SWIMMING

Italy’s Thomas Ceccon set a world record in the men’s 100 backstroke and Katie Ledecky claimed yet another gold at the swimming world championships on Monday at Budapest, Hungary.

Ceccon stunned the competition by clocking 51.60 seconds to shave 0.15 seconds off the previous best mark set by American Ryan Murphy at the 2016 Olympics.

Murphy finished second, 0.37 seconds behind, followed by compatriot Hunter Armstrong, 0.38 behind Ceccon.

While the young mustached Italian claimed his first world title, Ledecky extended her record title haul to 17 with her fourth in the 1,500 freestyle.

Ledecky never looked threatened and clocked 15:30.15 – just under 10 seconds more than her world record from 2018 – to finish 14.74 seconds ahead of fellow American Katie Grimes.

Grimes, 16, is the second-youngest medalist in the 1,500 at a worlds since Ledecky won it for the first time in 2013.

Australia’s Lani Pallister finished third. It was her country’s first medal in this race.

BASEBALL

EASTERN LEAGUE: Portland Sea Dogs first baseman/ outfielder Pedro Castellanos was named the Eastern League Player of the Week for the week of June 13-19.

Castellanos hit a league-best .429 (12 for 28) in six games during the week with two runs scored, two doubles, a home run and five RBI.

Castellanos has a 16-game hit streak, the longest streak in the league this season. He also has a 21-game on-base streak dating back to May 27.

Castellanos is the first Sea Dogs player to earn Eastern League Player of the Week honors this season. Sea Dogs’ pitchers Victor Santos and Brayan Bello each earned Eastern League Pitcher of the Week honors earlier this season. Santos for the week of May 30-June 5 and Bello for the week of May 2-8.

COLLEGES: Cole Foster’s three-run double in the sixth inning gave Auburn the lead, and the Tigers beat No. 2 national seed Stanford 6-2 in a College World Series elimination game for their first win in Omaha in 25 years.

• Tim Elko and Calvin Harris homered, Hunter Elliott pitched effectively into the seventh inning, and Mississippi defeated Arkansas 13-5  to move within one win of the College World Series finals.

The Rebels (39-22) have won seven straight in the NCAA Tournament after being the final team awarded an at-large bid.

TENNIS

BAD HOMBURG OPEN: Alize Cornet won a rematch with a player who beat her last week as rain interrupted play at Bad Homburg, Germany,  leaving Angelique Kerber waiting overnight to complete her match.

Ninth-seeded Cornet swept past Anna Kalinskaya 6-2, 6-4 for her first grass-court win of the season following a first-round loss to the same opponent last week in Berlin. That sets up a second-round meeting with Germany’s Tatjana Maria, whose 6-3, 5-7, 6-3 win over Anastasia Potapova was frequently interrupted by the weather.

Kerber won the Bad Homburg tournament last year to end a three-year title drought and kick-start a revival in her fortunes before reaching the semifinals of Wimbledon.

The former top-ranked German was left waiting for around four hours because of the rain breaks before her match started in the evening and was leading Anastasia Gasanova 4-2 in the first set before play ended for the day. The winner will play Lucia Bronzetti in the second round.

EASTBOURNE: Serena Williams skipped her scheduled practice session at Eastbourne, England, at late notice as the 23-time Grand Slam champion prepares to make her return to competition after a year away.

Williams trained at a nearby club over the weekend and was expected to have an on-site session at Devonshire Park ahead of playing doubles with Ons Jabeur. Their first match is set for Tuesday against Sara Sorribes Tormo and Marie Bouzkova.

The 40-year-old Williams, who hasn’t competed anywhere since she was injured in the first round of Wimbledon last year, was awarded a wild card for singles at the All England Club.

SOCCER

POLAND: Poland won’t consider defender Maciej Rybus in its plans for the World Cup in Qatar after he signed a new contract with a Russian club.

The Polish soccer federation said Coach Czeslaw Michniewicz told Rybus that he would be left out of the squad for Nations League games in September and out of Poland’s plans for the World Cup because of his “current club situation.”

The full back was with Lokomotiv Moscow last season and stayed with the team after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. He signed a new two-year contract with Spartak Moscow on June 11.

REAL MADRID:  While he was still with Chelsea, Antonio Rudiger experienced first-hand what it felt like to be a Real Madrid player.

He was on the losing end as Madrid pulled off one of its stunning Champions League comebacks that culminated with its record-extending 14th European title this season.

Rudiger said his experience at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium in that quarterfinal loss made his decision to join the Spanish powerhouse easier.

“The match I played with Chelsea at the Bernabeu was special, so intense,” the central defender said during his official presentation at Madrid. “It was my first time playing at the Santiago Bernabeu,” he said. “It was an incredible feeling for me. After the third goal (for Chelsea), there was still a really positive atmosphere. I took away amazing feelings and having the chance to play for a club like this is unbelievable.”

The 29-year-old Rudiger said Madrid’s archrival Barcelona showed interest in signing him but it was “Madrid or nothing.”

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