GOLF
Mickelson equals record
Phil Mickelson rocketed into a share of the lead in the third round of the Houston Open on Saturday, equalling the course record with a blistering nine-under-par 63 at Redstone Golf Club to post a 13-under total of 203. Mickelson rattled off nine birdies to end the day level with compatriot Steve Verplank, who eagled the par-four 10th on the way to a 65. Australian Aaron Baddeley carded a 66 to share third place at 12-under with American Chris Kirk, the overnight leader, who shot a 69. Defending champion Anthony Kim carded a 69 to share fifth place with Canadian David Hearn (66) at 11-under. Mickelson reached 17 of 18 greens in regulation, his only blemish coming at the par-four sixth where he redeemed himself by chipping in for par from 50 feet. Verplank was delighted to be in contention after suffering from a degenerative bone issue for much of this season.
GOLF
Davies shares lead
Welsh defending champion Rhys Davies shared the lead with England’s David Horsey after Saturday’s third round of the Hassan II Trophy at a windy Agadir. Davies had held the joint lead with Joost Luiten after Ireland’s Peter Lawrie had set the opening pace with a stylish eight-under-par 64. This time Davies had to shrug off a trio of bogeys for a 10-under total of 68. Horsey, meanwhile, fired in an eagle on the sixth on his way to a 67 as he bagged a share of top spot. South African Jaco van Zyl was a shot further back after he turned in a day-best 65. Compatriot, George Coetzee, had been well placed after an eagle on the fifth following three birdies to start off his round. However, five bogeys pegged him back and he went into the final session joint-fourth with Finn Mikko Ilonen.
BOXING
Huck retains title
Germany’s world champion Marco Huck retained his WBO cruiserweight title with a unanimous points win over Israel’s Ran Nakash on Saturday night in Halle, Germany. The 26-year-old Huck defended his title for the sixth time and was awarded Saturday night’s fight by all three judges, but he had struggled early on against Nakash, who had only 10 days to prepare for the fight. Huck was due to fight Giacobbe Fragomeni, but the Italian was injured late last month and Nakash stepped in as a late replacement. The Israeli dominated the first two rounds, surprising Huck with his power in what had been expected to be an easy fight for the Serbia-born champion. Huck took charge from the fifth round onwards and opened a cut over Nakash’s left eye at the end of the seventh. The champion looked for a knock-out in the ninth, but Nakash held on to take the fight to the end of the 12th round, when the judges scored it 118-110, 116-112 and 118-110 to Huck.
BASKETBALL
Connecticut reach final again
The University of Connecticut will be seeking their third NCAA title, while Butler University will be back in the men’s basketball final, looking for a first championship. Connecticut advanced to the championship game with a 56-55 victory against the University of Kentucky, and Butler beat Virginia Commonwealth University 70-62. Shabazz Napier, who had a total of four points, hit two free throws in the final seconds to put the Huskies ahead 56-52 and out of reach by the Wildcats, even with Brandon Knight’s three-pointer at the buzzer. Butler’s Shelvin Mack scored 24 points to lead the Bulldogs.
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
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but