Judo champion's nine-year run ends
PARIS • One of sport's longest winning runs came to an end yesterday when two-time Olympic and eight-time judo world champion Teddy Riner was beaten for the first time in over nine years.
After 154 successive wins, the 30-year-old Frenchman, who competes in the 100kg heavyweight category, was beaten by ippon by the Japanese Kokoro Kageura in the third round of the Paris Grand Slam.
Riner's last defeat was in September 2010 when he was controversially beaten by Japanese Daiki Kamikaw in the openweight final at the world championships.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Perfect 10 for Ronaldo amid Juventus loss
MILAN • Cristiano Ronaldo on Saturday became the first Juventus player to score in 10 straight Italian Serie A games but the champions fell 2-1 at Hellas Verona.
Ronaldo - who turned 35 last week - broke through after 65 minutes to hit his 15th goal in 10 games and take his league tally to 20. He is closing in on the all-time Serie A record of scoring in 11 consecutive games held by Gabriel Batistuta and Fabio Quagliarella.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Pattaya women's golf event rescheduled
BANGKOK • The Royal & Ancient announced on Saturday it has postponed the Women's Amateur Asia-Pacific Championship due to concerns over the spread of the coronavirus, reported the Golf Channel.
Organisers hope the tournament originally slated for Feb 12-15 in Pattaya will take place later this year. Singapore golfers Jen Goh, Hailey Loh and Inez Ng were among the Siam Country Club field, with the winner set to qualify for the Feb 27-March 1 HSBC Women's World Championship at Sentosa Golf Club.
Kushal, 15, is youngest to score half-century
KATHMANDU • Nepal's Kushal Malla has become the youngest batsman to score a one-day international half-century in men's cricket. The southpaw made 50 off 51 balls on his ODI debut in a World Cup League 2 match against the US near Kathmandu on Saturday aged 15 years and 340 days.
He broke the record held by his compatriot Rohit Kumar Paudel, who was only 16 years and 146 days old when he scored 55 in an ODI against the United Arab Emirates last year.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Japanese Super Cup win for Vissel Kobe
TOKYO • Vissel Kobe beat reigning J-League champions Yokohama F Marinos to capture the Japanese Super Cup on Saturday, but not before a shoot-out where nine successive penalties were missed.
After a 3-3 draw at the Saitama Stadium, the tie was evenly balanced at 2-2 after the first four penalty kicks. Matters descended into farce with the next nine players failing to convert before Hotaru Yamaguchi drilled home to secure the sudden-death win.
REUTERS
