Goosen storms to lead

MUNICH: South African Retief Goosen stormed to a two-shot lead over England’s Richard Finch after carding an eight-under-par 64 at the BMW International Open on Thursday. The 40-year-old South African picked up four birdies on each nine holes, including the closing three, and went round the par-72 Eichenried course without dropping a shot on his way to a two-shot lead over England’s Richard Finch. — AFP

Steffen sets new WR

BERLIN: Double Olympic champion Britta Steffen on Thursday set a new world record for the women’s 100m freestyle in a time of 52.85sec at the German national championships. The previous record of 52.88 was held by Australian Libby Trickett. Steffen won 100m Olympic gold in Beijing last year, beating Tricket at the death. She then performed in similar fashion to beat Dara Torres by just 0.01 to win gold in the 50m. — AFP

O’Neal joins James

CLEVELAND: The Cleveland Cavaliers have acquired 15-time all-star Shaquille O’Neal in a trade with the Phoenix Suns that brings two of the NBA’s biggest stars together for the first time. The trade pairs O’Neal with LeBron James. In exchange, Phoenix gets Ben Wallace and Sasha Pavlovic, Cleveland’s second-round pick in the 2010 entry draft and cash. O’Neal is set to make $20m in 2009-10. — AFP