Triathlon: Olympic bronze medallist Jonny Brownlee claimed his third World Triathlon Series win of the season last weekend to put himself in pole position to succeed his brother Alistair as world champion. The title is decided over the series of races, with the Grand Final in Auckland in October, and Brownlee is now on top of the rankings after his victory in Stockholm. The race is the only one of the series held over the sprint distance, which is half the distance raced at the Olympics, and Brownlee held off Olympic silver medallist Javier Gomez to triumph, with France’s Vincent Luis third.
Tennis: John Isner won his second straight Winston-Salem ATP title, surviving three match points en route to a 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 victory over second-seeded Tomas Berdych. Isner, seeded third, successfully defended a title for the second time this season to go into the US Open on a roll. The American, who also retained his title at Newport this year, fired 22 aces and also got a little bit of luck in the third-set decider as a forehand struck by Berdych hit the netcord and bounced high and wide to give Isner a second match point at 10/9.
Cricket: Cricket is bringing peace to war-ravaged Afghanistan and can further stabilise the country if foreign teams tour, an official said. Afghanistan took a big step at international level by playing former world champions Australia on Saturday, their second limited overs match following their first against Pakistan six months earlier. Despite their 66-run defeat, Afghanistan put up a great fight, further hinting they can improve if given more chances against top teams. Afghanistan Cricket Board president Omar Zakhilwal said: “The one-day matches with Pakistan and Australia will go a long way in promoting cricket which is bringing peace in our country.”
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Boxing: Germany’s Arthur Abraham (picture) is the new world WBO super middleweight champion after his unanimous win over compatriot Robert Stieglitz. Abraham, 32, who defended his IBF middleweight title 10 times between 2005 and 2009, is now the world champion at the heavier weight after the judges scored the fight 116-112, 116-112, 115-113. Having held the title for three years, Stieglitz was well beaten with heavy bruising and cuts around both eyes at the end of the punishing title bout, while Abraham was left relatively unmarked.
Rallying: France’s Sebastien Loeb won the Rally of Germany yesterday to claim his ninth win there in a decade with Finland’s Jari-Matti Latvala second and Mikko Hirvonen finishing third. Loeb finished 2mins 00.1sec clear of Latvala, with Hirvonen at 2mins 31.4secs, to claim the 74th win of his career and strengthen his lead at the top of the World Rally Championship drivers’ table.
Motorcycling: A teenage French rider, Simon Danilo, has been placed in an artificial coma after crashing and suffering serious injuries in a rookies race at the Brno circuit, organisers said. Danilo, 15, crashed on the final lap of the MotoGP Rookies Cup on Saturday, seriously damaging his spinal cord.