ATHLETICS
Fraser-Pryce wins title
World champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce on Friday won the Jamaican women’s 100m title, clocking 10.71 seconds to confirm her spot on the team headed to the Tokyo Olympics next month. Fraser-Pryce, who earlier this month set a world-leading 10.63 seconds, shook off a semi-final loss to double Olympic sprint champion Elaine Thompson-Herah with a masterclass of sprinting, getting out to her customary bullet start and holding off a quality field that had six of eight women running under 11 seconds this year. It was Fraser-Pryce’s fourth 100m national title and sixth overall. Shericka Jackson, who had run a personal best 10.77 seconds in the semi-finals, was second with 10.82 seconds and Thompson-Herah third in 10.84 seconds. Tyquendo Tracey was a surprise winner in the men’s final, running a season-best 10.00 seconds to beat Yohan Blake at 10.01 seconds, with Oblique Seville taking third with a personal best 10.04 seconds. Tracey won the national title in 2018. Commonwealth Games champion and World and Olympic finalist Janieve Russell won her third national 400m hurdles championships, running a season’s best 54.07 seconds, fourth-best in the world. Ronda Whyte was second in 54.94 seconds and Leah Nugent was third in 54.98 seconds. Two-time world under-20 champion Jaheel Hyde ran a personal best 48.18 seconds, under his previous 48.52 seconds set in 2017, to win his first national senior title in the men’s 400m hurdles.
RUGBY UNION
Australia to move Test
Australia’s series-opening Test against France is to be shifted out of Sydney due to a COVID-19 lockdown of the nation’s biggest city, Rugby Australia (RA) said yesterday. Authorities in New South Wales state, of which Sydney is the capital, announced a two-week hard lockdown in and around the city. Australia were to play France on July 7 at the Sydney Cricket Ground, but are now looking at other options, an RA spokesman said. These include Newcastle and Brisbane, which is to host the third and final Test on July 17, Australian media reported. The second Test is scheduled for Melbourne on July 13. Australia’s major winter sports leagues were also facing disruption. The National Rugby League, which features nine Sydney-based teams, is likely to shift championship matches outside the city over the next two weeks. The Australian Football League moved the Sydney Swans’ match against West Coast Eagles on Sunday next week to Geelong, while the Greater Western Sydney Giants are to remain in Melbourne for a second week in a row to play the Melbourne Demons on Saturday.
BOXING
Joshua-Usyk bout announced
Anthony Joshua is to defend his heavyweight titles against Oleksandr Usyk in London on Sept. 25. Joshua’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, made the announcement on Friday. Joshua, holder of the WBA, IBF and WBO titles, was to have an all-British showdown with Tyson Fury this summer, but a legal ruling in the US wrecked a proposed unification fight in Saudi Arabia on Aug. 14. An arbitration hearing upheld a claim from fellow heavyweight Deontay Wilder that he was contractually owed a third fight with WBC champion Fury. They are to meet on July 24 in Las Vegas. Usyk is a former cruiserweight world champion from Ukraine who stepped up to heavyweight in 2019. He has an 18-0 (13 KO) record. He has not fought since October last year. Joshua is 24-1 (22 KO) after knocking out Kubrat Pulev in December last year.
Juventus on Sunday stopped Inter from replacing SSC Napoli at the top of Serie A by beating their fierce rivals 1-0 and moving into the UEFA Champions League positions. Francisco Conceicao made sure that Napoli would stay two points ahead of reigning champions Inter by classily tucking home the winning goal 16 minutes before the end of an entertaining contest in Turin. Portugal attacker Conceicao netted his fourth goal of the season in all competitions after brilliant work from Randal Kolo Muani to give Juve a third straight league win. Juve are in fourth place on 46 points, ahead on goal-difference from SS
The Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) is considering reducing its pitch clock by two seconds to help players better adjust to the rules applied at the World Baseball Classic (WBC). The proposal aims to shorten the pitch timer from 25 seconds to 23 seconds with the bases empty, and from 20 seconds to 18 seconds with runners on base. Currently, the WBC mandates that pitchers deliver a pitch every 18 seconds with the bases empty and 15 seconds with runners on base. The issue was raised during a pre-season CPBL managers’ meeting on Tuesday by Rakuten Monkeys bench and batting
‘SETTING THE TONE’: Donovan Mitchell said that their determination to dominate had nothing to do with past results, but was about a potential post-season clash The Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday boosted their NBA-best record with a 142-105 romp past the New York Knicks, tightening their grip on the Eastern Conference lead with an all-around dominant display. Donovan Mitchell scored 27 points to lead six Cavs players to score in double figures, connecting on five of seven three-pointers as Cleveland drilled 19 from beyond the arc. “I think the biggest thing was just try to set the tone early,” Mitchell said, adding that the determination to dominate had nothing to do with the Knicks’ first-round playoff win over the Cavs two seasons ago and everything to do with
BELGIANS ADVANCE: Club Brugge gave Atalanta a lesson in efficiency, as Gian Piero Gasperini’s team had 29 efforts at goal, compared with seven from the visitors Seldom has a player’s sending off had such an influence on a game. AC Milan was to left rue Theo Hernandez’s second yellow card — for diving — as Feyenoord advanced to the UEFA Champions League last 16 at the former European champion’s expense with a 1-1 draw in the second leg of their playoff on Tuesday, giving the Dutch team a 2-1 win on aggregate. Bayern Munich, Club Brugge and Benfica also won their playoffs, eliminating Celtic, UEFA Europa League winner Atalanta BC and French team AS Monaco respectively. “In soccer everything changes in a second,” said Milan forward
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