■ Snowboarding
Delerue and Jacobellis win
Xavier Delerue of France and Lindsey Jacobellis of the US won gold on Sunday in the snowboardcross event at the Snowboarding World Championships. Two Americans finished behind Delerue, with Seth Wescott taking silver and Nate Holland placing third. It was sweet revenge for Jacobellis, who defeated Olympic champion Tanja Frieden in the semifinals. Jacobellis had lost the Olympic final to Frieden at the Turin Games. Sandra Frei of Switzerland took the silver medal, while Helene Olafsen of Norway won bronze.
■ Soccer
Violence mars friendly
Sixteen FC Utrecht fans were arrested on Sunday after fighting with Schalke 04 supporters in the center of Utrecht ahead of a friendly match. Police spokeswoman Ellen de Heer reported no arrests of Schalke fans, but said one FC Utrecht supporter was being treated for injuries after being bitten by a police dog. "A number of Schalke supporters, several dozen, came into confrontation with a group of Utrecht supporters," said Marc van Rossum, a local reporter who saw the fighting. The brawl started in front of a pub and moved through the city center "until the police stepped in and took the Schalke supporters under protection," he added.
■ Cricket
Selectors rest Ponting
Australian captain Ricky Ponting will be rested on Friday for the clash with England in Brisbane. Australia beat England by eight wickets in the series opener last Friday in Melbourne and then beat New Zealand by 105 runs on Sunday. Ponting, who has been playing continuously since Sept. 22, will return for the New Zealand match in Sydney on Sunday. Brad Hodge will replace Ponting in the 14-man squad for the England match and Adam Gilchrist will captain the side with Mike Hussey as vice-captain. "We feel that Ricky Ponting needs and deserves a break," said selectors chairman Andrew Hilditch.
■ Rugby League
Rogers switches codes again
Former Australian rugby union fullback Mat Rogers has agreed to contract terms with the Gold Coast Titans for this year's National Rugby League season. Rogers, 31, will join his new teammates a year earlier than initially expected after quitting rugby union last month. "I'm just rapped to have everything sorted out and very much looking forward to getting in and doing the hard yards," Rogers said yesterday. "To be back in rugby league a year earlier than I expected is just huge." Rogers' departure has left Australia in a precarious position ahead of the rugby union World Cup with regular fullback, Chris Latham, out injured for the Super 14 season with a knee injury.
■ Golf
Canete wins Joburg Open
Ariel Canete birdied three of the final four holes and won the Joburg Open by two strokes on Sunday, earning the 31-year-old Argentine his first European tour title. Canete, who finished 146th on the Order of Merit last year and 53rd in November's qualifying school, closed with a 67 for a 19-under 266 and a winner's purse of 158,500 euros (US$205,000) more than he won in the last two seasons on the European circuit combined. After being forced off the course at the turn on Saturday due to thunderstorms with a one-stroke lead, Canete and 35 others had to return early on Sunday to finish their rounds. He birdied eight of the 27 remaining holes -- with one bogey -- and held off South Africa's Andrew McLardy.
■ Hockey
Blackhawks tame the Wild
Pavol Demitra scored the only shootout goal and the Minnesota Wild rallied to beat the Chicago Blackhawks 4-3 on Sunday night. A possible shootout goal by Denis Arkhipov, Chicago's third shooter, was disallowed after a video review. Minnesota goalie Manny Fernandez stopped the shot, but it nearly trickled over the goal line. Pierre-Marc Bouchard, Marian Gaborik and Wes Walz scored in regulation for Minnesota, which won its third straight overall and on the road. The Wild hadn't posted three consecutive road wins since February. Tuomo Ruutu, Martin Havlat, Cam Barker scored in regulation for Chicago, which lost its sixth straight.
■ Running
Half marathon record set
Former Stanford University runner Ryan Hall set a North American record in the Aramco Half Marathon and USA Half Marathon championship on Sunday. The 24-year-old US runner won in 59 minutes, 43 seconds to best the 1:00:55 Mark Curp ran in Philadelphia in 1985. Feyisa Tusse won the men's title in the Chevron Houston Marathon and Dire Tune won the women's race. Tusse, a 23-year-old US runner, finished in 2:11:39. Tune set a course record in 2:26:52. Elva Dryer, 35, won the women's half-marathon in 1:11:42.
