CRICKET
Pakistan beat Zimbabwe
Pakistan’s Mohammad Hafeez with 139 runs and Imran Farhat with 75 formed a record-breaking opening partnership of 228 runs against Zimbabwe in Harare, Zimbabwe, on Sunday to secure an overwhelming win in the second one-day international (ODI) to take the three-match series. Their combination beat the previous mark set by Saeed Anwar and Ramiz Rajah of 204 against Sri Lanka. The Pakistani pair stayed together for the entire 42.1 overs necessary to record a 10-wicket victory over a hapless home side who had scraped together 225-6 in their 50 overs. Hafeez, who recorded his third ODI century and was later named man of the match for the second time on this tour, needed only 147 balls while Farhat’s 75 required 106 balls.
CYCLING
Da Costa wins Montreal GP
Portugal’s Rui Faria da Costa launched a timely attack in the finale of the Montreal Grand Prix to upset the favorites and win the 205.7km Canadian World Tour race on Sunday. Hyperactive in the last two of 17 laps around the Mount Royal park, the Movistar team rider, 24, broke with Frenchman Pierrick Fedrigo and Austria’s Stefan Denifl and kept enough strength to hold the peloton at bay until the finish line. On the line, the winner of the eighth stage of the Tour de France in Super Besse in July narrowly beat Fedrigo while world No. 1 Philippe Gilbert managed to dislodge Denifl from third place thanks to a blistering finishing sprint.
CYCLING
Cavendish wins first stage
Mark Cavendish made a winning start to the Tour of Britain with a classy sprint finish victory in the opening stage in Scotland on Sunday. Cavendish, who has won 20 stages of the Tour de France and took the green jersey this year, was the star attraction in Dumfries and treated fans who braved some nasty weather to a powerful finish as he came out on top in a bunch sprint. In high winds and driving rain, Cavendish was helped home by his HTC-Highroad lead-out man Mark Renshaw to make a perfect start to a race he last contested in 2007. Cavendish, one of the big favorites for the world road race title in Copenhagen at the end of the month, led the pack home in a time of four hours, 41 minutes and six seconds, with Australian Renshaw in second and Dutchman Theo Bos in third.
BASKETBALL
Argentina beat Brazil
Argentina defeated Brazil 80-75 on Sunday to win the championship game of the Olympic basketball qualifying tournament for the Americas. Luis Scola led Argentina with 32 points and Carlos Delfino added 16. Marcus Vinicuis had 17 for Brazil. The game was mostly for pride, since both teams had already won their semi-final matches on Saturday, which gave them two automatic berths in next year’s London Olympics. The Dominican Republic defeated Puerto Rico 103-89 in Sunday’s third-place game.
ATHLETICS
Blake sets 100m meet record
World champion Yohan Blake equaled his personal best of 9.82 seconds on Sunday to set a new 100m meet record at the ISTAF event. The 21-year-old Jamaican, who clocked the same time at the Weltklasse in Zurich on Thursday, comfortably beat Kim Collins of Saint Kitts and Nevis, who finished in 10.01 seconds. “That’s why they call me the beast,” Blake said. “There were some very good guys in this field, so it wasn’t easy to win. I pushed myself to run faster. It’s a wonderful feeling to win here ... Life changed a bit after the world championship.”
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