Brøndby leave it late
Brøndby maintained their long-standing Superliga status on the final day of the season at the expense of Horsens, their opponents in an intense match on Monday night. South African striker Lebogang Phiri, 18, scored the only goal of the game in injury time in a game that Brøndby had to avoid defeat. Horsens are therefore relegated with Silkeborg, while Viborg and FC Vestsjælland have been promoted.
Shuttlers going strong
Denmark won their opener at badminton’s Sudirman Cup, the biennial world mixed team championship, in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday, beating Singapore 4-1, but lost 2-3 to Japan on Tuesday. They will now face Chinese Taipei in the quarter-finals on Thursday. Denmark are hoping to go one better than in 2011, when they finished runner-up. However, China have won the last four tournaments and eight of the last nine.
Safe as Swedes stun Swiss
Denmark finished three places above the relegation places in 12th at the 2013 Ice Hockey World Championship, which concluded on Sunday with a crushing win for the host nation, Sweden. A 5-1 defeat of Switzerland avenged an opening day 2-3 loss to the same opponent. Denmark’s heaviest loss was by just three goals, and Simon Nielsen was ranked the 11th best keeper. Meanwhile, Austria and Slovenia have been relegated from the elite group.
A princely Wales draw
The draw for the eight-team European Women’s Under-19 Championship has been favourable to Denmark, landing them in the same group as the unfancied hosts Wales, along with England and France. Sweden, Finland, Germany and Norway make up the other group. Denmark start on August 19 against Wales, with the final on August 31. This is Denmark’s fifth finals since the tournament started in 2002, although they did win the discontinued under-18s in 1998.
Olympian to hold court
Poul-Erik Høyer Larsen, 47, the gold medallist in the badminton men’s singles at the 1996 Olympics, is the new president of the Badminton World Federation. He saw off a challenge from Justian Suhandinata of Indonesia to succeed South Korea’s Kang Young Joon, who had decided to step down after eight years in the post. “Our ranking between the co-sports of the Olympics is around 13,” Larsen told media. “My aim is to reach the top ten.”
Surprises keep on coming
Rafal Majka, Team Saxo-Tinkoff’s lead cyclist in the ongoing Giro d’Italia, which finishes on Sunday, has repaid the confidence of his manager Bjarne Riis to sit in eighth place in the overall standings after stage 15. The young Pole, a surprise choice to lead the team, is just 5.20 minutes behind the Italian leader Vincenzo Nibali and only five seconds behind Colombia’s Carlos Betancur in the young riders’ standings.
