Van Niekerk defends 400m world title at a canter

Lavillenie frustrated again

American Sam Kendricks capped his memorable, unbeaten season by winning the pole vault as the title once again eluded world record holder and former Olympics champion Renaud Lavillenie. Kendricks, a first lieutenant in the US Army reserve, cleared 5.95 metres while Poland’s Piotr Lisek took the silver and Lavillenie had to be content with a fourth world bronze.

Kipruto wins steeplechase

Kenya’s Conseslus Kipruto continued his country’s dominance of the 3,000 metres steeplechase with a courageous and confident victory, just weeks after recovering from an ankle injury.

The Olympics champion kicked on to take the lead with less than 300 metres left and was celebrating well before crossing the finish line. Soufiane El Bakkali of Morocco clinched the silver. Evan Jager took the bronze to become the first American to win a World Championships medal in the steeplechase.

`Decline in ticket sales for U-17 World Cup a concern’

FIFA Under-17 World Cup’s tournament director Javier Ceppi has highlighted that  the unexpected decline in the sale of tickets in the third phase in Guwahati.“Ticket sales in Guwahati were extremely strong in Phase I and Phase II, but have unexpectedly declined currently. Football is a religion in Guwahati and other parts of the North-East India, and hence we are not very worried about filling the stadium,“ Ceppi said. “The internet penetration in the city is good and we don’t see the online sale of tickets as a concern; however, fans just need a reminder for the best live football they are about to witness.

“Prefer a stadium instead of Neymar”

Bayern Munich CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge said the German champions would never spend anywhere near the 222 million euros that PSG paid for Brazilian forward Neymar this month, saying he would prefer a stadium with that money.“During the Neymar transfer I asked myself the question what would be more important: Neymar or the Allianz Arena,“ Rummenigge told media. “I have to say clearly that I prefer having the Allianz Arena which is also more important. We as Bayern Munich must have a different philosophy,“ Rummenigge said. “Overall the Neymar transfer could cost even more than the arena.“

Tiger Woods pleads not guilty to impaired driving

Tiger Woods pleaded not guilty to driving under the influence, but has agreed to enter a diversion programme that would see the charge dropped later this year. Douglas Duncan, the attorney for the 41-year-old golfer, entered the plea.Woods did not appear at the Palm Beach County courthouse. Prosecutor said Woods has agreed to plead guilty to reckless driving at an Oct.25 hearing and enter the county’s program for first-time DUI.

Errani insists she is not a cheat

Former French Open finalist Sara Errani struggled to hold back the tears as she insisted she is not a cheat after being handed a two-month doping ban. The ITF announced the suspension after Errani tested positive for the banned substance letrozole in a test taken in February. At a news conference, Errani continued to blame food contamination from her mother’s breast cancer medication. The 30-year-old Errani said she would return “stronger than ever“.