Tennis: Rain disrupted the Women's Semi-Final at the Wimbledon Championships. Play didn't start until after 5pm when it should have begun at 1 pm. Despite the delay fans were treated with two superb matches. In a shockingly powerful performance Venus Williams (seeded 14th) beat the reigning champion Maria Sharapova in straight sets, 7–6 (7–2) 6–1. The win was highly unexpected but the match was considered some of the best Tennis from the ladies all season. In Court 1 Lindsay Davenport faced Amélie Mauresmo in an equally highly entertaining match. In the middle of the 3rd set it began to rain and so the match was left at 7–6 6–7 5–3 to Davenport. (BBC Sport)
29 June 2005 (Wednesday)
Baseball: Texas RangerspitcherKenny Rogers is in trouble with his team and could be in trouble with the law after he shoves two cameramen walking onto the field at Ameriquest Field in Arlington, Texas for a pre-game warm-up before a game against the Los Angeles Angels. One of the cameramen, Larry Rodriguez, filed assault charges against Rogers. Rodriguez was taken to a local hospital, complaining of neck, back, and arm pain. Rogers has refused to talk to local media (Dallas, in this case) this season after a report was released during spring training that said Rogers was having trouble trying to get a contract extension with the Rangers. (Yahoo!)
Michelin announces they will reimburse all money to all spectators who attended the 2005 United States Grand Prix in Indianapolis, in which the seven teams that use Michelins refused to take part in over safety issues regarding their tires. Michelin also announces they will offer to buy 20,000 tickets for next year's United States Grand Prix to give to spectators who attended this year's race, trying to help better promote the sport in the United States. How those tickets will be distributed and how much money will be given back is unclear at this time. (CNN.com)
The seven teams who refused to race in the recent 2005 United States Grand Prix will face a disciplinary hearing this coming Wednesday. The teams face charges of bringing the sport into disrepute and could be docked constructors' points. (BBC Sport)
Cricket: Rain stopped play six overs into England's run-chase in the NatWest Series match against Australia. Play was stopped a couple of times before that as well, but eventually – with England 37–1 – the match was declared a no-result. England's bowling restricted the Australian score to 261–9. Darren Gough claimed three late wickets among five falling for 30 runs. Andrew Symonds had the top-score with 74, putting on 101 with Mike Hussey (45). (BBC Sport)
South Korea's Birdie Kim wins the U.S. Women's Open with an overall score of 3-over, making birdie on the 72nd and final hole to break a tie between her and amateurMorgan Pressel. Annika Sörenstam finishes at 12-over in an 8-way tie for 23rd, ending her hopes of winning the calendar grand slam. Michelle Wie, who had been in a three-way tie for the lead after the third round, balloons to a final-round 82 and finishes level with Sörenstam. (LPGA.com)
Basketball: The NBA and the NBA Players Association agree to a new collective bargaining agreement, averting a potential lockout. Among the terms of the agreement is an age limit, which will require all American players to be 19 or older on draft day. (ESPN.com)
Cricket: England (391–4, Paul Collingwood 112 not out and 6–31, Andrew Strauss 152) beat Bangladesh (223 all out) by 168 runs, as England set the second highest One-day International score ever, and Collingwood became the first to score a century and take a six-wicket-haul in the same match. BBC
Cricket: England (253 for 7, Kevin Pietersen 91 not out) beat Australia (252–9) by 3 wickets to hand Australia their second defeat in two days, and their fourth consecutive loss to England in all competitions. (BBC)
Sergio García wins the Booz Allen Classic on the PGA Tour, this year held at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Maryland. The Classic, the old Kemper Open, is held annually in suburban Washington, D.C.. It is generally held at the TPC (Tournament Players Club) at Avenel in Potomac, Maryland, but Avenel is being renovated. Having the tournament at Congressional, the week before this year's U.S. Open, attracted the best field ever for the event. (AP/Yahoo!)
Former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson quits his fight with little-regarded Kevin McBride after six rounds, giving the large Irishman an unexpected victory. ESPN
Football: UEFA grants special dispensation to allow 2005 UEFA Champions League winners Liverpool to enter the 2005–2006 Champions League in the first qualifying round. The position of the other four English entries in the draw for the competition will not be affected. (ESPN Soccernet)
Iran, Japan, Saudi Arabia and South Korea become the first four nations after the hosts to qualify for next year's World Cup Finals in Germany. Saudi Arabia and South Korea secure the top two positions in Asian Qualifying Group A, and Iran and Japan secure the top two positions in Group B, all with one match to spare. (BBC)
Later, Argentina becomes the next team to qualify after defeating archrivals Brazil 3–1 in South America qualifying in Buenos Aires. With the win, Argentina assures itself of finishing no worse than fourth in its group, which guarantees automatic qualification. (Reuters/Yahoo!)
LPGA: LPGA commissioner Ty Votaw announces that the women's tour will implement a playoff system in 2006 at the season-ending ADT Championship. The playoff system will consist of 30 players determined by a points system, and two wild cards. The winner of the tournament will win a $1 million prize. (USAToday.com)
NBA Playoffs: The defending champion Detroit Pistons earn their second consecutive trip to the NBA Finals with an 88–82 victory over the Miami Heat in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals. They will meet the San Antonio Spurs. Game 1 of the Finals will be on June 9. (AP/Yahoo!)
Kenya (300-6d & 282-9d) (17pts) drew with Namibia (335-9d & 68–5) (15pts) at Windhoek. Kenya go through to the semi-finals as winners of the African group
Ricky Hatton defeats Kostya Tszyu to become the new IBF Light Welterweight champion of the world at the MEN Arena in Manchester, England. Tszyu was behind on the cards of all three judges when he failed to answer the bell for the 12th, and final, round. (BBC)
In the day's second match, a competition-record crowd of 29,092 at the City of Manchester Stadium watches England defeat Finland 3–2 in a match in the same group. The Finns came back from 0–2 at half-time to tie the match 2–2 when Laura Kalmari scored with two minutes to go, but England's 17-year-old striker Karen Carney scored the decisive goal in injury time. (BBC)
The Georgia Force win the Arena League's National Conference championship game 60–58 over the Orlando Predators. Force quarterbackMatt Nagy throws 7 touchdown passes and runs for another. It's the franchise's first trip to the ArenaBowl as the Force, but third overall, as they made two straight trips in 2000 and 2001 as the old version of the Nashville Kats. They lost both times. (USAToday.com)
In a pivotal, yet still early-in-the-season game between National League East Division rivals the Florida Marlins and the Washington Nationals, Nationals outfielder Marlon Byrd accidentally railroads second base umpire Joe Brinkman while rushing toward first base ump Bill Miller to argue a call during the top of the seventh inning, a call that came a half-inning earlier. Byrd is ejected seconds before he smashes into Brinkman, who is uninjured. The incident overshadows the Nationals' 7–3 win. (SI.com)
Auto racing: For the second time in a year-and-a-half, NASCARBusch Series driver Shane Hmiel is suspended for violating NASCAR's substance abuse policy. In September 2003, Hmiel failed a drug test, and was barred indefinitely, with the punishing ultimately lasting five months. Hmeil has since hired a lawyer to combat this. (TheState.com)[permanent dead link]
An independent commission charged by the English Premier League with investigating the alleged "tapping up" of Arsenal defender Ashley Cole by Chelsea issues its findings. Cole, Chelsea, and Chelsea manager José Mourinho are all found guilty. Cole is fined £100,000, Mourinho £200,000, and Chelsea £300,000. Chelsea also receive a suspended three-point deduction for 2005–06, which will be assessed if they commit another tapping-up offense in the 2005–06 season. (BBC)
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