Author: Reuters

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Francesco Bagnaia closes title gap with win in rain-soaked Thailand MotoGP

  • Ducati rider makes most of treacherous conditions
  • Title race tightens with two races of season to go

Ducati’s Francesco Bagnaia put in a sure-footed display at a rain-drenched Buriram International Circuit as he romped to victory in the Thailand Grand Prix on Sunday and slashed his gap to Jorge Martín, the championship leader, down to 17 points.

Bagnaia, the defending MotoGP champion, took advantage of errors by Pramac Racing’s Martín and Marc Márquez of Gresini Racing to take the chequered flag and clinch his ninth win of the season. Martín finished second while the GasGas Tech3 rookie Pedro Acosta was third.

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European football: Leverkusen rocked by Bremen as Napoli stretch Serie A lead

  • Xabi Alonso blames ‘soft defending’ for last-gasp draw
  • Napoli extend unbeaten run and go five points clear

Bayer Leverkusen’s sloppy performance in their 2-2 draw at Werder Bremen in the Bundesliga on Saturday that included conceding a 90th-minute equaliser was down to the German champions’ weak defending, Xabi Alonso said.

Werder twice came from a goal down to snatch a point and leave Leverkusen with a third draw in their last four league games. “The fact that Werder could come back was down to both sides,” Alonso, who led his team to an unbeaten domestic league and cup double last season, said. “We were too soft in defending and they used their chances.

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Irresistible Mitchell Santner spins New Zealand to historic victory in India

  • New Zealand win Test series in India for the first time
  • Santner takes 13 wickets in career-defining performance

India collapsed to a humiliating series defeat at home, their first for 12 years, when New Zealand beat them by 113 runs in Pune to take an unassailable 2-0 lead.

Mitchell Santner took six for 104, finishing with 13 wickets in the match, to set up an historic win that was sealed when his senior spin partner Ajaz Patel claimed the last two Indian wickets.

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Mitchell Santner blitzes India to give New Zealand sniff of historic series win

  • New Zealand in front by 301 after Santner takes 7-53
  • Tom Latham hits 86 to extend tourists’ lead

A spectacular seven-wicket haul by Mitchell Santner helped New Zealand dismiss India for 156 before the tourists reached 198 for five at stumps on day two of the second test in Pune on Friday to tighten their grip on the three-match series.

Tom Blundell was unbeaten on 30 and Glenn Phillips on nine as the Black Caps, who won the series opener by eight wickets, extended their lead to 301 runs at the close after scoring 259 in the first innings.

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Rachin Ravindra hailed as New Zealand secure first Test win in India for 36 years

  • New Zealand win by eight wickets after chasing down 107
  • Rachin Ravindra made first-innings 134 for Black Caps

New Zealand secured their first Test victory in India since 1988, chasing down 107 to record an eight-wicket win on the final day of a rain-interrupted series opener.

New Zealand’s triumph was achieved without their injured batting mainstay Kane Williamson, and Tom Latham, their captain, was grateful to Rachin Ravindra for stepping into the breach.

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MLS Decision Day: LAFC snatch top seed from LA Galaxy as playoffs fixed

  • Galaxy cede top seed to LAFC in agonizing fashion
  • Montreal and Atlanta vie for right to face Miami

After clinching MLS playoff berths with regular-season-ending wins on Saturday, CF Montreal and Atlanta United will square off in the Eastern Conference’s wild-card match on Tuesday.

The winner of the contest in Montreal draws a tough assignment in East’s quarter-finals: a best-of-three series against Lionel Messi and Inter Miami, who set the league’s single-season point record. A hat-trick from Messi lifted Miami past the New England Revolution on Saturday, giving Miami a 22-4-8 mark, good for 74 points.

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Jorge Martín wins crash-hit Indonesian Grand Prix to extend MotoGP lead

  • Spaniard seals redemptive victory after accident last year
  • Bagnaia 21 points behind Martín after finishing third

Pramac Racing’s Jorge Martín led a crash-hit Indonesian Grand Prix in Mandalika from start to finish, to win his third race of the season and extend his lead over the reigning champion, Francesco Bagnaia, to 21 points in the MotoGP standings.

Martín started on pole in hot and humid conditions at the Mandalika International Street Circuit and stayed in front throughout the race, despite having his fellow Spaniard Pedro Acosta breathing down his neck.

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Augusta National assessing damage caused by Hurricane Helene

One of the nation's most storied golf courses is dealing with the aftermath of Helene, the former Category 4 hurricane that made landfall in Florida on Friday

One of the nation’s most storied golf courses is dealing with the aftermath of Helene, the former Category 4 hurricane that made landfall in Florida on Friday and was downgraded to a tropical depression as it continued its wrath into Georgia on Friday.

