Merritt wins Triple Crown in Virginia winner cruises in 16 Haskell TUESDAY, AUGUST 4, 2015 18 20-time English champions United begin new campaign Page 19

KAZAN: ’s Katinka Hosszu competes in the final of the women’s 200m individual medley event at the 2015 FINA World Championships. — AFP Girls rule the pool as records tumble

KAZAN: Girl power prevailed at the world swim- 400m IM crown in Kazan. “Obviously, the record “It felt pretty easy,” said Ledecky, who also came Florent Manaudou won the men’s 50m butter- The Russian was the fastest into Tuesday’s final ming championships yesterday as three women’s was on my mind, it was my goal. within a second of her 400m freestyle world record fly title to claim his second gold in Kazan after after clocking 1:05.60 in her semi, but Meilutyte, records fell and Hungary’s ‘Iron Lady’ Katinka “But before the race I was just trying to give my while winning Sunday’s final. “I am pretty shocked helping France retain the 4x100m freestyle relay the world record holder, touched the wall just Hosszu lived up to her nickname. best and race as fast as possible, and then there that I was able to do that.” title on Sunday. 0.04secs slower. Australia’s is on After Katie Ledecky bettered her own 1500m was a record. It was just perfect.”Sjostrom was Ledecky only recently finished high school in Australia’s Mitchell Larkin was the fastest into course for her second gold in Kazan. She was the freestyle world record in the morning’s heats and equally as delighted as she shaved 0.15secs off her Maryland, but this is the eighth time the teenager the men’s 100m final on Tuesday. The fastest qualifier into Tuesday’s 100m backstroke Sweden’s Sarah Sjostrom broke her 100m butterfly own record set in Sunday’s semi-finals - to retain has set a world record in her fledgling career. 22-year-old set a new Oceania record of 52.38secs final by clocking 58.56secs. Reigning world and mark, Hosszu claimed the 200m individual medley the world title she won two years ago in Barcelona It is the fourth time the defending champion with France’s Camille Lacourt, the world 50m Olympic champion of the USA was record which has stood since 2009. by winning the 100m butterfly gold. has broken the 1,500m record alone having first champion, just behind at 0.32 back with Olympic fifth fastest at 0.86 back, having beaten Seebohm The Hungarian’s achievement was all the more achieved the feat in Barcelona two years ago on champion Matt Grevers of the United States at into second two years ago in Barcelona. impressive as the 26-year-old clocked two mins BRITAIN’S HISTORIC GOLD her way to winning the world title. 0.35secs in what promises to be a fast final. ’s long-distance expert Sun Yang had to 06.12 secs to take gold in the 200m IM final and “I have been waiting six years to break my per- Great Britain claimed three medals yesterday as settle for second in his 200m freestyle semi-final shave 0.03secs off ’ previous record sonal best time and now I have taken a few more became the first Brit to win the 100m BATTLE heat behind 15-time world gold medallist Ryan from the 2009 world championships in . The tenths of a second off it - finally!” said Sjostrom as breaststroke world title for 40 years when he beat There will be a battle royal in the women’s Lochte of the USA as both qualified for today’s US swimmer set the time in the era of the super- Denmark’s Jeanette Ottesen came second with South Africa’s Olympic champion Cameron van der 100m breaststroke final today with crowd favorite final. It promises to be a mouth-watering occa- fast neoprene suits, which have since been banned China’s Lu Ying third. Burgh on the wall. Yuliya Efimova of Russia, who is back competing sion with Germany’s world record-holder Paul and Hosszu has been chasing the record. Ledecky, who also holds the 800m record, hint- Scotland’s Ross Murdoch took bronze behind after serving a 16-month doping ban for taking Biedermann through as Australia’s Cameron “Honestly, I was just trying to race,” beamed ed she could yet send more records tumbling in Peaty while teenager Siobhan Marie O’Connor steroids, going head to head with 18-year-old McEvoy and Britain’s James Guy also posted Hosszu, who will also be defending her world today’s 1500m final. claimed 200m IM bronze behind Hosszu. Olympic champion Ruta Meilutyte. quick times. — AFP Arsenal gets a new ‘spine’ in Petr Cech

