LOS ANGELES: The Los Angeles Lakers have won their 16th NBA championship, dramatically rallying from a fourth-quarter deficit to beat the Boston Celtics 83-79 last night in Game 7 of the NBA finals. Kobe Bryant scored 23 points despite 6-of-24 shooting while winning his fifth title with the Lakers, who repeated as NBA champions for the first time since winning three straight from 2000-02.
EASTBOURNE: French Open finalist Samantha Stosur ended the British dream at the Eastbourne International yesterday with a comeback 6-7 (5/7) 6-1, 6-0 quarter-final win over Elena Baltacha.
However world No 9 and fifth seed Kim Clijsters was beaten as unseeded Victoria Azarenka claimed her fourth win this season over a top 10 player 7-6 (8/6) 6-4.
LONDON: England batsman Kevin Pietersen is to leave his county side, Hampshire, at the end of the season, the club said yesterday.
Pietersen, who was part of England's Twenty20 World Cup winning side, lives in London with his wife and baby son and wants to play for a county closer to home.
FORT SMITH (Arkansas): John Daly, pictured, shot a 4-under 66 in the first round of the Fort Smith Classic, his first Nationwide Tour event since 1991. Daly is from Dardanelle, about 120km from Hardscrabble Country Club, where the tournament is being played. He's hoping to help the event find a title sponsor to ensure its viability.
SAINT-OMER (France): Colm Moriarty of Ireland and Martin Wiegele of Austria have shot 5-under 66s to share the lead in the opening round of the Saint-Omer Open.
Moriarty was among the first golfers to tee off and set the bar so high that only Wiegele could catch him in the afternoon.
WELLINGTON: New Zealand's 1-1 draw with Slovakia drew a record audience to the national TV channel's breakfast programme, eclipsing the previous peak on the morning after Princess Diana died. Reports said 212 120 viewers tuned in to see the aftermath of the game in which New Zealand equalised in the dying seconds.
BARCELONA: Barcelona's president-elect says he is certain Cesc Fabregas will sign for the club this summer.
Sandro Rosell, who replaces Joan Laporta as president on July 1, told the press he was 'convinced' that the Arsenal captain wouldmove to Camp Nou by the start of next season, and said the club would continue its pursuit of him.
Arsenal turned down a formal offer from Barcelona for Fabregas on June 2. On Monday, Laporta told a news conference that efforts to sign the midfielder were currently 'on standby'.
ROSARIO: New Zealand will defend their junior world rugby crown in the final against trans-Tasman rival Australia after crushing South Africa 36-7 yesterday. New Zealand has yet to lose a match since the first under-20 championship in 2008.
Australia accounted for England, the runner-up the last two years, 28-16 in the first semifinal.
LONDON: Former England rugby international Andy Ripley has died at the age of 62 after a long battle against prostate cancer. Ripley played 24 times for England between 1972 and 1976 as a rampaging No 8 and toured South Africa with the British and Irish Lions in 1974.
