BOXING
Khan considering retirement
Britain’s Amir Khan on Saturday suggested that he is considering retirement from the sport after a comprehensive defeat with a sixth-round TKO at the hands of Kell Brook. The 35-year-old Khan was outclassed by compatriot Brook from start to finish, and looked to be in dire straits before the referee stepped in to save him from any more punishment. Khan, who won silver as a lightweight at the Athens Olympics in 2004 and is a former unified light-welterweight champion, said he was hoping to spend more time with his family. “It’s something to think about, definitely,” Khan told reporters when he was asked about a potential retirement. “I’ve always said I never want boxing to retire me, I want to retire from boxing.”
GOLF
Green makes golfing history
Former US LPGA champion Hannah Green yesterday made history by becoming the first woman to win a mixed-gender professional golf tournament with a dominant four-shot victory at the TPS Murray River event in Australia. The world No. 30 overcame gusty conditions and a host of chasing male rivals to shoot a closing five-under-par 66 at Cobram Barooga Golf Club and clinch the title. It is the first time a woman has won a 72-hole mixed tournament on any major world tour at this level. “It’s weird. I don’t normally have golf dreams — very, very rarely — but I actually had one last night of me after winning,” Green told reporters. “I didn’t know how many I won by, but for it to come true is really cool.”
BASKETBALL
Towns wins All-Star contest
Minnesota Timberwolves star Karl-Anthony Towns on Saturday scored a record 29 points in the final round to capture the NBA All-Star Weekend’s Three-Point Contest in Cleveland, Ohio, holding off the sharpshooting duo of Trae Young and Luke Kennard. Towns’ record point total for a final round placed him just ahead of the Atlanta Hawks’ Young and Los Angeles Clippers’ Kennard, who both had 26 points. “I’m super happy to win,” Towns said. “It’s great, but I just have such high standards for myself... I’m the biggest critic of myself. There’s no writer, no blogger, no one who could critique and be harsher on their game than me on my game. I thought 30 was what I was going to need to win in the final round. I was able to scrape by with 29.”
TRACK AND FIELD
Duplantis misses record
Olympic pole vault champion Armand Duplantis on Saturday fell just short in his bid to set a new world record at the Birmingham Grand Prix. The Swede had three attempts at 6.19m, one centimeter higher than his own world record of 6.18m set in Glasgow two years ago. Duplantis came closest with this third attempt, just brushing the bar, to his evident frustration. Duplantis had already won the competition by clearing 6.05m, well ahead of Brazil’s Thiago Braz, the 2016 Olympic gold medalist, who cleared 5.81m. Ben Broeders of Belgium finished third in 5.71m. Earlier, five-time Olympic champion Elaine Thompson-Herah won the women’s 60m. The Jamaican, who at last year’s Tokyo Games retained her 100m and 200m titles, won in 7.08 seconds. “It’s a good win, and although I wanted to go under 7 seconds, I’m good,” Thompson-Herah said.
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
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
Japanese players are moving to English soccer in record numbers and more look set to follow with clubs attracted by their quality, strong work ethic and value for money. Kaoru Mitoma is the standout talent of five Japanese players in the English Premier League, with eight more in the Championship and two in League One. Liverpool midfielder Wataru Endo, the captain of Japan, believes his compatriots are “being held in higher esteem” by English clubs compared with the past. “The staff at Liverpool ask me about lots of Japanese players, not necessarily with a view to a transfer, but just saying this or
Taiwan yesterday survived Bosnia and Herzegovina to win their Davis Cup World Group I tie at the Taipei Tennis Center. The tight series started on Saturday with world No. 123 Jason Tseng losing 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 to Mirza Basic in the opening singles matchup. However, teammate Tony Wu kept the tie even, dominating world No. 86 Damir Dzumhur 6-2, 6-1. Yesterday, 24-year-old Ray Ho and partner 25-year-old Hsu Yu-hsiou kept up the momentum, making short work of Basic and Nerman Fatic, winning 6-3, 6-4. Tseng then suffered another defeat, losing 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 to Dzumhur in a brutal match that lasted more than two
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