SNOOKER
Bingham plays blame game
Stuart Bingham blamed sanitized snooker balls for his struggle to get over the line against qualifier Ashley Carty in an empty arena at the World Snooker Championship on Saturday. The former world champion, who had fashioned a 5-4 lead in the opening session in front of a handful of fans at Sheffield’s Crucible Theatre on Friday, went on to win 10-7. He then became the first player to wrap up victory since fans were belatedly barred after a change of government policy on test events for spectators. The World Snooker Tour said there are no additional protocols in place with regard to cleaning the balls. “I felt lost with the table and the balls. I don’t know whether they had been sanitized,” Bingham said. “I played a red near the green pocket, and screwed back past the blue pocket — I’ve never done that in my life, but it is what it is, and if it’s sanitized, you’ve just got to get on with it.”
CRICKET
Bairstow speeds up win
A “revved up” Jonny Bairstow put the disappointment of his Test axe behind him as he equaled the England record for the fastest one-day international 50 during the world champions’ four-wicket, series-clinching win over Ireland in Saturday’s second one-day international in Southampton, England. Bairstow’s 21-ball half-century equaled skipper Eoin Morgan’s mark against Australia in Nottingham two years ago, and he went on to make a dashing 82. Player of the match Bairstow told Sky Sports: “Sometimes I just need a bit of a rev up every now and again, whether that be picking a fight with something on the field or external motivators.” England won with more than 17 overs remaining after earlier holding Ireland to 212-9.
SOCCER
Howe quits Bournemouth
Eddie Howe on Saturday left his job as AFC Bournemouth manager by mutual consent, saying that it was the right time for the club to have a change following their relegation from the Premier League. Bournemouth’s five-year stint in the top division ended on the final day of the season after they finished third-bottom in the standings with 34 points. Howe, 42, departed after a discussion with Bournemouth officials, the club said in a statement. “Having spent a total of 25 years with the club as both a player and a manager this decision — made together with the club — is one of the hardest I’ve ever had to make,” Howe said.
SOCCER
Immobile equals record
SS Lazio forward Ciro Immobile equaled the Serie A scoring record for a single season when he was on target in his side’s 3-1 loss at SSC Napoli in their final game of the season on Saturday. In a game that finished with an angry exchange between members of the two team benches, the 30-year-old took his tally to 36 goals, equaling the record set by Gonzalo Higuain for Napoli in the 2015-16 season. He also finished the season five goals clear of the next leading scorer, Cristiano Ronaldo of Juventus. Tempers boiled over at the end, as Napoli coach Gennaro Gattuso and his Lazio counterpart Simone Inzaghi were involved in a heated argument and Gattuso had to be restrained as he ranted at another member of the Lazio staff. “We said something to each other, there were a few too many words,” Gattuso said. “I went too far, I have to be honest.”
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