Digest

Motorcycling

Marquez roars to sixth MotoGP world title

Defending champion Marc Marquez of Spain lifted his sixth premier class MotoGP world title on Sunday with victory at the Thailand Grand Prix.

Marquez's second consecutive win in Buriram has given him the title with four races remaining in the campaign after he edged out Fabio Quartararo over the final lap.

Andrea Dovizioso, who was fourth, can now no longer catch Marquez in the rankings.

The 26-year-old Spaniard has won every elite championship since 2013 with the exception of 2015.

His six titles puts him third on the all-time list in the MotoGP/500cc class, behind Italian legends Giacomo Agostini (eight) and Valentino Rossi (seven).

Boxing

Golovkin regains IBF middleweight crown

Gennady Golovkin regained one of his old middleweight titles, edging Sergiy Derevyanchenko in a unanimous decision to take the IBF championship at New York's Madison Square Garden on Saturday night.

Golovkin knocked down Derevyanchenko in the first round, opened a cut near his right eye in the second and then held on, absorbing plenty of the type of punishing shots he used to deliver.

The 37-year-old Kazakh did just enough to win 115-112 on two cards and 114-113 on the other, claiming the belt that was vacated by Canelo Alvarez, who handed Golovkin (40-1-1, 35 KOs) his only loss.

Associated Press scored the fight 115-112 for Golovkin.

Derevyanchenko (13-2) fell just short in his second attempt to win the middleweight title, having lost by split decision to Danny Jacobs last year.

Soccer

Messi scores first goal of season in Barca win

Lionel Messi ended his mini-scoring drought as Barcelona found its winning stride on Sunday.

Messi curled a left-footed freekick over the wall and into the net for his first goal of the season to wrap up Barcelona's 4-0 La Liga victory over Sevilla.

The Argentine superstar thrust his finger in the air before pumping his fist in celebration after scoring in the 78th minute. Messi had gone scoreless in his previous four appearances after being sidelined for five games with injuries.

Messi's 37th goal in 38 career meetings with Sevilla was also his first since he won his record sixth FIFA player of the year award last month.

Barcelona's fourth straight victory in all competitions lifted it into second place, two points behind leader Real Madrid. Barca will host Madrid on Oct 26.

NFL

Brady passes Favre as Pats remain perfect

Playing before an appreciative audience in a place far from home, Tom Brady helped the New England Patriots stay unbeaten by picking apart the lowly Washington Redskins on Sunday.

While he was at it, the 42-year-old quarterback climbed past a former star in the NFL record book.

Brady threw for 348 yards and three touchdowns as the Patriots got another strong performance from their defense in a 33-7 rout of the winless Redskins.

Now in his 20th season, Brady whisked by Brett Favre into third place on the career list with 71,923 passing yards. He now trails only Peyton Manning (71,940) and Drew Brees (74,845).

Brady also edged closer to Manning's record 539 touchdown passes, connecting with Julian Edelman, Brandon Bolden and Ryan Izzo to bring his total to 527.

Shrugging off four sacks, Brady completed 28 of 42 passes - including a 15-yarder to Edelman in the third quarter to eclipse Favre.

Athletics

Grenada gets golden effort from Peters

As a kid growing up in Grenada, Anderson Peters would hurl sticks at mangoes and apples to get them to fall to the ground.

He had the best arm of all his friends. On Sunday, he showed it off on an even bigger stage.

Peters won the javelin throw for his country's second-ever gold medal at the IAAF World Championships, joining sprinter Kirani James, who captured the 400m title in 2011.

Peters remembers being glued to his television that day - and being inspired.

"That was an unbelievable moment for our whole country," he said.

"I remember thinking that if he can do it, it's possible for everybody to have a chance to become a world champion.

"There are no words to explain this feeling. I'm grateful for the chance."

Peters said he had two ambitions as a kid - to be a famous cricket player or "the next Usain Bolt".

Xinhua - Agencies

(China Daily Global 10/08/2019 page16)