FOOTBALL
Coaching great dies
Former Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Chuck Noll, the only coach in NFL history to win four Super Bowl titles, has died at the age of 82, US media reported on Friday. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported that Noll died at his home in Sewickley, Pennsylvania. He had been in ill health for several years, battling Alzheimer’s disease, a heart condition and back problems. Noll, leader of Pittsburgh’s vaunted “Steel Curtain,” began his coaching career as a defensive assistant with the Chargers, and also worked for the Baltimore Colts before taking charge in Pittsburgh in 1969. He coached the Steelers for 23 years. The Steelers won Super Bowl titles in 1974, 1975, 1978 and 1979 under Noll’s guidance.
FIELD HOCKEY
Australia make final
Defending champion Australia have beaten Argentina 5-1 at the field hockey World Cup and are to face host nation the Netherlands in the men’s final. The result was never in doubt as Australia scored early and often in Friday’s semi-final, with Kieran Govers drag-flicking in the first at 4 minutes, Jeremy Hayward scoring twice and Jacob Whetton once. With the score at 5-0, Argentina’s Gonzalo Peillat pulled one back for Argentina. The Netherlands beat England 1-0 on a first-half penalty corner and are to play their first World Cup final since winning their third title at home 16 years ago.
RUGBY UNION
Fiji thrash Tonga
Fiji center Nemani Nadolo scored a try among his 20 points as the hosts beat Tonga 45-17 yesterday in their opening match of the Pacific Nations Cup. Wingers Watisoni Votu and Sireli Bobo scored two tries each, and captain Akapusi Qera scored another as Fiji piled on six tries to two in a comprehensive performance. Fiji led 24-3 at halftime, but Tonga rallied midway through the second half with two tries in two minutes to replacement Viliami Fihaki. Fiji closed out the match with tries to Bobo and Qera.
RUGBY UNION
Carter plays club game
Flyhalf Dan Carter made his return to rugby after a six-month layoff at a tiny club ground yesterday, to which hundreds of All Blacks fans made pilgrimage. Carter, who played the most recent of his 100 Tests at the end of last season, has been on a “sabbatical” designed to prolong his international career at least through to next year’s World Cup. Carter ran out for Southbridge in a minor leagues match against Glenmark. He played only 40 minutes, but in that time set up two tries to give his team a 20-5 halftime lead.
ATHLETICS
Fiji runner shot in US
A runner from Fiji was killed in a gang shooting in Northern California just weeks before he was set to attend the University of Louisiana, friends and authorities said. Roy Ravana Jr and another man, Kevin Ohta, were shot on Monday in Sacramento County by two juveniles who opened fire with two handguns and a rifle on behalf of the Norteno street gang, prosecutors said. Ohta, 21, is expected to survive, the Sacramento Bee said. Suspects 17-year-old Elias Guevara and 16-year-old Rozco Gutierrez have been charged as adults with murder and attempted murder. They were arraigned on Wednesday, but did not enter pleas, Shelly Orio, a spokeswoman for the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office said. The exact circumstances of the shooting were unclear.
The Major League Baseball World Series trophy is headed to Los Angeles, but the party is extending all the way to Japan. People milled around local train stations yesterday morning in Tokyo as newspaper extras were ready to roll off the presses, proclaiming Japanese stars Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto as world champions along with their Dodgers teammates after a stirring Game 5 victory over the New York Yankees. The 30-year-old is a national hero in Japan whose face adorns billboards and TV adverts all over the country. Ohtani this year became the first player in history to hit 50 home runs and
STAR IN DOUBT: After partially dislocating his shoulder in a feetfirst slide into second base, the status of Japanese slugger Ohtani is uncertain for Game 3 as he undergoes tests Yoshinobu Yamamoto on Saturday walked back to his dugout and made the slightest tip of his cap to cheering fans. He left Japan for moments like this, an opportunity to put the Los Angeles Dodgers in control of the World Series. Yamamoto allowed one hit over 6-1/3 innings and Freddie Freeman homered for the second straight night as Los Angeles beat the New York Yankees 4-2 for a 2-0 Series lead. However, the Dodgers head to New York uncertain whether Shohei Ohtani can play after their biggest star partially dislocated his left shoulder on a slide at second base. “We’re going to get
Three-time reigning world champion Kaori Sakamoto on Saturday led a Japanese podium sweep at Skate Canada, locking up a second straight Canadian women’s title despite two falls in her free skate. Sakamoto, who led 19-year-old American Alysa Liu after the short program, looked a little tight during her jazzy free skate, falling on a Salchow jump and again on a triple flip while fighting to hang on to a few other moves. Her second-best free skate score of 126.24 was enough for gold in the second Grand Prix event of the season in Halifax, Nova Scotia. She finished with 201.21 points, well ahead
Kevin Durant and Devin Booker on Monday combined for 63 points as the Phoenix Suns sent LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers tumbling to their first defeat of the season. Booker bagged 33 points and Durant 30 to give the Suns a thrilling 109-105 win at Phoenix’s Footprint Center, avenging the Lakers’ 123-116 win over the Suns in Los Angeles on Friday last week. The Lakers arrived in Phoenix buoyed by an impressive 3-0 start to the campaign under new head coach J.J. Redick. They looked poised to keep that run going after making a blistering start, sprinting into an early 26-8