MARATHONS

Tola breaks NY record

Ethiopia’s Tamirat Tola on Sunday produced a devastating performance to win the New York Marathon in a new course record, while Kenya’s Hellen Obiri pipped Letsenbet Gidey to claim the women’s race. Tola, last year’s World Athletics Championships marathon gold medalist, powered home to take the tape in a time of 2 hours, 4 minutes, 58 seconds, shattering the old course record of 2:05:06 set by Geoffrey Mutai in 2011. Kenya’s Albert Korir was second in 2:06:57, while Ethiopia’s Shura Kitata was third in 2:07:11. The win marked a stunning return to form for Tola, who lost his World Championship marathon crown in Budapest in August after failing to finish the course. “I’m very happy — this is the first time I’ve won a major marathon which is very important to me,” Tola told ESPN after the race. A stacked women’s field, which included Boston Marathon champion Obiri, Gidey and Brigid Kosgei, the third fastest woman in history, was widely expected to set a potentially record-breaking pace. However the race became a slow tactical battle, with Obiri holding off 10,000m world record holder Gidey to take the line in 2:27:23. Gidey finished just behind in 2:27:29, with Kenya’s Lokedi third in 2:27:33.

TENNIS

Swiatek ousts Sabalenka

Poland’s Iga Swiatek on Sunday knocked out rival Aryna Sabalenka 6-3, 6-2 in the semi-final of the season-ending WTA Finals in Cancun, Mexico, putting the world No. 1 ranking within her reach ahead of the title match. The win by the cool and collected Swiatek set up a final showdown with the US’ Jessica Pegula, and she can end the year on top if she is able to hoist the trophy. World No. 1 Sabalenka ended Swiatek’s WTA Finals campaign in the penultimate stage a year ago, but lacked her usual lethal power in Cancun, as a flurry of forehand errors undermined her best efforts. The match began on Saturday, but officials were forced to suspend the affair with the Pole up 2-1 in the first set due to inclement weather. Four-time major winner Swiatek wrested the momentum immediately when play resumed on Sunday, and kept her composure throughout. “Jessie [Pegula] is a great player… I know it’s not going to be easy,” Swiatek said.

DRAGON BOATING

Prince William wins race

Britain’s Prince William yesterday took to the waters in Singapore for a morning of dragon boating, ahead of activities for the annual Earthshot Prize awards aimed at promoting solutions for the planet’s environmental threats. Donning a life vest and a black cap, the Prince of Wales sat in a long narrow boat as he paddled with athletes from the British Dragons club on the Kallang River. William and the other 19 paddlers rowed vigorously to the steady beat of a drummer standing in the bow. His boat triumphed in a brief race with another boat captained by British High Commissioner to Singapore Kara Owen. It was not the first time for William, an avid sportsman who tried his hand at dragon boating with his wife, Kate, during a tour of Canada in 2011. “I was lucky enough to be sitting next to him, and he is just a really nice guy,” said Laura Greenwood, a British expat who is a member of the British Dragons. “He has dragon boated before, so he felt kind of confident in what he was doing… It was quite fast pace, so he kept up really well.”