RUGBY UNION
Fiji overtake Tonga at home
Fiji came from behind to beat Tonga 30-22 in a bone-jarring Pacific Nations Cup encounter in Suva yesterday. In a clash full of direct running and big tackles, Tonga led 22-16 going into the last 15 minutes before their high error count caught up with them. There were three tries apiece, with Fiji scoring two of theirs as they controlled the closing stages to make a positive start to the 10th edition of the tournament. In the only game of the tournament to be played in the Pacific, with the remainder in the US and Canada, Tonga rocked the 2013 champions with a punishing start. Nili Latu and Taniela Moa led a straight-up-the-middle approach, pinning Fiji deep in the own territory for most of the first quarter. Exeter wing Fetu’u Vainikolo dotted down first. Moa started the move when he plowed through a floundering defense before Latu fired a long pass out to Vainikolo who scored in the corner. Fiji hit the front when Henry Seniloli scored after a big run down the right wing by Lepani Botia who swatted would-be defenders aside with ease. Tonga regained the lead after halftime with a try to Telusa Veainu, converted by Lilo, and after Volavola put Fiji back in front 16-15 with two further penalties, Tonga again gained the initiative when Sonatane Takulua scored. However, Fiji were not done and came back with tries to Waisea Nayacalevu and Peni Ravai to seal the match.
SOCCER
Bolivian boss arrested
Police in Bolivia have arrested the president of the nation’s soccer federation for alleged corruption. The prosecutor’s office issued a brief statement on Carlos Chavez’s arrest that offered no details beyond saying it was part of an “investigation of presumed corruption” in managing state resources. Chavez was arrested after eight hours of questioning and ordered jailed in Sucre, where the prosecutor’s office is located. The coach of one club in Bolivia’s soccer league accused Chavez of embezzling funds from the national federation. Chavez said on Friday morning as he submitted to questioning that there was no proof to the accusations.
SOCCER
Miami stadium planned
Miami Mayor Tomas Regalado said on Friday that a group led by former English soccer star David Beckham has confirmed plans to build a stadium near the city’s downtown next to the Miami Marlins baseball park. The Beckham group previously spurned the proposed site for the Major League Soccer franchise they announced in Miami last year. One of Beckham’s partners, Sprint CEO Marcelo Claure, tweeted that the group had “presented ... our intentions” for the new stadium to the mayor on Friday morning.
RUGBY UNION
Break ends Naholo’s season
All Blacks winger Waisake Naholo suffered a broken leg during his Test debut against Argentina on Friday and has been ruled out of contention for this year’s World Cup. Fiji-born Naholo, who scored 13 tries for the Dunedin-based Highlanders during the Super Rugby season, made a strong debut before leaving the field midway through the second half of the Rugby Championship Test with what was thought to be a sprained ankle. He was omitted yesterday from the All Blacks’ 31-man squad for the Championship match against the Springboks in Johannesburg next weekend. X-rays revealed Naholo had suffered a cracked fibia and he will not have recovered in time to play at the World Cup, which starts in Britain in September.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
If all goes well when the biggest marathon field ever gathered in Australia races 42km through the streets of Sydney on Sunday, World Marathon Majors (WMM) will soon add a seventh race to the elite series. The Sydney Marathon is to become the first race since Tokyo in 2013 to join long-established majors in New York, London, Boston, Berlin and Chicago if it passes the WMM assessment criteria for the second straight year. “We’re really excited for Sunday to arrive,” race director Wayne Larden told a news conference in Sydney yesterday. “We’re prepared, we’re ready. All of our plans look good on
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
When details from a scientific experiment that could have helped clear Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva landed at the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the leader of the organization’s reaction was unequivocal: “We have to stop that urgently,” he wrote. No mention of the test ever became public and Valieva’s defense at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) went on without it. What effect the information could have had on Valieva’s case is unclear, but without it, the skater, then 15 years old, was eventually disqualified from the 2022 Winter Olympics after testing positive for a banned heart medication that would later
RSS