Amelie, Justine top draws

Cincinnati: World number one Amelie Mauresmo and French Open champion Justine Henin-Hardenne will be hoping to fine tune their games ahead of the US Open when they headline a strong field at the New Haven Open in Connecticut. While home-town favourite James Blake aims to defend his title at the traditional warm-up tournament for the US Open, most of the attention will be on the women as six of the top 10 are scheduled to play next week. Lindsay Davenport is the defending champion but she faces a tough test in a field which also features Russians Elena Dementieva and Nadia Petrova. Davenport will play world number 24 Katrina Srebotnik of Slovakia in the first round, while Mauresmo, Henin-Hardenne, Dementieva and Petrova, as the top four seeds, receive a bye.

Capirossi claims title

Brno: Italian Loris Capirossi won the MotoGP Czech Grand Prix on Sunday after leading the race at the 5.4-km Brno Circuit from start to finish. The Ducati rider beat defending world champion Valentino Rossi, who made a slow start from pole position, by 4.90 seconds. Spaniard Dani Pedrosa was third and confirmed he is well on his way to become the Rookie of the Year in the premier-class after winning at the Brno track in the 250cc class last year. Championship leader Nicky Hayden of the United States finished ninth.

Lomu ends long exile

Wellington: Former All Blacks winger Jonah Lomu made his first appearance in three years in a major rugby match in New Zealand when he took the field as a replacement for North Harbour against Wellington in the National Provincial Championship on Sunday.

Lomu looked trim and fit when he joined the match from the bench in the 52nd minute, immediately contributing to one of North Harbour’s four tries in a 31-16 win.

The giant winger last played in New Zealand for Wellington against Taranaki on August 9, 2003, before deteriorating health forced him out of the game.

Lomu underwent kidney transplant surgery in 2004 after suffering renal failure as a result of the rare illness nephritis.

Larsson faces police probe

Stockholm: Helsingborg striker Henrik Larsson faces a police investigation after being accused of punching an opponent during a match, Swedish media reported on Sunday. In the first-half of the Swedish Cup quarter final against Elfsborg on Saturday, Larsson allegedly jabbed defender Jon Jonsson in the stomach. Jonsson fell to the ground in pain and was unable to continue the game.

Player collapses

Ankara: A player in the Turkish soccer league collapsed from a heat-related heart problem Saturday during a game, reports said. Michal Meduna of Vestel Manisaspor was immediately hospitalised and underwent a heart angioplasty at a hospital in Manisa, western Turkey, CNN-Turk television quoted his doctor as saying. His condition was caused by the heat but was not life-threatening, he said.

Super Cup for Porto

Leiria (Portugal): Portuguese double winners Porto beat Cup runners-up Vitoria Setubal 3-0 on Saturday to win the Super Cup, the new season’s curtain-raiser.

Porto opened the scoring after 54 minutes through a bicycle kick from Brazilian striker Adriano.

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