SURFING
Dolphins add to Bryan’s win
Hawaii’s Gabriela Bryan yesterday shared a wave with a pod of dolphins as she won her first world championship tour event over Californian rookie Sawyer Lindblad in pumping surf at the Western Australia Margaret River Pro. Both Bryan and Lindblad had to go deep to avoid the mid-season cut and secure their place for the remainder of this year’s tour. Bryan took a commanding lead with a 7.83 for two powerful turns on her forehand as a handful of dolphins swooped around her. “When I kicked out, I was just wow. That wave was sent to me by someone, the dolphins in it. It was magical,” said Bryan, who scored an even better 8.10 on her second scoring ride. Meanwhile, Margaret River local Jack Robinson out-dueled against Hawaii’s two-time world champion John John Florence in the men’s final, with the event’s two form surfers trading huge carves on the double-overhead walls.
SNOOKER
Brecel succumbs to ‘curse’
World snooker champion Luca Brecel on Saturday became the latest victim of the so-called “Curse of the Crucible” when his title defense ended on the first day of this year’s tournament. David Gilbert, who had to qualify for the championships, reeled off the final four frames to claim a stunning 10-9 win over his Belgian opponent. Brecel becomes the 19th first-time world champion to fail to defend his title at the Crucible Theatre venue in Sheffield. “It was a good year, and now I can look forward to being a non-world champion again,” Brecel said. “I’m quite relieved. I don’t like the attention, when everyone says: ‘Oh, it’s the world champion.’ It’s not my thing.”
TENNIS
Rybakina ousts Swiatek
Elena Rybakina on Saturday ended defending champion Iga Swiatek’s 10-match winning streak in Stuttgart to reach the final of the clay-court tournament. Fourth seed Rybakina came through their semi-final clash 6-3, 4-6, 6-3, stunning the Polish world No. 1 who had captured the past two titles at the German event. Rybakina is to face Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk for the title. Winners of the Stuttgart tournament, sponsored by German automobile company Porsche, receive a car, but Rybakina said the prize would be of little use. “I actually don’t have a driver’s license,” she said.
ATHLETICS
Duplantis breaks own record
Sweden’s Armand “Mondo” Duplantis on Saturday opened his outdoor season in Olympic year in stunning fashion as he bettered his own pole vault world record at the Xiamen Diamond League meeting. Duplantis, the reigning Olympic, two-time world and European champion, fired out a warning to any potential rivals at this summer’s Paris Games by sailing over 6.24m at his first attempt at the Egret Stadium to improve by 1cm his previous best set in Eugene last year. The US-born 24-year-old entered the competition at 5.62m, clearing 5.82m and 6m before setting the new world record — his eighth in the discipline, each by 1cm since first breaking the record in February 2020 in Torun, Poland. “For me to jump a world record I need everything to be in the right place,” said Duplantis, hailing no winds and great energy from the crowd. “Everything added up to what I needed for me to jump high today,” he added.
Inter on Sunday were given a letoff when they snatched a late 1-1 derby draw with AC Milan, while league leaders SSC Napoli were held by a late goal at AS Roma. Reigning champions Inter remain three points behind Napoli, who looked to be heading five clear as they led in Rome until Angelino volleyed in a stunning leveler in the first minute of stoppage-time. Angelino’s strike gave even more significance to Stefan de Vrij’s last-gasp equalizer at the San Siro. The defender forced home Nicola Zalewski’s knockdown just as it looked like Tijjani Reijnders’ opener would be enough for Milan. “I can
The Washington Capitals and Winnipeg Jets on Saturday did not disappoint in a thrilling midseason matchup in front of a fired-up sellout crowd of more than 18,500 fans. The top two teams in the NHL delivered with a combined nine goals, including the 877th of Alex Ovechkin’s career to put him 18 back of breaking Wayne Gretzky’s record. That tied the score, the Jets pulled it out in overtime and just about everyone involved got their money’s worth out of the 5-4 game. “We knew how we were both sitting in the standings and both having real good years,” Winnipeg coach Scott
BACK-TO-BACK: The League One club, which is owned by stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, is sparing no expense to clinch promotion to the Championship Hollywood endings are pricey, even in England’s third division. In pursuit of their third straight promotion, Wrexham AFC splashed some cash at League One rival Reading to secure the services of striker Sam Smith. The Welsh club owned by actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney confirmed the signing of the 26-year-old Smith on Friday. He is one of the top scorers in the third division. The transfer fee was not disclosed, but British media widely reported it to be about ￡2 million (US$2.48 million) — not extravagant, but a hefty price at this level and it would be about the same figure that
Less than a week after splashing out a world-record fee for Naomi Girma, Chelsea has spent big again to bring England midfielder Keira Walsh back to the English Women’s Super League. Walsh left European champions Barcelona after more than two years to join Chelsea for a reported ￡400,000 (US$496,000) on Friday. Walsh was the world’s most expensive player for two years after moving to Barcelona from Manchester City for a reported ￡400,000 in 2022. That status now belongs to Girma, the US defender who cost Chelsea a reported ￡900,000 to sign from the San Diego Wave. Still, it means 27-year-old Walsh — a technically
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