saying: “The dialogue has been positive, but we don’t have any ink on paper.” Williams switched from rugby league to rugby union in 2008 and became an All Black in 2010. He returned to rugby league earlier this year, playing for the Sydney Roosters.
RUGBY UNION
Crotty in All Blacks
Canterbury Crusaders center Ryan Crotty was rushed into the All Blacks squad yesterday as injury cover less than a week from their opening Rugby Championship game against Australia in Sydney. The uncapped Crotty will cover for Francis Saili, who suffered an ankle strain during an All Blacks’ practice match in Wellington on Friday and is out of action for at least a week, the New Zealand Rugby Union said in a statement. The 22-year-old Saili was one of three players selected to train with the All Blacks, but were outside the Rugby Championship traveling squad. Crotty will fill the same role in training this week. However, the statement was unclear whether he would also travel to Sydney given other injuries within the squad, particularly to Ma’a Nonu, who is also nursing an ankle problem. Crotty was called into the squad ahead of Rene Ranger, who made himself unavailable for the All Blacks ahead of his departure for France, but said he could play in an emergency.
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
Liverpool on Tuesday suffered an embarrassing 2-1 defeat at Wolverhampton Wanderers as Andre’s stoppage-time strike sealed a dramatic victory for the English Premier League’s bottom club. Arne Slot’s side fell behind to Rodrigo Gomes’ strike in the closing stages at Molineux. Mohamed Salah hauled Liverpool level with his first goal in 11 top-flight games dating back to November last year. However, Andre’s first goal for Wolves inflicted the latest humbling loss in a chastening season for Liverpool. It was the first time the Premier League’s bottom club had beaten the reigning champions since Crystal Palace defeated Chelsea in 2017. Liverpool
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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