SOCCER
Real Madrid celebrate title
Real Madrid yesterday celebrated its La Liga title with fans, meeting with government officials and parading through the streets of the capital. Madrid clinched its 36th league title last weekend, with four rounds to spare, but it could not celebrate the triumph right away because it still had to play the second leg of the UEFA Champions League semi-finals. Madrid rallied with two late goals by striker Joselu to defeat Bayern Munich 2-1 on Wednesday at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, advancing 3-2 on aggregate to the final against Borussia Dortmund on June 1 in London. “I’m sure that in three weeks we will be back here,” Madrid midfielder Toni Kroos said, while addressing the crowd yesterday.
OLYMPICS
Torch relay has issue
The Paris Olympics torch relay had its first glitch on Saturday when the cauldron, which is lit at the end of each day, stubbornly refused to ignite. On the third stage of its 78-day journey at Manosque to the north of Marseille, French swimmer Ophelie-Cyrielle Etienne, a bronze medalist from the 2012 Olympics in London, twice tried without success to ignite the cauldron with the flame. Officials said there was a technical problem even though the cauldron had been lit successfully on the two previous evenings in Marseille and Toulon. The torch relay, which would reach Paris in time for the opening ceremony on July 26, had taken place without incident on Saturday as it made its way through the rural and mountainous setting of Alpes-de-Haute-Provence.
BOXING
Lomachenko wins title
Ukrainian boxing great Vasiliy Lomachenko clinched the International Boxing Federation (IBF) lightweight world title yesterday after producing a supreme performance to stop Australian George Kambosos in the 11th round in Perth, Australia. In the main event at a sold-out 15,000 RAC Arena, heavy favorite Lomachenko defied the rowdy home crowd and dominated throughout. Lomachenko left the Australian bloodied and sealed the belt in the 11th round after dropping Kambosos several times before the fight was stopped by the referee. It was the first IBF lightweight belt in the glittering career of former World Boxing Association and World Boxing Council lightweight champion Lomachenko, who has also won world titles featherweight and super featherweight.
SOCCER
Al-Hilal win 19th title
Cristiano Ronaldo and Al-Nassr missed out on the Saudi Pro League title for the second consecutive season when Al-Hilal on Saturday defeated Al-Hazm 4-1 and clinched first place. Two goals from Aleksandar Mitrovic, signed from Fulham in the English Premier League in the summer last year, did the damage. Sergej Milinkovic-Savic scored and an own goal from Ahmed Al-Juwaid completed the win for Al-Hilal. Al-Hilal collected a record-extending 19th league title. It was 12 points ahead of Riyadh rival Al-Nassr with three games remaining. Ronaldo is still set to top the goal-scoring chart. On Friday, he notched his 33rd goal in a 3-2 win at Al-Okhdood and was nine clear of Mitrovic in second. The five-time Ballon d’Or winner is just a goal behind the league record set by Abderrazak Hamdallah in 2019.
Shohei Ohtani and Clayton Kershaw on Friday joined their Los Angeles Dodgers teammates in sticking their fists out to show off their glittering World Series rings at a ceremony. “There’s just a lot of excitement, probably more than I can ever recall with the Dodger fan base and our players,” manager Dave Roberts said before Los Angeles rallied to beat the Detroit Tigers 8-5 in 10 innings. “What a way to cap off the first two days of celebrations,” Roberts said afterward. “By far the best opening week I’ve ever experienced. I just couldn’t have scripted it any better.” A choir in the
The famously raucous Hong Kong Sevens are to start today in a big test for a shiny new stadium at the heart of a major US$3.85 billion sports park in the territory. Officials are keeping their fingers crossed that the premier event in Hong Kong’s sporting and social calendar goes off without a hitch at the 50,000-seat Kai Tak Stadium. They hope to entice major European soccer teams to visit in the next few months, with reports in December last year saying that Liverpool were in talks about a pre-season tour. Coldplay are to perform there next month, all part of Hong Kong’s
Shohei Ohtani, Teoscar Hernandez and Tommy Edman on Thursday smashed home runs to give the reigning World Series champions the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5-4 victory over Detroit on the MLB’s opening day in the US. The Dodgers, who won two season-opening games in Tokyo last week, raised their championship banner on a day when 28 clubs launched the season in the US. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts shuffled his batting lineup with all four leadoff hitters finally healthy as Ohtani was followed by Mookie Betts, then Hernandez and Freddie Freeman in the cleanup spot, switching places with Hernandez. “There’s a Teoscar tax to
Marcus Rashford’s first goals for Aston Villa on Sunday inspired a 3-0 win against Preston North End that sent his side into the FA Cup semi-finals for the first time in 10 years. Rashford struck twice in the second half at Deepdale to end Preston’s stubborn resistance before Jacob Ramsey wrapped up Villa’s long-awaited return to the last four. Villa are to face Crystal Palace — 3-0 winners at Fulham on Saturday — in the semi-finals at Wembley Stadium in London. Revitalized since joining Villa on loan from Manchester United during the January transfer window, Rashford is beginning to show the form that
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