BOBSLED
Swiss duo take world title
Switzerland’s Beat Hefti and Thomas Lamparter won the two-man event and the World Cup bobsled title on Friday in the season finale at Calgary Olympic Park. Hefti and Lamparter edged Germany’s Manual Machata and Andreas Bredau by 0.01 seconds. Germany’s Maximilian Arndt and Kevin Kuske were third, 0.26 seconds back, and finished second in the season standings. In the women’s event, Canada’s Kaillie Humphries and Jennifer Ciochetti won their first race together. Humphries won last week with Emily Baadsvik in Whistler, British Columbia, on the track where the Calgary pilot won the Olympic gold medal two year ago. Germany’s Anja Schneiderheinze and Lisette Thoene were second, followed by teammates Sandra Kiriasis and Petra Lammert. Another German pair, Cathleen Martini and Janine Tisher finished fifth and won the world title.
CYCLING
Hangzhou to host tour
China will host a new round of cycling’s WorldTour series, the Tour of Hangzhou, at the end of the season, world governing body UCI announced on Friday. The five-stage race will take place from Oct. 17 until Oct. 21 in the city of 8.7 million people, which is close to Shanghai, and will follow the Tour of Beijing which has already been penciled in for Oct 10 to Oct. 14. The Tour of Hangzhou will be the fifth round of the WorldTour to be staged outside of Europe.
ATHLETICS
Teen blazes competition
Teenage French sprinter Jimmy Vicaut registered the best 60m indoors performance of the year on Friday when he clocked 6.53 seconds in Dusseldorf. Vicaut, who was sixth in the 100m final outdoors at the world championships in Daegu last summer, edged out America’s Joshua Norman, who timed 6.63 seconds. Three other season bests were recorded on Friday — in the 1,500m and 5,000m by Kenyan duo Nixon Chepseba and Thomas Longosiwa respectively and in the 800m by Poland’s Adam Kszczot.
FORMULA ONE
Alonso quickest in testing
Ferrari finished Formula One’s first preseason test on a high note as Fernando Alonso was fastest in Friday’s session. The Spanish double world champion had a quickest lap of 1 minute, 18.877 seconds to go 0.7 seconds faster than the field. The Italians rebounded from a subdued start with the second-fastest time this week among this season’s designs, although Alonso’s running was restricted to 39 laps because of a hydraulics problem. Jean-Eric Vergne of Toro Rosso was second on Friday ahead of defending world champion Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull, whose best lap was 1 minute, 19.606 seconds. Lewis Hamilton was fourth for McLaren in front of Lotus’ Romain Grosjean.
SAILING
Skipper avoids sanction
Three-time Olympic gold medalist Ben Ainslie has escaped further sanctions from British yachting’s governing body for grappling with a cameraman during a race. Ainslie was disqualified from races at the world sailing championships last year after being found guilty of gross misconduct by the International Sailing Federation. The Royal Yachting Association’s tribunal announced on Friday that “it would not be appropriate ... to impose a penalty over and above that imposed by the international jury.” Ainslie jumped from his dinghy and confronted the cameraman after being angered by the media boat creating a wash by being too close to the race.
SOCCER
Wolfsburg edge Freiburg
Petr Jiracek scored two goals as Wolfsburg edged out bottom-place Freiburg 3-2 in Bundesliga on Friday. Freiburg twice came back to level, but had no answer after Jiracek’s second goal in the 61st minute proved to be the winner. The game was held in freezing weather and light snowfall and it got off to a fast start with Jiracek putting the home side ahead after five minutes. Johannes Flum leveled in the 11th, but Marcel Schaefer made it 2-1 for Wolfsburg in the 14th. Daniel Caligiuri leveled again in the 38th before Jiracek’s second sealed Wolfsburg’s seventh home victory.
