Ahn to Japan

　　TOKYO: South Korean World Cup star Ahn Jung-hwan will join Japanese club Shimizu S-Pulse on a one-year transfer, the J-Leagueteam announced yesterday.

　　Financial details of the deal were not disclosed.

　　The popular 26-year-old midfielder was released from Italian Serie A’s Perugia. Ahn is expected to arrive in Japan today.

　　Champions League

　　LONDON: Real Madrid begins the long road towards its 10th Champion Cup title tomorrow with 11 other former winners among its rivals. The biggest contender of all could be a club which is still to win European soccer’s most coveted prize — Arsenal.

　　Bayern Munich could be without star midfielder Michael Ballack in its opener against Deportivo la Coruna tomorrow. He sustained a bruise on his left foot.

　　See Page 3 for TV schedule.

　　Bundesliga

　　FRANKFURT: Hansa Rostock moved into second place in the Bundesliga (German first division) by edging Bochum 1-0 in a Sunday showdown between two surprise teams of the early season.

　　The outcome left Bayern Munich in sole possession of first place after five rounds, one point clear of Rostock.

　　In another Sunday match, Hamburger SV got two goals from its Argentine striker Bernardo Romeo to snap a three-match losing streak and beat bottom-placed Kaiserslautern 2-0.

　　French 1st division

　　PARIS: Newly promoted Ajaccio upset fellow Corsican side Bastia 2-1 Sunday in the last match of the seventh round.

　　Forward Lilian Laslandes opened the scoring for Bastia in the 28th minute, but Bruno Rodriguez leveled for the visitors seven minutes later. David Faderne added the winner with a minute of regular time to spare.

　　After the win, Ajaccio jumped to 12th place in the standings, while Bastia fell to 15th.

　　Nice leads the championship on 14 points, followed by Auxerre and Guingamp.

　　Volleyball

　　BERLIN: Undefeated throughout the women’s Volleyball World Championships, the United States was finally stopped in its tracks by underdog Italy in a thrilling five-set final Sunday, which ended the U.S. side’s winning streak as well as its hopes for a first ever women’s world title in the sport.

　　The Italians, considered long-shots throughout the championship, overcame the Americans 18-25, 25-18, 25-16, 22-25, 15-11, to collect their first ever women’s world crown and become only the fifth country to win the gold, along with Cuba, China, Japan and the former Soviet Union.

　　Basketball

　　TAICANG, Jiangsu: China thrashed Senegal 81-63 yesterday to advance to the second round of the Women’s World Basketball Championship.

　　Meanwhile, Russia beat Chinese Taipei 83-46 to advance.