GOLF
Grayson Murray dies at 30
Two-time PGA Tour winner Grayson Murray died on Saturday, a day after withdrawing from the Charles Schwab Challenge in Fort Worth, Texas, the PGA said in a statement. American Murray, who was 30, won his most recent title at this year’s Sony Open and had pulled out of the Charles Schwab tournament during the second round citing an illness. Murray, who picked up his first title on the PGA Tour in 2017, reached a career-high 46th in the world rankings after his Sony Open win. “We were devastated to learn — and are heartbroken to share — that PGA Tour player Grayson Murray passed away this morning. I am at a loss for words,” PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan said in a statement. The PGA did not disclose a cause of death.
RUGBY UNION
Otago advance to quarters
Otago Highlanders yesterday cemented a place in the Super Rugby quarter-finals with a 39-3 thumping of Fijian Drua, leaving four teams to fight for the last playoff berth. The home side ran in five unanswered tries in Dunedin, New Zealand, to notch their biggest win of the season and leave Drua among the sides battling for survival in next weekend’s final round of matches. Drua, who have lost all seven of their away matches this season, remain eighth. Victory over the seventh-placed Melbourne Rebels in Lautoka on Saturday would guarantee them a quarter-final spot.
ATHLETICS
Chebet breaks 10k record
Kenya’s Beatrice Chebet on Saturday broke the women’s 10,000m world record with a victory in 28 minutes, 54.14 seconds at the Prefontaine Classic Diamond League meet in Eugene, Oregon. The 24-year-old, a two-time world championships medalist at 5,000m and a cross-country world champion, broke the record of 29:01.03 set by Ethiopian Letesenbet Gidey in Hengelo on June 8, 2021. Chebet’s victory in a race designated as Kenya’s Olympic qualifier established her as a favorite for gold at the Paris Games in August.
TENNIS
Ruud wins third Geneva title
Casper Ruud on Saturday downed Novak Djokovic’s conqueror Tomas Machac to win a third Geneva Open title and head into the French Open with a trophy in his racket bag. The world No. 7 Norwegian beat 44th-ranked Czech Machac 7-5, 6-3 in 1 hour, 47 minutes. Second seed Ruud won the Geneva title in 2021 and 2022. Ruud was the runner-up in the last two French Opens, and a third Geneva title gives the 25-year-old a timely boost as he makes the journey to Paris. Nobody has won more matches on the ATP tour this year than Ruud.
SOCCER
Leverkusen win German Cup
Granit Xhaka on Saturday scored the only goal as a 10-man Bayer 04 Leverkusen beat Kaiserslautern 1-0 to lift the German Cup in Berlin and give the club the league-cup double. Crowned Bundesliga champions last month, Leverkusen were made to fight hard against their second-division opponents, playing with a man down after Odilon Kossounou’s second yellow late in the first half. Leverkusen bounced back from Wednesday’s Europa League final loss to Atalanta BC — which ended both their season-long unbeaten run at 51 games and their hopes of a treble.
US national team star Folarin Balogun was among the scorers as AS Monaco on Friday won 3-1 at Paris Saint-Germain, dealing a blow to the side from the French capital before they face Chelsea in a crunch UEFA Champions League round-of-16 tie. Maghnes Akliouche gave Monaco a first-half lead at the Parc des Princes, and Aleksandr Golovin doubled their advantage early in the second half of the French Ligue 1 clash. Bradley Barcola pulled one back for the reigning European champions, but Balogun struck shortly after with a fifth goal in his last five games as Monaco claimed a precious
West Ham United on Monday advanced to the FA Cup quarter-finals with a 5-3 penalty shoot-out win against Brentford, who paid the price for Dango Ouattara’s spot-kick blunder. Nuno Espirito Santo’s side twice blew the lead as Jarrod Bowen’s double was canceled out by an Igor Thiago brace to force extra-time in the 2-2 draw at the London Stadium, but in the shoot-out, Brentford winger Ouattara attempted a chipped Panenka penalty, but his woeful effort was straight at West Ham goalkeeper Alphonse Areola. It was an awful mistake by the Burkina Faso international and West Ham took full advantage. Bowen, Valentin Castellanos, Callum
Teenage star Lamine Yamal’s superbly-taken goal on Saturday earned Barcelona a 1-0 win at Athletic Bilbao in Spanish La Liga. The champions restored their four-point lead over second-placed Real Madrid, who had on Friday temporarily closed the gap by beating Celta Vigo. Atletico Madrid tightened their grip on third with an entertaining 3-2 win over Real Sociedad. Yamal, 18, curled into the top corner after 68 minutes to split the sides at Athletic’s San Mames stadium. “We’re already seeing what Lamine can do — he puts it right in the top corner, and there’s nothing the keeper can do,” Barca
Thanks to Italy beating Mexico on Wednesday, the US get another chance in the World Baseball Classic (WBC). What looked like a potentially disastrous early exit for US manager Mark DeRosa and his team turned out to be nothing more than substantial worry and significant embarrassment for about 24 hours. It remains to be seen whether the US really want to win badly enough for the reprieve to matter, as if it is just a switch they can flick, but there is little reason for their fans to be optimistic. The team’s attitude and behavior have been all over the place when
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