Olympics: Peter Tallberg, the second longest serving member of the International Olympic committee, has died aged 77, the IOC said yesterday. A five-time Olympic sailor, Tallberg from Finland, had been an IOC member since 1976, second only to Russian Vitaly Smirnov. His best Olympic performance was a fourth-place at the Tokyo 1964 Games. Tallberg was also the founding chairman of the athletes’ commission, created to increase the involvement of athletes past and present in the Olympic movement and Games preparation and operation.
Basketball, NBA: In less than three minutes, the Golden State Warriors went from nearly allowing the Memphis Grizzlies to erase a 15-point deficit to cruising to a 108-95 series-clinching victory in Game Six of the Western Conference semi-finals yesterday. Warriors guard Stephen Curry‘s 62-foot heave as time expired in the third quarter capped an 11-4 scoring run over the final 2:37 of the period and gave Golden State a 76-68 lead going into a fourth quarter, where they rolled to advance to the Western Conference finals for the first time since 1976. The Warriors will face either the Houston Rockets or Los Angeles Clippers in the conference finals.
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Euro League: Stifled out of the game and with his team on the ropes, playmaker Vassilis Spanoulis (picture) again saved the best for last to steer Olympiakos Piraeus to a 70-68 Euro-league semi-final win over old rivals CSKA Moscow on Friday. The 32-year-old netted 11 of his 13 points in the last five minutes of a rip-roaring contest as the Greek side gave CSKA a sense of deja vu, overcoming a nine-point deficit in the fourth quarter to set up a final with Real Madrid today. “Those shots by Spanoulis were crucial, they were game-winning shots from a great player,” CSKA forward Andrei Kirilenko said. “You have to give credit to the other players too, they kept their team in the game until Spanoulis took over.”
Cricket: A policeman has been left blind in one eye after being struck by six hit by South African David Miller in an Indian Premier League (IPL) match, local media reported yesterday. Aloke Aich, 53, was struck in the right eye in the game between Kolkata and Punjab at Eden Gardens on May 9. “I am still in a state of shock and deeply saddened to hear about the loss of Mr Aich’s eye. A freak accident! My prayers are with u,” a shocked Miller tweeted yesterday. Aich’s son said Kolkata Police were paying the medical expenses but feared the accident might cost his father, the sole earning member in the family, his job as well.
European Games: Netherlands, the only bidder, will host the European Games in 2019, the European Olympic Committees said yesterday. “The Dutch have put together a very exciting proposition for the 2019 European Games which fits perfectly with the EOC’s strategic approach and prioritises flexibility, sustainability, and world-class quality,” said EOC president Patrick Hickey in a statement. Azerbaijan will stage the inaugural multi-sports event next month with 11 sports offering direct or indirect qualifying for next year’s Rio de Janeiro Olympics. But swimming and athletics, both major attractions, will be represented with second tier athletes and competitions.
Triathlon: Alistair Brownlee was beaten into second place in a dramatic sprint finish at the fifth World Triathlon Series event of the season in Yokohama yesterday. Olympic champion Brownlee was in contention right until the end but was eventually edged out by two seconds by world champion Javier Gomez. Another Spaniard, Mario Mola, finished in third while Brits Mark Buckingham and Adam Bowden finished fourth and seventh respectively.