■SOCCER
Saint Etienne win at last
Saint Etienne ended their three-year losing French Cup record on Saturday with a 1-0 win over Bordeaux to reach the last 32 and keep coach Alain Perrin on course for an unprecedented Cup treble. Bafetimbi Gomis grabbed the only goal of the game in the 76th minute on a treacherous and slippy surface at Bordeaux’s Jacques-Chaban-Delmas Stadium. Bordeaux, coached by former Manchester United defender Laurent Blanc, were missing a host of their South American stars who had been given permission to stay on their Christmas vacation. Meanwhile, Lyon’s march to a possible second successive league and cup double was put on hold when their tie at fourth division Concarneau was called off because of a frozen pitch. No first division team lost to lower division opposition on Saturday, although Le Mans, Grenoble and Lorient all needed to win shoot-outs to progress.
■SOCCER
Olympiakos extend lead
Luciano Galletti converted a first-half penalty to give Olympiakos Piraeus a 1-0 win at Asteras on Saturday to extend their lead at the top of the Greek league. Olympiakos now have 39 points from 16 games, nine more than PAOK Thessaloniki. Asteras controlled play from kick-off, but it was Olympiakos who came closest to scoring first in the 18th minute when a powerful shot by Fernando Belluschi sailed over Giorgos Abaris’ crossbar. Olympiakos took the lead in the 27th minute from a penalty awarded when defender Nikolas Lazaridis fouled Brazilian striker Diogo in the area. It was Galletti’s seventh goal of the season. Four minutes before the end of the first half, Asteras nearly leveled when a header by Manolis Psomas went just wide. A blistering shot by Diego grazed Abaris’ post in the 52nd, eight minutes before Lucio Filomeno’s low drive hit the base of Olympiakos’ post. Also on Saturday it was Ergotelis 0, Panthrakikos 1 and Xanthi 0, Panionios 0.
■NORDIC SKIING
German team takes title
Germany won the team competition of the Nordic combined World Cup event on Saturday in Schonach. The German team of Georg Hettich, Eric Frenzel, Bjoern Kircheisen and Tino Edelmann finished 16.9 seconds ahead of Norway in the 4x5km relay. Austria were third. Finland, who have won the event every year since 2001, trailed in fourth. Germany were missing reigning world champion Ronny Ackermann, as well as teammates Sebastian Haseney and Johannes Rydzek who were sick. “I am surprised that the team won in its reduced form,” Germany coach Hermann Weinbach said. The new-look team went into the relay with a three-second lead following the jump and extended it for a comfortable win. Earlier on Saturday, the German team also won the ski jumping part of the combined event, ahead of Austria and Finland.
■LUGE
Leitner and Resch victorious
Four-time world champions and 2002 Olympic winners Patric Leitner and Alexander Resch of Germany won their first World Cup doubles race this season on Saturday. They finished in 1 minute, 34.616 seconds to edge Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt of Germany by 0.07 seconds for their seventh consecutive victory on the Koenigssee course since 2001 and their 32nd overall win. Andreas Linger and Wolfgang Linger of Austria finished third. In the women’s singles race, two-time world champion Tatjana Huefner of Germany posted her third win this season. She finished in 1 minute, 34.948 seconds to beat compatriots Natalie Geisenberger and Anke Wischnewski.
■ICE HOCKEY
Crosby tops All-Star list
Pittsburgh Penguins center Sydney Crosby heads the list of starters announced on Saturday for the NHL All-Star Game with a record vote total in fan balloting. A total of 10 players surpassed the previous all-time record of 1,020,736 votes — set by Jaromir Jagr in 2000 — with Crosby topping out at 1,713,021. Crosby was voted into last year’s All-Star Game as well, but could not play because of an ankle injury. Joining 21-year-old Crosby in the Eastern Conference’s starting lineup will be teammate and NHL scoring leader Evgeni Malkin (1,585,936 votes), and a quartet of Montreal Canadiens who benefited from enthusiastic voters in the host city.
■ICE HOCKEY
Canada to play in junior final
Canada booked a place in the world junior ice hockey championships final for the eighth straight year, edging Russia 6-5 after a shootout on Saturday, having only tied the game with five seconds left in regulation time. Canada’s opponent in today’s final will be Sweden, which progressed with a 5-3 win over Slovakia. It is a re-match of last year’s decider in the Czech Republic when Canada beat Sweden in overtime for its fourth straight title. Canada’s Jordan Eberle, a first-round draft pick of the NHL’s Edmonton Oilers, scored twice in regulation, including the the second with five seconds left when the hosts had pulled goalie Dustin Tokarski off for an extra attacker.
■COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Connecticut beats Buffalo
Donald Brown ran for a career-best 261 yards — including 208 in the first half — and scored a touchdown as Connecticut defeated Buffalo 38-20 in college football’s International Bowl on Saturday. Connecticut overcame five first-half turnovers and a 20-10 deficit to win its second bowl game in three appearances since joining the Big East conference in 2004. Mid-American champion Buffalo had its breakout season under coach Turner Gill end with a loss in its bowl debut.
■BOXING
Nishioka knocks out Garcia
Japanese champion Toshiaki Nishioka pulled off a technical knockout over Genaro Garcia of Mexico to defend the World Boxing Council (WBC) super bantamweight title on Saturday. Nishioka fired an array of left upper cuts before the referee stopped the fight 57 seconds into the 12th and final round. “I really wanted to score a knockout victory because of the many fans who came to watch my fight even though it was the beginning of the new year,” said Nishioka, 32, with his daughter Kohime in his arms. “Probably it was a frustrating fight for the spectators, but I’m really happy that I was able to score a knockout in the end. I’m going to improve my boxing and show them a more exciting fight,” he added.
■BOXING
Moses takes Kobori’s title
Paulus Moses of Namibia wrested the World Boxing Association (WBA) lightweight title from defending champion Yusuke Kobori of Japan by a unanimous decision victory on Saturday. A Thai judge scored it 115-113, a Puerto Rican judge counted it 115-113 and an Australian judge had it 119-109, all in favor of the challenger. “I hit a jab in every round. That’s the key to my victory,” said Moses, who works as a policeman in his country. “I’m really happy to become the first world champion of the new year. I’m proud of it,” said Moses, adding he would continue to work for the police because “I like the job.” It was the first attempt at a world title for the 28-year-old Moses.
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was