Loeb wins in Germany

TREVES – Double world champion Sebastien Loeb equalled Carlos Sainz’s record of 26 championship wins in the Rally of Germany yesterday.

The 32-year-old Citroen Xsara ace captured his fifth successive victory in this ninth leg of the season to stretch his lead in the driver’s title race to 33 points over Marcus Gronholm. Loeb was followed home in Germany by his Citroen teammate Daniel Sordo of Spain, who came in over half a minute behind, with Finland’s Gronholm 2 minutes and 19 seconds adrift in third.Russia takes women’s 4x100m relay GOTHENBURG – Russia won the women’s 4x100m relay at the European championships yesterday.The Russian quartet came home in 42.71 seconds, with Britain (43.51 seconds) taking silver and Belarus (43.61 seconds) bronze.Meanwhile, Italy’s Olympic champion Stefano Baldini won the men’s marathon at the European championships here on Sunday.Baldini finished the course around the streets of Gothenburg in 2 hours and 11.32 minutes, with Switzerland’s Viktor Rothlin (2:11.50) taking silver and Spaniard Julio Rey (2:12.37) bronze.Comeback kids Australia beat France NANJING – Australia came from 13 points down in the third quarter to beat France 77-71 in the Stankovic Cup tournament here Sunday, giving them a welcome boost ahead of this month’s World Championships.Guard Brad Newley, 13 of whose 17 points came in the last 11 minutes, gave Australia the lead for the first time with less than a minute left in the third quarter.Newley’s jumper from the right wing established a 75-66 lead, Australia’s biggest of the night, with just 1:48 on the clock.France came back with a lay-in from San Antonio Spur Tony Parker, who led the scoring with 22 points and four assists, and a three-pointer by Golden State Warrior forward Michael Pietrus to narrow the gap to 75-71.But Luke Kendall finished the job for Australia, hitting two free throws with six seconds left.China to offer discounts at Olympics BEIJING – China will offer special students discounts on tickets sold for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, state media reported Sunday.The measure is meant to promote the Olympic movement among youngsters, Xinhua news agency reported, citing the Beijing Olympic Organising Committee.The committee promised that just because the student tickets would be extra cheap, they would not be for low-quality seating with poor views, according to Xinhua.The news comes a week after China said it would sell seven million Olympic tickets to the public at a “very, very cheap” price, to reflect low average incomes in China.Dementieva downs Sharapova LOS ANGELES – Third-seeded Russian Elena Dementieva ended Maria Sharapova’s California hot streak Saturday, beating her top-seeded compatriot 7-5, 6-2 to reach the final of a 600 000-dollar WTA US Open tune-up.Sharapova, ranked fourth in the world, had returned to action for the first time since Wimbledon to lift the title in San Diego in convincing style last week, and reached the semi-finals here without dropping a set.But world No.6 Dementieva avenged straight-set losses to Sharapova earlier this year in the final at Indian Wells and the quarter-finals at Wimbledon, giving herself a chance to claim her first title since Tokyo in February.In the final she’ll face world No.29 Jelena Jankovic of Serbia and Montenegro, who ousted seven-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams 6-4, 6-3.Nampa-Reuters and AFPLoeb was followed home in Germany by his Citroen teammate Daniel Sordo of Spain, who came in over half a minute behind, with Finland’s Gronholm 2 minutes and 19 seconds adrift in third.Russia takes women’s 4x100m relay GOTHENBURG – Russia won the women’s 4x100m relay at the European championships yesterday.The Russian quartet came home in 42.71 seconds, with Britain (43.51 seconds) taking silver and Belarus (43.61 seconds) bronze.Meanwhile, Italy’s Olympic champion Stefano Baldini won the men’s marathon at the European championships here on Sunday.Baldini finished the course around the streets of Gothenburg in 2 hours and 11.32 minutes, with Switzerland’s Viktor Rothlin (2:11.50) taking silver and Spaniard Julio Rey (2:12.37) bronze.Comeback kids Australia beat France NANJING – Australia came from 13 points down in the third quarter to beat France 77-71 in the Stankovic Cup tournament here Sunday, giving them a welcome boost ahead of this month’s World Championships.Guard Brad Newley, 13 of whose 17 points came in the last 11 minutes, gave Australia the lead for the first time with less than a minute left in the third quarter.Newley’s jumper from the right wing established a 75-66 lead, Australia’s biggest of the night, with just 1:48 on the clock.France came back with a lay-in from San Antonio Spur Tony Parker, who led the scoring with 22 points and four assists, and a three-pointer by Golden State Warrior forward Michael Pietrus to narrow the gap to 75-71.But Luke Kendall finished the job for Australia, hitting two free throws with six seconds left.China to offer discounts at Olympics BEIJING – China will offer special students discounts on tickets sold for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, state media reported Sunday.The measure is meant to promote the Olympic movement among youngsters, Xinhua news agency reported, citing the Beijing Olympic Organising Committee.The committee promised that just because the student tickets would be extra cheap, they would not be for low-quality seating with poor views, according to Xinhua.The news comes a week after China said it would sell seven million Olympic tickets to the public at a “very, very cheap” price, to reflect low average incomes in China.Dementieva downs Sharapova LOS ANGELES – Third-seeded Russian Elena Dementieva ended Maria Sharapova’s California hot streak Saturday, beating her top-seeded compatriot 7-5, 6-2 to reach the final of a 600 000-dollar WTA US Open tune-up.Sharapova, ranked fourth in the world, had returned to action for the first time since Wimbledon to lift the title in San Diego in convincing style last week, and reached the semi-finals here without dropping a set.But world No.6 Dementieva avenged straight-set losses to Sharapova earlier this year in the final at Indian Wells and the quarter-finals at Wimbledon, giving herself a chance to claim her first title since Tokyo in February.In the final she’ll face world No.29 Jelena Jankovic of Serbia and Montenegro, who ousted seven-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams 6-4, 6-3.Nampa-Reuters and AFP