MOTORSPORT
Four killed in rally crash
Four people were killed and several others including two children injured on Sunday when a driver competing in the Esztergom Nyerges Rally in Hungary skidded off the road and crashed into spectators, authorities said. It was not clear why the vehicle veered off the road in Bajot, police said in a statement. Two spectators were seriously injured, including one child who was taken to a hospital with life-threatening injuries, the MTI news agency quoted paramedics at the site as saying. Six other people, including one child, sustained minor injuries and received on-site treatment, the paramedics said.
SOCCER
N Korea match canceled
Japan look poised to reach the final stage of qualifying for the 2026 World Cup without kicking a ball after FIFA said their match at North Korea would not be rescheduled. North Korea were supposed to stage the qualifier today in the capital, Pyongyang, but five days before the game, officials abruptly said the isolated country could not play host without giving a reason. At the weekend FIFA said it “shall neither be played nor rescheduled,” citing lack of space in the international soccer calendar.
SKIING
Odermatt wins fourth globe
Swiss standout Marco Odermatt on Sunday earned his fourth World Cup crystal globe of the season in anticlimactic circumstances as the final race was canceled due to bad weather. Odermatt’s first downhill title saw the 26-year-old become only the fourth male skier to win four classifications in one season and the first since Hermann Maier did it in 2001. “Something very special,” Odermatt said. “I spoke to Hermann two years ago in summer, when I won my first globes and he told me it is cool when you can’t hold all the globes. So I think this will be a good feeling.”
MIXED MARTIAL ARTS
Severino disqualified for bite
Flyweight Igor Severino was disqualified on his UFC debut on Saturday after biting opponent Andre Lima during their Fight Night bout in Las Vegas, Nevada. In the second round of the fight between the two Brazilians, Lima yelled and signaled for the referee to stop the bout. The 25-year-old held up his left arm to show the bite mark and officials reviewed the footage before making the decision to disqualify Severino. UFC president Dana White later told combat sports Web site keviniole.com that Severino would be cut from the UFC. “We were fighting well, and then at some point, for some reason, he decided to bite me,” Lima, speaking through a translator, told reporters after the fight. “I went down, and as I was getting up, I yelled because I felt sharp pain. I thought it was the fence at first. I thought: ‘There was no way he would have bit me,’ especially with the way the fight was going.”
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to