Weekend Sports Briefs

Romania qualify for World Cup MADRID – Romania clinched a place in next year’s Rugby World Cup after beating Spain 43-20 in a playoff match in Madrid yesterday.

The Romanians had problems dealing with an enterprising Spanish side in the first half and trailed 8-3 after 30 minutes, but they used their superior forward power to wear their opponents down and scored four tries after the break. Having beaten Georgia 20-8, Romania are now guaranteed top spot in Group B and a place in the World Cup which starts in France next September.The victors of the final group match between Spain and Georgia will go into a further playoff against either Portugal or Russia in which another World Cup berth will be at stake.Earlier on Saturday, Italy secured their place in the tournament by crushing Russia 67-7 in Moscow.Both Italy and Romania will play in Pool C alongside New Zealand and Scotland plus a repechage winner.Newcomer King lands first title BANGKOK – American newcomer Vania King battled past home favourite Tamarine Tanasugarn 2-6 6-4 6-4 to win her first professional title at the Bangkok Open yesterday.In a match lasting almost 2-1/2 hours, the 17-year-old recovered from a set down to deny the Thai her first title in over three years.Tamarine looked on course to become the first Thai in over a decade to win a tournament on home soil when she went 4-2 up in the final set.But King, who turned professional only three months ago, pulled off some of the best shots of her tournament to win a string of marathon rallies.The Californian refused to succumb to Tamarine’s stinging forehand drives and stunned the Bangkok crowd when she pulled back four games to secure her maiden title.King, ranked 80th in the world before the tournament, said her victory came as a shock and added that she came out on top because she refused to go down without a fight.Lin wins Japan Open TOKYO – World badminton champion Lin Dan won the Japan Open title after an extraordinary meltdown by Indonesia’s volatile Olympic gold medallist Taufik Hidayat in yesterdayŽs final.Lin triumphed 16-21 21-16 21-3 to continue his rich vein of form after the Chinese world number one captured the world title in Madrid last month.But Taufik’s collapse in the final game took some of the gloss off a marquee showdown between two of the game’s biggest players.”Taufik seemed to give up when I took the lead in the third set,” Lin told reporters.”I couldn’t cope with his speed in the first game.The first two games were very close.”Former world number one Taufik was docked ranking points after storming out of a match against Lin at the Hong Kong Open in August in protest at a line call.Women’s number one Zhang Ning saved three match points to beat fellow Chinese Xie Xingfang 21-11 16-21 30-29 in their earlier singles final in Tokyo.Xie had beaten Zhang in the women’s final in Madrid to win the women’s world title for the second year running.Italy’s Dovizioso wins 250cc ESTORIL – Italian Andrea Dovizioso won the 250cc Portuguese Grand Prix yesterday in a seesaw race that takes the outcome of the world title to the final race of the season in Valencia.The Honda rider’s victory surprised favourite Jorge Lorenzo who was expected to clinch the world crown in Portugal.The Spanish teenager only managed fifth place and saw his 27-point lead over Dovizioso narrow to 13 points.”I’m happy but I had some problems with my visor and I didn’t see anything,” said Dovizioso after the race.Japan’s Hiroshi Aoyama finished second in a KTM while Aprilia’s San Marino rider Alex de Angelis was third.The victory gave Dovizioso 25 points as he moved on to a total of 263 points behind Lorenzo who has 276 points.Reports by Nampa-ReutersHaving beaten Georgia 20-8, Romania are now guaranteed top spot in Group B and a place in the World Cup which starts in France next September.The victors of the final group match between Spain and Georgia will go into a further playoff against either Portugal or Russia in which another World Cup berth will be at stake.Earlier on Saturday, Italy secured their place in the tournament by crushing Russia 67-7 in Moscow.Both Italy and Romania will play in Pool C alongside New Zealand and Scotland plus a repechage winner.Newcomer King lands first title BANGKOK – American newcomer Vania King battled past home favourite Tamarine Tanasugarn 2-6 6-4 6-4 to win her first professional title at the Bangkok Open yesterday.In a match lasting almost 2-1/2 hours, the 17-year-old recovered from a set down to deny the Thai her first title in over three years.Tamarine looked on course to become the first Thai in over a decade to win a tournament on home soil when she went 4-2 up in the final set.But King, who turned professional only three months ago, pulled off some of the best shots of her tournament to win a string of marathon rallies.The Californian refused to succumb to Tamarine’s stinging forehand drives and stunned the Bangkok crowd when she pulled back four games to secure her maiden title.King, ranked 80th in the world before the tournament, said her victory came as a shock and added that she came out on top because she refused to go down without a fight.Lin wins Japan Open TOKYO – World badminton champion Lin Dan won the Japan Open title after an extraordinary meltdown by Indonesia’s volatile Olympic gold medallist Taufik Hidayat in yesterdayŽs final.Lin triumphed 16-21 21-16 21-3 to continue his rich vein of form after the Chinese world number one captured the world title in Madrid last month.But Taufik’s collapse in the final game took some of the gloss off a marquee showdown between two of the game’s biggest players.”Taufik seemed to give up when I took the lead in the third set,” Lin told reporters.”I couldn’t cope with his speed in the first game.The first two games were very close.”Former world number one Taufik was docked ranking points after storming out of a match against Lin at the Hong Kong Open in August in protest at a line call.Women’s number one Zhang Ning saved three match points to beat fellow Chinese Xie Xingfang 21-11 16-21 30-29 in their earlier singles final in Tokyo.Xie had beaten Zhang in the women’s final in Madrid to win the women’s world title for the second year running.Italy’s Dovizioso wins 250cc ESTORIL – Italian Andrea Dovizioso won the 250cc Portuguese Grand Prix yesterday in a seesaw race that takes the outcome of the world title to the final race of the season in Valencia.The Honda rider’s victory surprised favourite Jorge Lorenzo who was expected to clinch the world crown in Portugal.The Spanish teenager only managed fifth place and saw his 27-point lead over Dovizioso narrow to 13 points.”I’m happy but I had some problems with my visor and I didn’t see anything,” said Dovizioso after the race.Japan’s Hiroshi Aoyama finished second in a KTM while Aprilia’s San Marino rider Alex de Angelis was third.The victory gave Dovizioso 25 points as he moved on to a total of 263 points behind Lorenzo who has 276 points.Reports by Nampa-Reuters