■ FOOTBALL
Tebow wins second Maxwell
Tim Tebow won the Maxwell Award for the second year on Thursday, edging Texas’ Colt McCoy and Texas Tech’s Graham Harrell for the honor given to college football’s best all-round player. The Florida star joined Notre Dame quarterback Johnny Lattner as the only two-time winners of the Maxwell Award. Lattner won in 1952-53. Tebow, who will lead Florida against Sam Bradford’s Oklahoma in the national championship game next month, won the Heisman Trophy last year and, today in New York, could become the second player to win it twice. The versatile Tebow threw 28 touchdown passes and only two interceptions.
■ BOXING
Adamek captures title
Poland’s Tomasz Adamek captured the International Boxing Federation cruiserweight title on Thursday, taking a split decision to dethrone American Steve Cunningham. Adamek won by 115-112 and 116-110 in the eyes of two judges while the third scored Cunnignham a 114-112 winner even though Adamek knocked down the US fighter three times in the title bout. Adamek, a former World Boxing Council light heavyweight champion, improved to 36-1 with his fifth victory in a row while Cunningham — who was sent to the canvas in the second, fourth and eighth round — fell to 21-2.
■ SAILING
Volvo begins third stage
The eight competitors in the Volvo Race around the world leave the southwestern Indian port of Kochi today headed for Singapore in a grueling third stage taking the race through to Christmas. Leaders Ericsson 4, skippered by Brazilian Torben Grael, will be bidding to extend their advantage after setting out from Willingdon Island, the modern port area which serves Kochi. After negotiating the southern tip of India and passing Sri Lanka the crews, negotiating northeastern winds, will speed towards the Malacca Strait, then close in on Singapore following the obligatory passage north of Sumatra.
■ SWIMMING
Four world records broken
Four world records were broken at the European short-course championships on Thursday, with the Italian men’s relay team setting two on its way to winning gold in the 4x50m medley final. Mirco Di Tora, Alessandro Terrin, Marco Belotti and Filippo Magnini finished in 1 minute, 32.91 seconds, 0.85 seconds faster than the world record set by the Russian team earlier in the day. In Thursday’s first heat, the Italians broke the 2006 world record of 1:34.06 set by Germany in Helsinki, Finland. The Russians broke that mark in the following heat. The Russian and German teams tied for second in the final, finishing in 1:33.31. Amaury Leveaux of France set a record in the semi-finals of the 50m freestyle. He finished in 20.48, beating the mark of 20.64 set by Roland Schoeman of South Africa on Sept. 6 in Germiston, South Africa.
■ BOXING
Agbeko keeps title
Ghana’s Joseph Agbeko kept his International Boxing Federation bantamweight crown on Thursday with a majority decision over Nicaraguan southpaw William Gonzalez. The African fighter improved to 26-1 with his fifth triumph in a row, taking the decision on two judges’ scorecards by 116-112 while the third judge scored the bout a 114-114 draw. Gonzalez fell to 21-3, ending his five-fight win streak. Agbeko’s victory was the first defense of the title he won in September last year when he stopped Luis Alberto Perez in the seventh round.
■ GOLF
Pavin to captain US team
Former US Open champion Corey Pavin was appointed US captain for the 2010 Ryder Cup by the PGA of America on Thursday. The next Ryder Cup will be staged in Britain at Celtic Manor Resort in Newport, Wales. The US won the Ryder Cup for the first time in nine years in Louisville, Kentucky in September. Pavin, a former US Open champion who has played three times in the Ryder Cup and won twice, said the pressure in the match was unequaled within the sport. “Winning the US Open is a walk in the park compared with the Ryder Cup [in terms of pressure],” he told a news conference.
■ SOCCER
Jamaica to face Grenada
Jamaica defeated Guadeloupe 2-0 and Grenada upset Cuba 6-5 in a penalty shootout in the Caribbean championship semi-finals on Thursday. Jamaica and Grenada will return to the National Stadium tomorrow for the final. Jamaica won the last of their three Caribbean titles in 2005. It was coming off a World Cup qualifying campaign in which they won their last three matches, all at home, but missed out on advancing on goal difference. Grenada were runners-up in the inaugural tournament in 1989 and haven’t been back to the final until now. They eliminated Trinidad and Tobago to reach the semi-finals and qualified for the CONCACAF Gold Cup for the first time.