■ Field Hockey
Argies, Dutch, Aussies win
Argentina easily beat Spain 4-1 on Sunday night to join the Netherlands and Australia atop the standings at field hockey's women's Champions Trophy in Buenos Aires. Australia beat Germany 2-1 to hand the defending champion its second loss in as many games and the Netherlands dominated Japan 3-0 to give the leaders six points each. After yesterday's rest day, play resumes today as Spain meets Australia, Germany plays Japan and Argentina faces the Netherlands in the late match. The tournament runs through Jan. 21.
■ Soccer
Guadeloupe shocks Cuba
Guadeloupe shocked Cuba 2-1, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines beat Guyana 2-0 in the Caribbean Cup finals on Sunday in Marabella, Trinidad. Cuba dominated first-half possession before a cross was volleyed home by the Guadeloupe's Steve Bizacene. Cuba continued to press and equalized in the 69th minute through Osvaldo Alonso, but Guadeloupe won it in the 87th minute with a free kick. In the later game, Grenadines striker Shandel Samuel scored on a rebound and substitute Sean Glynn sealed the victory when he scored two minutes later.
■ Golf
Watson, Nicklaus win Skins
Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson earned seven skins and US$260,000 on the back nine on Sunday to win the Champions Skins Game in Wailea, Hawaii, over Gary Player and Jay Haas. Nicklaus and Watson finished with nine skins worth US$320,000, boosting the Golden Bear to a career record 96 skins. Last year's runners-up sealed the win when Player and Haas bogeyed the first playoff hole and were eliminated. Player and Haas finished with six skins worth US$290,000 in the four-team, alternate-shot event. Arnold Palmer drained a 3m birdie on the second playoff hole on No. 16 to earn a skin worth US$100,000 to avoid being shut out for the third straight year. He was teamed with Loren Roberts, who was making his first appearance in the tournament.
OUT AGAINST INDONESIA: Taiwan reached the semi-finals at the tournament for the first time by defeating Denmark, with Chou Tien-chen beating Viktor Axelsen Taiwan yesterday crashed out of the Thomas Cup team competition in Chengdu, China, but achieved their best result at the top-tier badminton event by reaching the semi-finals. Indonesia were too good in the semis, winning 3-0 to advance to today’s final against China, who eliminated Malaysia 3-1. In the opening singles of the men’s team clash at the Hi-Tech Zone Sports Center Gymnasium 2, Anthony Ginting defeated Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen 21-18, 21-19 in 51 minutes, which put a huge hole in Taiwan’s aspirations to perhaps even make the final. In the men’s doubles, Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Ardianto downed Lee Yang and Wang
NO DOUBT: Spurs star Wembanyama was unanimously selected as NBA Rookie of the Year, winning all 99 votes to become the first Frenchman to capture the honor The Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night produced a dominant defensive display to seize a commanding 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven playoff series against the Denver Nuggets with a 106-80 road victory. The third-seeded Timberwolves harassed Denver relentlessly to claim a second straight win over the NBA champions as the series heads back to Minneapolis for Game 3 on Friday. Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards scored 27 points apiece, but the star of the show was Minnesota’s suffocating defensive effort, which knocked Denver out of their stride almost from the tip-off. The Timberwolves finished with 11 steals and 12 blocks, in sharp contrast to
Top-ranked Iga Swiatek on Saturday came through “the most intense and crazy final” she has ever contested to avenge her loss to Aryna Sabalenka in last year’s Madrid Open final with a grueling three hour, 11 minute victory in the Spanish capital. Coming back from 1-3 down in the decider and saving three match points in total, Swiatek claimed a 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (9/7) victory to secure the Madrid Open trophy for the first time. “Well, who is going to say now that women’s tennis is boring, right?” Swiatek said. Swiatek, who picked up the 20th title of her career, and ninth at
One of Malaysia’s top soccer clubs has pulled out of today’s season-opening Charity Shield after a spate of assaults, including an acid attack, on players in the country. It leaves the kickoff of Malaysia’s season this weekend under a cloud following the unprecedented acts of violence against players, which have left the country shocked and angry. Authorities said they have imposed tighter security, but Selangor said that they would not play in the showpiece curtain-raiser against Malaysian Super League champions Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) citing “a series of criminal incidents and recent threats.” Selangor and Malaysia winger Faisal Halim is in intensive care