LONDON: Arsenal will start the new season as it has done for tebrae.” For years, Arsenal has been criticized for lacking a the past few years, with at least one marquee signing and fans backbone in defense, and Cech may finally resolve that com- calling for even more star players to come in. plaint if he can repeat the form he had at Chelsea. With the arrival of goalkeeper Petr Cech, Arsenal manager Although Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho delegated Cech Arsene Wenger has finally heeded calls to build from the back. mostly to the bench last season in favor of Thibaut Courtois, The former Chelsea keeper may not be wearing the No. 1 jer- the Czech international helped Chelsea to win the Premier sey, but he’s clearly Arsenal’s first choice in that position. League and League Cup. Overall, Chelsea won four Premier Wenger recalled that Cech was on his radar even before the League titles, the Champions League and three league cups Czech international signed for Chelsea. with Cech. Cech will take over from Arsenal’s official No. 1, “He has a good combination between quality, agility, size - Wojciech Szczesny, who has been loaned out to Roma. The he looked like he was built for English football,” Wenger said. “I Poland international, prone to mistakes, was sidelined last sea- think he is a very bright goalkeeper as well. He has an intimi- son after photos of him smoking were published in the media. dating presence, that is for sure. He makes the goals look small. David Ospina slotted in for Szczesny and did well, but he is That’s the kind of charisma he has.” expected to deputize for Cech. Wenger hasn’t given any indication that he’s looking to buy anyone else, so the looming question among fans is: Will CONTINUITY IN ATTACK Cech’s arrival be enough to win a Premier League or Theo Walcott and Santi Cazorla both signed new contract Champions League title? extensions with Arsenal, and with Alexis Sanchez, Olivier ATLANTA: John Isner hoists the championship trophy after defeating Marcos Baghdatis, of Cyprus, in the singles final at the The short-term target for Arsenal this season is to get off to Giroud and Danny Welbeck also remaining on board, the Atlanta Open tennis tournament. — AP a quick start. Last year, a string of poor showings early on halt- team’s attack won’t differ much from last year. ed any hopes the London club had of winning the league. Arsenal’s forwards and midfielders shared around the goals Arsenal has had a strong preseason, winning the Barclays in the 2014-2015 campaign, and the 6-0 thrashing of Lyon in Isner wins Atlanta title Asia Trophy while on tour in Singapore and lifting the Emirates pre-season is an indication that the team again won’t rely on Cup at home for the first time since 2010. The Gunners beat just one or two players to score. Chelsea 1-0 in the Community Shield on Sunday, which will be With the attack sorted, Wenger is taking a gamble by seem- ATLANTA: Top seed John Isner cruised to his third consecutive on tour in just a little bit. You’re a class act and I enjoyed playing you a major confidence boost for the new season. ingly not being in the market for another central defender or a Atlanta Open title when he beat hobbled Marcos Baghdatis in today. “I feel at home on this court. I play so well here.” Fifth seed After back-to-back FA Cup titles the past two seasons, defensive midfielder. Francis Coquelin was a surprise success in straight sets in the final on Sunday. Baghdatis, in his first final since 2011, apologised to the crowd. “That’s Arsenal hopes to win the league for the first time since 2004 the latter role last season, but if he can’t repeat his form or if he Isner took almost exactly an hour to dispose of Cypriot Baghdatis not the way I wanted to finish a tournament but my body couldn’t and the trophy that Wenger really wants but still eludes him: picks up an injury, Arsenal doesn’t have much cover for that 6-3 6-3 on a hot afternoon on the outdoor hardcourt in Georgia. handle it today so I’m really sorry I couldn’t compete 100 percent but I the Champions League. As Arsenal kicks off its league chal- position. Wenger, as he has done in previous years, said he The tall American used his biggest weapon, dropping just three tried my best,” he said. He later told reporters he had been battling the lenge, here a couple of things to know: won’t cave in to pressure to spend just for the sake of spend- points on serve, to secure his 10th ATP title. It was hardly a fair fight, injury since before the ATP event in Nottingham, England, in June, ing. “I think what you want is not to listen too much to what though, because Baghdatis’s movement was hampered from the start where he forfeited his semi-final. GETTING A BACKBONE people say, because sometimes in the same week I get two dif- by what he said later was an old abductor injury that flared up. “I played five matches this week the good thing is that it’s noth- Cech has given a couple of reasons as to why he chose No. ferent reproaches: one I don’t spend enough and one too Baghdatis got slower as the match progressed and an injury time-out ing serious.” The 30-year-old, a losing finalist at the 2006 Australian 33 as his shirt number, tweeting that he’s starting a “new chap- much,” he said. “I believe if you want to create success, which after the first set did not help matters. Open, has not won an ATP event since 2010. ter at 33 years of age with 333 games in the Premier League ... we want desperately ... focus on inside and try to do as well as He barely went through the motions in the second set but did not Isner said he was glad to be back on his best surface after a sum- That’s an easy choice.” Then, he added quite tellingly that he we can, believe in the football we want to play, play it as well forfeit the match. “I didn’t want to win like that,” Isner, 30, said at the mer stint on the clay of Europe and English grass. “It’s my favorite sur- hopes “to be a part of the spine of the team - spine has 33 ver- as we can and let other people talk.” — AP on-court victory presentation. “I hope you’re back healthy and back face, hardcourt like this that bounces pretty high,” he said. —Reuters