Sports Shorts: Ethiopia's Desisa takes NYC Marathon

A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Sunday

Ethiopian Lelisa Desisa surged to the men's title and Kenya's Mary Keitany won a dominant fourth women's crown at the New York City Marathon on Sunday.

Desisa, coming on strong in the final mile, claimed the victory in an unofficial two hours, five minutes and 59 seconds as he and fellow Ethiopian Shura Kitata (2:06:01) passed defending champion Geoffrey Kamworor, who finished third in 2:06:26.

"Today is my day. I am very, very happy," said Desisa, a two-time Boston Marathon winner who had finished second in New York in 2014 and third in 2015 and 2017.

Keitany, second to American Shalane Flanagan in 2017 after three New York victories, returned to the top with a runaway performance. The 36-year-old won by more than three minutes in 2:22:48.

"Last year I was second but I did not give up," said Keitany, who returned home to train hard for this year's race.

She had won in 2014, 2015 and 2016 before Flanagan ended the streak.

London champion and fellow Kenyan Vivian Cheruiyot was a distant second in 2:26:02 as Flanagan, with a strong finish, took third in 2:26:22 in what may have been her last competitive marathon.

Molly Huddle was fourth in 2:26:44 and Boston Marathon winner Des Linden sixth (2:27:51) in a solid showing by American women.

American Daniel Romanchuk surprised three-time champion Marcel Hug of Switzerland for an historic men's wheelchair win.

The 20-year-old Romanchuk became the youngest New York winner and the first American champion in clocking an unofficial 1:36:21 to nip Hug by one second.

The title was the second major win for Romanchuk, who also won Chicago in October.

Swiss Manuela Schar defended her women's title, overtaking American Tatyana McFadden for the victory in 1:50.27. McFadden clocked 1:50:48.

Messi in Barca squad for Inter match, not yet cleared to play

Lionel Messi was on Sunday included in Barcelona's squad for Tuesday's Champions League game away to Inter Milan, little more than two weeks after breaking his arm.

The Argentinian was a surprise inclusion, although his name on the squad list was marked with an asterisk saying "the player travels without the medical all-clear".

Barca's captain and all-time top scorer was initially ruled out for approximately three weeks after sustaining the injury against Sevilla on Oct. 20, although he returned to training last week.

Coach Ernesto Valverde said on Friday he did not rule Messi out of playing against Inter, but said he was concerned about rushing the player back, especially as his side are on a winning run without their usual talisman.

Barca beat Sevilla 4-2 after Messi went off injured midway through the first half, convincingly beat Inter 2-0 at home and thrashed Real Madrid 5-1.

They beat Rayo Vallecano 3-2 on Saturday after earning a 1-0 win at Cultural Leonesa in the Copa del Rey.

Rooney to make England farewell in one-off international friendly

Former captain Wayne Rooney will make a one-off international comeback when England play the United States in a friendly charity game later this month, the Football Association (FA) said on Sunday.

The 33-year-old, England's record scorer with 53 goals, will win a 120th cap in the comeback appearance on Nov. 15 -- two years after his last international match against Scotland in November 2016.

"I am truly humbled and hugely excited to play for England at Wembley again," Rooney said in an FA statement.

"I would like to thank Gareth Southgate and The FA for inviting me back and helping to support my Foundation in the process.

"Playing for England was the greatest honour of my career – so winning my 120th, and final, cap will be a particularly special moment for me. It's fitting that the match will be against the USA and I hope that both sets of fans enjoy the game."

Having made his international debut in 2003 as England's youngest ever player, Rooney surpassed Bobby Charlton as his country's leading scorer in 2015.

Across a 13-year international career, Rooney represented England at three World Cups and three European Championships.

Rooney, who began his career at Everton, spent 13 seasons at Manchester United.

After a season back at Everton, he moved to the U.S. to join D.C. United -- whom he helped to the playoffs in his first campaign.

He is not expected to start or captain the side against the U.S., but will be brought on as a substitute in a charity match arranged to raise funds for the Rooney Foundation, which aims to improve the lives of disadvantaged children.

Humpy through to next round, Harika to fight tie-breaks

Grandmaster Koneru Humpy scored a second victory over Hayat Toubal of Algeria in the second game of the first round of World Women Chess Championship in Khanty Mansiysk,  Russia, on Sunday.

The other Indian Grandmaster, D Harika, was stretched to the tiebreaker with Sopiko Khukashvili of Georgia following a second draw.

Humpy, who is vying for her maiden world championship title, faced some welcome resistance that will get her in shape for the rounds to come.

The Indian was never in trouble as black and got her pieces swinging on the king side after winning a pawn. The end was picturesque as Humpy finished with a renowned back-rank theme.

Harika will have to battle it out in the tie-break games against Khukashvili who was under pressure but somehow sustained herself to make a draw out of what looked like a difficult rook and pawns endgame.

Indian Results round 1 game 2: Hayat Toubal (Alg) lost to Koneru Humpy (Ind) 0-2: Sopiko Khukashvili (Geo) drew with D Harika (Ind) 1-1, goes to tiebreak; Zhansaya Abdumalik (Kaz) drew with Padmini Rout (Ind) 1-1 goes to tiebreak; Bhakti Kulkarni (Ind( drew with Natalija Pogonina (Rus) 0.5-1.5.

ISL: Jamshedpur deny Delhi their first win

Delhi Dynamos' wait for their first win in this edition of Hero Indian Super League continued after their clash against Jamshedpur FC finished 2-2 at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi on Sunday.

The hosts struck through two second-half goals from Lallianzuala Chhangte (55') and Adria Carmona (58') while Sergio Cidoncha (39th) and Tiri (77') got on the scoresheet for the visitors who climbed above NorthEast United FC at the top of the table on goal difference.

Delhi remain rooted to the eighth position with four points from seven games.

I-League: Chennai City overcome Gokulam Kerala in five-goal thriller

Chennai City FC continued their impressive campaign in the 12th Hero I-League, winning the season's first Southern Derby against Gokulam Kerala FC 3-2 in Kozhikode on Sunday.

They now top the points table with seven points from three games. In an edge-of-the-seats game, Chennai rode on goals by Pravitto Raju, Pedro Manzi and Ameerudeen to get the better of their hosts.

Grenadian forward Antonio German scored off a penalty to give Gokulam an early lead and then V P Suhair got one back with a brilliant individual effort but it turned out to be futile for coach Bino George's side in the end.