SPORTS DIGEST:MOTO GP: Spain's Jorge Lorenzo claimed his fourth win of the season at the Portuguese MotoGP yesterday to gain ground on championship leader and Yamaha team-mate Valentino Rossi.
Lorenzo, who posted his first MotoGP win at Estoril last year, is now 18 points adrift of Italian world champion Rossi with three races remaining. Rossi finished fourth despite also having started from the front row. The Spaniard started from pole and dominated the race, finishing 6.3 seconds ahead of Australia’s Casey Stoner.
Italian Marco Simoncelli won in the 250cc category, with Japans Hiroshi Aoyama finishing fourth to extend his championship lead to 26 points after Alvaro Bautista crashed out early on.
Loeb keeps hopes alive
RALLYING: World champion Sebastien Loeb kept his hopes of a sixth consecutive title alive with victory in the Rally of Spain yesterday. The Frenchman finished 12.0 seconds ahead of Citroen team mate Dani Sordo of Spain in second. Ford driver and championship leader Mikko Hirvonen was third, 54.1 seconds off the lead.
Loeb’s sixth win of the season and the 53rd of his career cut Hirvonen’s lead in the drivers’ championship standings to just one point with one rally left, in Britain later this month.
“This one was tough because Dani was pushing very hard at the start,” Loeb said. “So we tried to fight but we knew also that we mustn’t make any mistakes just fighting together – it was so important for us to finish,” he added.
Hirvonen said the result in Spain set the 2009 series up for an exciting finish in Wales starting on October 23rd. The one-two finish for Citroen was enough to seal the 2009 manufacturers title for the French team.
Elliott guides New Zealand to final
CRICKET: Grant Elliott struck an unbeaten half-century to steer New Zealand to a five-wicket win over Pakistan in Saturdays Champions Trophy semi-final.
After Pakistan totalled 233 for nine, Elliott’s 75 not out led his team to 234 for five with 13 balls to spare as the Kiwis set up a final meeting with Australia in Centurion today.
Elliott, who hit five fours and one six in his 103-ball innings, shared a 104-run stand with Daniel Vettori (41) for the fifth wicket before the captain was stumped by Kamran Akmal off spinner Saeed Ajmal.
New Zealand had struggled to 71 for three before Elliott and Ross Taylor combined for a partnership of 55. Taylor was then bowled by leg-spinner Shahid Afridi for 38 in 61 deliveries.
Ajmal was Pakistans most successful bowler with two for 39 in eight overs.
Earlier, Ian Butler took four wickets after Pakistan had won the toss and elected to bat.
Williams struggles in first round
TENNIS: Serena Williams made a stuttering start to her bid to topple Dinara Safina from the world number one spot with an error-strewn 7-5 6-4 win over Estonian Kaia Kanepi in the first round of the China Open yesterday.
Safina, who must at least match Williams’s progress over the next week in Beijing to retain the number one ranking, was equally unconvincing in her 6-4 6-4 victory over Italian Roberta Vinci earlier in the day. Williams missed last week’s Pan Pacific Open with knee and toe injuries and looked far from her best in her first singles match since her rant at a lineswoman at the US Open last month.
“I’m definitely not at 100 per cent but I’m just fighting and trying to do the best I can,” Williams said. It wasn’t easy but I felt like I was hitting a clean ball. She’s a really good player.”
Sharapova takes title after Jankovic retires injured
TENNIS: Former world number one Maria Sharapova won her second Pan Pacific Open title after Jelena Jankovic retired with a wrist injury in Saturday's final.
It was Sharapova’s first title since shoulder surgery last October and the 20th of her career. Her last tournament win came at Amelia Island in April 2008.
The Russian was leading 5-2 when seventh seed Jankovic complained of shooting pains down her right arm and called for the trainer to tape up her wrist at the changeover.
The Serb managed just two more points after a medical timeout before throwing in the towel.
“These things happen but I’ll certainly take it,” Sharapova said.
“It’s great to have that adrenaline again,” added the three-times grand slam winner.
“It’s funny to win trophies again after thinking I might never be able to hit a tennis ball again. But I’m back and I’m hungry. I can be better than before and win more grand slams.”
Massa gets green light
FORMULA ONE: Felipe Massa's comeback bid has been boosted after Ferrari got conditional approval from motor racing's governing body for him to test in their 2007 car.
In-season testing is banned in Formula 1, but the FIA say Massa can test using GP2 tyres at Ferrari’s Maranello base.
The Brazilian is due in Italy this week to use Ferrari’s simulator for the first time since suffering a fractured skull at July’s Hungarian Grand Prix.