Augusta National Golf Club chairman Fred Ridley said in a statement Saturday officials still are assessing how much damage was done to the iconic course, which has hosted the annual Masters Tournament since 1934. Augusta, Georgia, is located in the eastern portion of the state, along the border of South Carolina.

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World Boxing name Gennady Golovkin as chair in bid to fill void left by IBA

  • Ex-world champion becomes Olympic Commission chair
  • World Boxing anxious for sport to make return to Games

World Boxing has appointed Gennady Golovkin as the chair of its new Olympic Commission, charging the former middleweight world champion with the task of helping the body establish itself as the sport’s recognised international federation. World Boxing, launched in 2023, has 44 members and is seeking to fill the void left by the International Boxing Association (IBA).

The IBA was stripped of recognition last year by the International Olympic Committee, which has not included the sport on the Los Angeles 2028 Games programme yet and has urged national federations to create a new global boxing body to replace the IBA.

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Argentina stun South Africa to keep Rugby Championship hopes alive

  • Argentina shock South Africa in 29-28 win
  • Pumas aiming for unlikely first Rugby Championship title

Flyhalf Tomas Albornoz kicked a penalty 11 minutes from the end to hand Argentina a thrilling 29-28 victory over South Africa and keep their hopes of winning the Rugby Championship alive in a blisteringly hot Santiago del Estero on Saturday.

The world champion Springboks, who had the chance to win the game with a late penalty from flyhalf Manie Libbok that was missed, lead the table with 19 points from second-placed Argentina on 14 points ahead of a final meeting between the sides in Nelspruit next Saturday where the title will be decided.

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Australian hockey player given 12-month ban for buying cocaine at Olympics

  • Tom Craig was arrested during Paris Games
  • Remains eligible for 2025 national squad

The Australian Olympic hockey player Tom Craig has been banned for 12 months, with six months suspended, after he was arrested in Paris for buying cocaine during the Games.

Hockey Australia (HA) said Craig’s ban started on Monday and followed an investigation by its integrity unit into his arrest last month.

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Marc Márquez storms to San Marino MotoGP win after Martín gamble backfires

  • Jorge Martín’s bike swap backfires in damp conditions
  • Francesco Bagnaia finishes second, Enea Bastianini third

Marc Márquez won the San Marino Grand Prix ahead of Francesco Bagnaia on Sunday after the championship leader Jorge Martín’s gamble to swap bikes when it rained briefly at the Misano circuit backfired when the weather cleared up.

Márquez’s masterclass in damp conditions gave him his second victory in as many races after he won the Aragon Grand Prix last weekend as he denied the Italian factory Ducati team a win on home turf, with Enea Bastianini finishing third.

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MotoGP legend Marc Márquez delights home crowd with Aragon GP victory

  • Six-times champion finishes five seconds clear of Martin
  • Bagnaia crashes to help Martin extend overall lead

Six-times MotoGP champion Marc Márquez stormed to victory at the Aragon Grand Prix in front of his home crowd on Sunday as the sprint winner completed a perfect weekend, while Francesco Bagnaia crashed out after a clash with Álex Márquez.

The 31-year-old Marc Márquez, who claimed his eighth Aragon pole on Saturday, took the chequered flag almost five seconds ahead of fellow Spaniard and world championship leader Jorge Martín for his first win since the 2021 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.

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Injured Hunter Paisami ruled out of Argentina tour as Wallabies call up uncapped trio

  • Centre joins Australian squad’s lengthy injury list for two-Test series
  • Team head to South America after two defeats to Springboks

Australia centre Hunter Paisami has been ruled out of the Wallabies’ Argentina tour due to injury in another blow for Joe Schmidt’s side following back-to-back losses to South Africa in the Rugby Championship.

Paisami suffered an apparent knee injury and came off the field early in the Wallabies’ 30-12 loss to the Springboks in Perth at the weekend. He was omitted from the 35-man squad named on Tuesday for the two-Test series against the Pumas starting in La Plata on 31 August, joining a long injury list that includes winger Filipo Daugunu and loose forwards Fraser McReight and Liam Wright.

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New Zealand exact revenge on Argentina with try scoring blitz in Rugby Championship

  • New Zealand won second Test 42-10 after leading 35-3 at halftime
  • Victory extends All Blacks’ unbeaten run at Eden Park to 50 Tests

New Zealand rode a first-half try blitz to a 42-10 victory over Argentina in the Rugby Championship at Auckland’s Eden Park on Saturday to avenge last week’s shock loss to the Pumas in Wellington.

Damian McKenzie, skipper Ardie Savea, Caleb Clarke, Will Jordan and Beauden Barrett all crossed to give the All Blacks a 35-3 lead at halftime despite teeming rain and strong winds at the spiritual home of New Zealand rugby.

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