■ATHLETICS
Jones dominates hurdles
US sprinter Lolo Jones took a cool 0.10 seconds off the previous fastest time this season as she dominated the women’s 60m hurdles at 7.85 seconds at Stuttgart’s IAAF indoor meet on Saturday. With strong fields assembled in key races at Stuttgart’s Hanns Martin Schleyer Halle stadium, several world best marks fell with a month to go before the European Indoor Championships. Having just missed out on Bejing gold, high-jumper Blanka Vlasic leapt to the highest mark of 2.04m so far this season. But she failed with her three attempts at 2.09m, which would have broken the 32-year-old world indoor record of 2.08m set by Sweden’s Kajsa Bergqvist. Ethiopia’s 5,000m world champion Meseret Defar ran a season’s best time of 8 minutes, 26.99 seconds. In the men’s 3,000m, US runner Bernard Lagat smashed the world’s previous best mark with a time of 7 minutes, 35.41seconds. Ismail Ahmed Ismail from Sudan lowered the 800m world’s best mark when he ran 1 minute, 45.73 seconds while Russia’s Yuriya Borzakovskiy finished second. In the men’s 1,500m, Ethiopia’s Deresse Mekkonen ran a new world mark of 3 minutes, 36.41 seconds.
■BASKETBALL
NBA fines Doc Rivers
Boston Celtics coach Doc Rivers was fined by the National Basketball Association on Saturday for “verbal abuse of game officials,” the Boston Globe reported. The punishment will reportedly will cost Rivers US$15,000. Rivers was critical of the officiating in Boston’s 110-109 overtime loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday. He said he believed officials made a mistake on the Celtics’ final play, when Ray Allen missed a three-point attempt while being closely marked by Derek Fisher. “I thought it was a hand check, I did,” Rivers said after the game. “But the officials say that they don’t call the game different from the first quarter to the end of the game. And if that’s true, then Ray should’ve been on the free-throw line.” Rivers also criticized the way the referees handled the second half, saying they allowed “chippiness” on both sides to become “out of control.”
■FIELD HOCKEY
Favorites enjoy easy starts
Favorites Argentina and the US enjoyed easy starts to the Pan American Cup on Saturday. Argentina thumped Trinidad and Tobago 7-1 while the US comfortably beat a spirited Jamaica 10-0. They are expected to meet in the final next Sunday, in which the winner will qualify for next year’s World Cup in Argentina. Argentina’s Noel Barrionuevo scored a hat trick, while Blair Wynne earned Trinidad’s goal. Lauren Crandall and Rachel Dawson scored twice each for the US. Chile beat Mexico 6-1, while Canada thrashed host Bermuda 10-0 with a hat trick for Stephanie Nesbitt.
RSS