Semenya and Samba light up City of Lights

PARIS • South African Caster Semenya romped to the fourth-fastest women's 800m ever, and Qatari Abderrahman Samba produced the second-best 400m hurdles of all time in a sparkling Paris Diamond League meeting on Saturday.

Olympic and world champion Semenya cruised home in a personal best 1:54.25 and Samba clocked 46.98sec for his fifth consecutive Diamond League win. Semenya sliced nearly a second off her previous best as she claimed her 25th consecutive final win in the event.

REUTERS

Home into third spot in SPL with narrow win

National midfielder M. Anumanthan's 57th-minute goal gave Home United a 1-0 win over bottom side Hougang United at Jalan Besar Stadium yesterday.

It lifted the Protectors into third place in the Singapore Premier League (SPL) on 21 points, seven adrift of Tampines Rovers and 18 behind runaway leaders and two-time defending champions Albirex Niigata. The Cheetahs have only seven points.

Woods upset over four straight birdie misses

POTOMAC (Maryland) • Tiger Woods was "frustrated" after failing to convert four consecutive early birdies into a great third round at golf's Quicken Loans National on Saturday.

The former world No. 1 added only one birdie coming home but a bogey at the par-four 18th gave him a two-under 68 for a seven-under 203 total. He was six strokes behind leaders Francesco Molinari (65) and Abraham Ancer (62) at TPC Potomac.

REUTERS

No NBA transfers for Paul and George

LOS ANGELES • Houston's star point guard Chris Paul is poised to sign a four-year, maximum US$160 million (S$218.2 million) contract to stay with the Rockets, ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported at the stroke of midnight yesterday, as the National Basketball Association free agent period began.

All-Star free agent Paul George also opted against moving, agreeing to a new four-year deal with the Oklahoma City Thunder, according to multiple local media reports.

REUTERS