World Sport Briefs

Casey Stoner took the honours in the Italian MotoGP Grand Prix on Sunday to move top of the standings and end Valentino Rossi’s long reign at his home race.

MotoGP
Casey Stoner took the honours in the Italian MotoGP Grand Prix on Sunday to move top of the standings and end Valentino Rossi’s long reign at his home race.
Previous championship leader Jorge Lorenzo, who fell in practice and made a terrible start from pole position, recovered to finish second on his Yamaha. World champion Rossi, came in third after changing to hard tyres with 13 laps to go rather than softs like many rivals.
Football
Japan outclassed Belgium 4-0 to lift the Kirin Cup on Sunday, giving their World Cup qualifying preparations the perfect boost.
Yuto Nagatomo, Kengo Nakamura, Shinji Okazaki and substitute Kisho Yano were on target as Japan totally dominated the Belgians in Tokyo to win the three-team competition.
Rugby
Fullback Mils Muliaina has been appointed New Zealand captain for the All Blacks home tests against France and Italy next month.
Muliaina, who captained the Waikato Chiefs to the Super 14 final, takes over from the injured Richie McCaw, who was sidelined with a knee problem.
‘Mils is in the leaders group in the All Blacks,’ New Zealand coach Graham Henry said in a statement yesterday.
Athletics
Tyson Gay surprised himself and found a measure of redemption by running the third fastest 200 metres time ever in Saturday’s New York grand prix track meeting.
Gay, running his first 200 in a season he hopes will erase his Beijing Olympics disappointments, ran away from the field at Icahn Stadium to win with a time of 19.58 seconds.
‘I was very surprised,’ the American double world champion told reporters after a stunning performance bettered only by Usain Bolt’s world record 19.30 set in Beijing, and the 19.32 run by Michael Johnson at the 1996 Olympics.
Football
Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley said yesterday he had made ‘terrible decisions’in the running of the club, who were relegated from the Premier League last week, and wants to sell the club as soon as he can.
‘It has been catastrophic for everybody. I’ve lost my money and I’ve made terrible decisions. Now I want to sell it as soon as I can… advisers will be appointed shortly,’ he told the Sunday Times.
– Nampa-Reuters