■ ATHLETICS
Murofushi receives bronze
Japanese hammer thrower Koji Murofushi said yesterday he was honored to receive the Beijing Olympic bronze four months after the Games, but regretted the doping scandal that handed it to him. The International Olympic Committee executive board on Thursday stripped the silver and bronze Belarussian medalists of their awards after finding traces of testosterone. Murofushi, who originally placed fifth, was given the bronze. “The Olympics were over a long time ago, but I think it is very honorable,” Murofushi told a nationally televised news conference held in the central Japanese city of Toyota.
■ BADMINTON
China pulls players
China has stunned the badminton world by withdrawing all its players from next week’s lucrative season-ending Super Series finals. In explaining the pull-out, China Badminton Association secretary-general Liu Fengyan cited “a hectic calendar, risk of aggravating injuries and an upcoming three-month training camp.” It means the US$500,000 tournament will be played without Olympic men’s singles champion Lin Dan, men’s doubles silver medalists Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng, and women’s doubles gold medalists Du Jing and Yu Yang.
■ SOCCER
Juninho, Cris fined by UEFA
UEFA fined Lyon captain Juninho and fellow Brazilian Cris on Thursday for deliberately getting booked in a Champions League group match in order to serve a suspension before the knockout phase. Midfielder Juninho was fined 10,000 euros (US$13,300) and defender Cris 15,000 euros by competition organizer UEFA’s disciplinary panel. Both players had collected two yellow cards before the French champion’s Nov. 25 game against Fiorentina in Italy, and were booked again to earn a one-match ban. The players later said they had deliberately committed fouls in order to trigger the suspensions for Lyon’s final group match on Wednesday against Germany’s Bayern Munich.
BUMRAH WATCH: Captain Jasprit Bumrah left the SCG for scans for back spasms and although he returned to the ground, there was no word on if he would play Rishabh Pant’s blistering counterattack yesterday capped a chaotic second day of the fifth and final Test between Australia and India, with 15 wickets falling and the star bowler of the series leaving the Sydney Cricket Ground with an ambulance escort. Yet the Border-Gavaskar trophy still remains very much in the balance as India reached 141-6, holding a 145-run lead over Australia with three days remaining. “Low-scoring games like this, it just heightens the pressure within it, so long way still to go,” Australia coach Andrew McDonald said. “There’s gonna be plenty of cricket, so we’ll see what happens.” Australia were bowled out for
Elena Rybakina’s Kazakhstan yesterday dumped defending champions Germany out of the United Cup with world No. 2 Alexander Zverev sidelined by an arm injury barely a week away from the Australian Open. The upset in Perth sent the Kazakhs into the semi-finals of the 18-nation tournament. In Sydney, women’s world No. 2 Iga Swiatek led Poland into the last eight by winning a rematch of her 2023 French Open final against Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic. Britain also progressed to the quarter-finals with Katie Boulter’s dominant 6-2, 6-1 victory over Australia’s Olivia Gadecki enough to guarantee they won their group. The US and
HAT-TRICK PREP: World No. 1 Sabalenka clinched her first win of the season, as she aims to become the first woman in 20 years to win three Australian Opens in succession Coco Gauff, Jasmine Paolini and Taylor Fritz yesterday all clocked impressive wins as tennis powerhouses Italy and the US surged into the quarter-finals of the mixed-team United Cup. World No. 3 Gauff swept past Croatia’s Donna Vekic 6-4, 6-2 to avenge a loss at the Paris Olympics, while Fritz took care of Borna Coric 6-3, 6-2 in searing Perth heat. That was enough to put the Americans — last year’s winners — into a last-eight clash with China today, while Elena Rybakina’s Kazakhstan today are to meet defending champions Germany, led by Alexander Zverev, in the other Perth quarter-final. In Sydney, the in-form
Five-time Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek yesterday beat Elena Rybakina in straight sets to take Poland into the final of the mixed-teams United Cup with victory over Kazakhstan. Last year’s runners-up face the US today for the title in Sydney after they beat the Czech Republic in the other semi-final. “This win makes me really proud,” Swiatek said after seeing off Rybakina 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 to give Poland an unassailable 2-0 lead in the tie. It was a statement of intent from the world number two with the first major of the year to start on Jan. 12. “It is perfect preparation for the
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