■HOCKEY
Gonchar plays despite knee
Pittsburgh’s Sergei Gonchar played the last two rounds of the Stanley Cup playoffs with a partially torn knee ligament that could have sidelined him for months. Gonchar was hurt in a knee-to-knee hit by Washington star Alex Ovechkin in game four of the National Hockey League Eastern Conference semi-finals. He played through the injury, fired by the goal of winning a first Stanley Cup in an NHL career that began in the 1994 to 1995 season. Gonchar missed two games, returned for game seven of that series against Washington, played in the conference finals against Carolina and in the Stanley Cup finals — in which the Penguins vanquished Detroit in seven games.
■BOXING
Mayweather postpones fight
The July 18 fight between unbeaten Floyd Mayweather Jr and Mexico’s Juan Manuel Marquez has been postponed after Mayweather injured a rib in training. Mayweather had announced the bout on May 2, signaling an end to his 17-month absence from the ring hours before Filipino superstar Manny Pacquiao delivered a devastating knockout of England’s Ricky Hatton. The American, 39-0 with 25 knockouts, was to take on Mexico’s Marquez in the same arena where he last fought, stopping Hatton in the 10th round in December 2007 to keep the undisputed welterweight title.
■CYCLING
Eisel wins second stage
Austria’s Bernhard Eisel won the second stage of the Tour of Switzerland on Sunday, sprinting to victory in the 150km run at Davos. The Columbia rider finished ahead of Germany’s Gerald Ciolek and Spain’s triple world champion Oscar Freire while Fabian Cancellara, who was 11th, kept the overall lead. After teammate Tony Martin had attacked on a first category climb, moving into the lead of the King of the Mountains classification, Eisel seized his chance in the 100-rider bunch sprint. It was his first victory since the Paris-Bourges one-day race last autumn. “I went for a long sprint, found my own line and, above all, I didn’t look back until I crossed that finish line,” Eisel said.
■SAILING
Volvo race resumes
The yachts in the Volvo race headed for Stockholm on Sunday in the ninth stage of the round-the-world event, but there was drama as Spanish entry Telefonica Blue hit a rock as the boats left the Swedish port of Marstrand. Telefonica’s keel became wedged in the rock as it was leading the stage less than two hours after the yachts set off on a 845km sprint to the Swedish capital. None of the crew were hurt and the boat was freed after 90 minutes and taken back to port for repairs. It was a hard blow for Telefonica, which is in third place overall, just one point behind US entry Puma Ocean Racing. Sweden’s Ericsson 4 has a 15-point advantage over Puma, and is expected to seal overall victory when the yachts reach Stockholm tomorrow or on Wednesday.
■GOLF
Immelman leaves US Open
Trevor Immelman, last year’s US Masters champion, has withdrawn from next week’s US Open because of tendinitis in his left wrist and elbow, organizers said on Sunday. The 29-year-old South African has been replaced in the 156-strong field at Bethpage State Park by American Clinton Jensen. World No. 43 Immelman was the second top-50 player to pull out of the 109th US Open.
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