GOLF
Donald leads RBC Heritage
Luke Donald put himself in the best position to make up for so many near-misses at the RBC Heritage in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, by shooting a 66 on Saturday to take a two-stroke lead into the final round. Donald had an eagle and six birdies at Harbour Town Golf Links, where he has regularly challenged for the title, but never got his hands on the silverware. The Englishman fell in a playoff to Brandt Snedeker in 2011, and has four top-three finishes in five years. At 11-under 205 and with a two-shot lead over John Huh, he is poised to finally win. ““If I can go out as relaxed and confident as I was today tomorrow, if I can control the trajectory [of shots] as well as I did today, then hopefully I’ll be sitting here as the winner,” he said. Once the world’s top-ranked golfer, Donald has changed coaches, but his transition back to the top has not come as quickly as planned. The last of his five PGA Tour wins came in 2012, his best showing this year was a tie for fourth at the Valspar Championship last month and he did not make the cut at the Masters after shooting 79-70. “I was the former world No. 1 and was there for a long time and obviously slipped down,” said Donald, currently 29th. “But I haven’t felt my game had gotten that much worse.” His round got started with a 25-footer for eagle on the par-five second hole. Donald then tied leader Nicholas Thompson with a birdie on the 14th before stretching his lead with a final one by rolling in a 15-foot putt on the par-three 17th.
GOLF
Michelle Wie wins LOTTE
Michelle Wie won the LPGA Lotte Championship in Kapolei, Hawaii on Saturday, coming from four strokes behind at the start of the round and shooting a five-under 67 as her rivals fell away. Wie finished at 14-under 274 to take her third career victory on the LPGA Tour and first since 2010; doing so in Hawaii, where she grew up. “Every time I felt nervous out there, I was looking around, I felt there was no place I’d rather be,” Wie said. Third-round leader Angela Stanford had her worst day of the tournament, shooting a 73 that left her two shots behind Wie. Top-ranked Inbee Park finished third with an 11-under 277. Wie showed she was getting back near her best when she finished as runner-up two weeks’ ago in the Kraft Nabisco Championship. Taiwan’s Yani Tseng shot a three-under 69 to finish at one-over 289 for a share of 32nd.
BOXING
Quigg downs Munyai
Britain’s Scott Quigg retained his WBA super-bantamweight title with a second-round stoppage of South Africa’s Tshifiwa Munyai in Manchester on Saturday. Fighting in front of what was effect a “home town” crowd, the 25-year-old from nearby Bury dropped Munyai to the canvas in the first round and in the second referee Howard Foster stopped the contest when the challenger was again knocked down. Victory saw Quigg, who extended his unbeaten professional record to 30 fights, closer to a domestic showdown with another undefeated boxer in Belfast’s Carl Frampton. “I wanted to make a statement,” Quigg told Sky Sports after making short work of Munyai. “I said I wanted to show the best of Scott Quigg and that’s what I had to do and no one’s ever done that to Munyai. I’ve gone in there and demolished him. It was a calculated start — but we nailed it down beforehand and did what we had to.”
Spain are the favorites to win the UEFA Women’s Euro 2025, but star player Aitana Bonmati’s illness ahead of the tournament raises another question mark around a side which, despite their obvious quality, are not unstoppable. Having claimed the last two Ballon d’Or awards, Barcelona midfielder Bonmati is the game’s biggest star at present, so her absence in the final days before the start of Euro 2025 is a major setback. The 27-year-old came down with a fever in training last week, and was subsequently hospitalized and diagnosed with viral meningitis. Bonmati was discharged on Sunday and joined up with
HSIEH ADVANCES: In the women’s doubles, Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei was to play in the second round last night, but Taiwan’s Ray Ho exited in the men’s doubles It is more than 10 years since Grigor Dimitrov reached his sole Wimbledon semi-final and back then it still seemed a reasonable bet that the Bulgarian once dubbed “Baby Federer” would win a Grand Slam title. There were semi-final runs at the US Open and Australian Open after that, but it has never quite happened and despite him still being ranked No. 21, it most likely never will. Dimitrov, 34, remains one of the most stylish players on the circuit though, with his elegant single-handed backhand and smooth all-court game a rare reminder of how tennis was before the power merchants turned
TAIWANESE WIN: Chan Hao-ching and Wu Fang-hsien and their partners won their first-round matches in the women’s doubles at the All England Lawn Tennis Club Late-night finishes and five-set matches are becoming a habit for Taylor Fritz at Wimbledon this year. On Wednesday, he wrapped up his win over Gabriel Diallo before the match was suspended — making sure the fifth-seeded American would not have to come back on court for a fourth straight day. Fritz overcame a bloodied elbow to win 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7/0), 4-6, 6-3 on No. 1 Court a day after he finished off another five-set win over Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard in a match that was halted on Monday at about 10:15pm after Fritz forced a fifth set with Wimbledon’s 11pm curfew looming. He
Real Madrid’s FIFA Club World Cup quarter-final against Borussia Dortmund had taken three crazy turns during nine minutes of second-half stoppage time when Marcel Sabitzer chested the ball and sent a right-footed volley toward Thibaut Courtois’ post. Courtois leapt to his right, extended the long arm on his 2m frame and just managed to get his gloved fingertips on the ball, knocking it down. Courtois hit the ground as the ball bounded up. He looked skyward, planted his right hand to regain his balance, grabbed the ball with both hands on the second bounce and fell onto it with his chest. Sabitzer turned
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