HOCKEY
Alleged fondling coach dies
Ukrainian ice hockey coach Ivan Pravilov, a noted youth instructor who had pleaded innocent to charges of fondling a teen boy, died of a suspected suicide, police said on Friday. Pravilov, who was 49, was in custody when he was found to be unresponsive in his cell at about 3am, according to prison spokesman Darrin Howard, who said a preliminary investigation suggested he took his own life. An autopsy was pending, Howard said. Pravilov, who served as an instructor for several NHL and US collegiate players, was indicted last month on charges he fondled a 14-year-old Ukrainian boy who was attending youth hockey clinics in Philadelphia. Pravilov was charged with travel to engage in illicit sexual conduct and transporting a person to engage in criminal sexual activity, US federal prosecutors said. Pravilov faced up to 40 years in prison and a US$500,000 fine if convicted.
OLYMPICS
Rio not worried about strike
Rio Olympic organizers said they were confident preparations for the 2016 Games would not be affected by the police strike that is threatening to disrupt Carnival celebrations in the city. Rio’s Olympic committee said in a statement on Friday that it remains “fully confident” in the public security policies in place in the city. The committee said the Olympics and the test events scheduled before the Games would take place as usual. Rio state officers went on strike on Thursday to demand a salary increase, prompting fears of an increase in violence. The Olympic committee said a democratic state such as Brazil must allow workers to make demands, adding that “common sense” and “dialogue” should prevail.
ALPINE SKIING
Feuz wins downhill
Emerging Swiss standout Beat Feuz celebrated his 25th birthday by winning the inaugural World Cup downhill yesterday on the course for the 2014 Sochi Olympics. For his third win of the season, Feuz clocked 2 minutes, 14.10 seconds down the long and highly technical Rosa Khutor slope. Another 25-year-old, Benjamin Thomsen of Canada, finished second, 0.27 seconds behind, and Adrien Theaux of France was third, 0.59 back. Veteran Bode Miller of the US was fastest midway down, but then made a big mistake and finished fourth, missing the podium by just 0.02 seconds.
ALPINE SKIING
Schild wins slalom
Austrian Marlies Schild won a women’s World Cup slalom in Soldeu, Andorra, yesterday. Schild clocked in at a combined 1 minute, 39.44 seconds, while Sweden’s Frida Hansdotter came just 0.6 seconds behind to land in second place. Austria’s Kathrin Zettel was 0.86 seconds back to finish third.
Top seeds Alexander Zverev of Germany and American Coco Gauff on Tuesday advanced to the third round of the Canadian Open after both players were pushed hard by their opponents. World No. 3 Zverev, playing in his first match since his first-round loss at Wimbledon, was far from his best, but emerged with a 7-6 (8/6), 6-4 win over Adam Walton under the lights in Toronto. Momentum shifted firmly in Zverev’s favor when he won a 52-shot rally in the first set tiebreak and he sealed the win on a double fault by the Australian in the second set. “It was a very
Canadian teenager Victoria Mboko upset top-seeded Coco Gauff 6-1, 6-4 on Saturday night to reach the National Bank Open quarter-finals. “Your support was incredible,” Mboko told the crowd in French after a chorus of “Ole, Ole, Ole” chants echoed around the venue. “I’m really happy to win today ... It’s incredible. I’m so happy to beat such a great champion.” Gauff dropped to 2-3 since winning the French Open. She followed the major victory with opening losses in Berlin and Wimbledon, then overcame double-fault problems to win two three-set matches in Montreal. Gauff had five double-faults on Saturday after having 23 in
Taiwan’s top women’s badminton doubles duo, Hsieh Pei-shan (謝沛珊) and Hung En-tzu (洪恩慈), achieved a straight-sets victory over Japan’s Kaho Osawa and Mayui Tanabe at the Badminton World Federation (BWF) Super 300 Macau Open on Sunday. The Taiwanese pair won the final 21-18, 21-12, marking the duo’s second title this year after their win at the BWF Super 300 Taipei Open in May. The match on Sunday was their first encounter with the Japanese duo, ranked No. 63 in the world. Hsieh and Hung, ranked No. 12, began the opening game well. Hung, who plays left-handed, performed strongly at both the net and the
Formula 1 champion Max Verstappen on Thursday said that he is staying with the Red Bull team next year, ending months of speculation over his future. “Some people just like to stir the pot, some people just like to create drama, but, for me, it’s always been quite clear, and also for next year,” the four-time champion said ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix. “I’m discussing with the team already the plans — the things that we want to change for next year, so that means that I’m also staying with the team for next year,” he said. Verstappen has a contract with
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