GOLF
Santos sets Madeira record
Portugal’s Ricardo Santos came from four strokes behind to set a new championship record as he stormed to four-shot victory in the Madeira Islands Open on Sunday. Santos also became the first Portuguese-born player to win on home soil in the 40-year history of the European Tour after posting a last round 63 for a 22-under total on the Santo da Serra course. Sweden’s Magnus Carlsson birdied the last in a round of 67 to finish second on 18-under. The 29-year-old Santos birdied his closing three holes to also set a record lowest winning final round in the 19-year history of the event. Victory earns Santos, a former Challenge Tour graduate, a one-year European Tour exemption as well as entry to the upcoming PGA Championship at Wentworth. Andreas Harto of Denmark finished third, one stroke further back, after a 67.
ICE HOCKEY
US put five past Finland
Detroit Red Wings goaltender Jimmy Howard was the US hero as he shut out Finland to lead his team to a 5-0 victory at the world championship in Helsinki on Sunday. In Stockholm, Norway turned on the style to rack up the biggest score of the tournament by beating Germany 12-4. The US defence had a good day, restricting the Finns to just 18 shots, which Howard dealt with comfortably. They were equally effective at the other end of the ice, firing five times past Finland’s Kari Lehtonen in front of his home fans. The win vaulted the US into second place in group H, three points behind Canada and one ahead of the Finns. In the day’s other game in the group, Slovakia edged out Switzerland 1-0 to tighten their grip on fourth place. Patrick Thoresen notched a hat-trick as Norway rattled a dozen goals past Germany in group S in Stockholm. Thoresen netted his third during a six-goal second period blitz which finished with the Norwegians 9-1 up and the Germans in disarray.
FORMULA ONE
Fire in Spain injures 31
Thirty-one people were injured and seven hospitalized after a fire erupted inside Formula One team Williams’ garage after its driver Pastor Maldonado won the Spanish Grand Prix on Sunday. Governing body FIA said 31 people were treated by Catalunya Circuit medical staff, with seven of those flown out to a variety of hospitals to receive treatment. Catalonia’s regional government said in a statement that one of the persons was airlifted to a Barcelona hospital with serious burn wounds while the rest were being treated at local hospitals for smoke inhalation. Williams confirmed a fuel leak caused the problem, with four of its staff treated for injuries. The fire erupted soon after Maldonado and the team had taken the traditional victory photograph in front of the team garage with members of all teams close by rushing to help contain the blaze.
SPEEDWAY
UK’s Richardson dies
British speedway motorcycle rider Lee Richardson has died of severe injuries suffered in a crash during a race in Poland. He was 33. Richardson’s British team Lakeside Hammers confirmed the death on its Web site on Sunday. The crash took place in the western Polish city of Wroclaw. Richardson, who had competed in Poland over the past 13 years, was racing for PGE Marma Rzeszow against Betard Sparta Wroclaw when the accident happened. Polish state broadcaster TVP showed images of his motorcycle flipping and Richardson being thrown off onto the track, apparently after he had collided into a safety fence.
CYCLING
Sagan wins opening stage
Peter Sagan, who had to deal with a flat back tire in the final 8km, recovered by chasing down the peloton to win the opening stage of the Tour of California on Sunday. Sagan earned his fourth stage win on the Tour of California, despite losing 20 seconds during the mechanical change in the final sprint. “It was a confusing finish,” Sagan said. “There were very few people in the peloton.” The Liquigas-Cannondale team rider also managed to avoid a crash ahead of him as he guided through a technical decent in the scenic wine country area to finish just ahead of Heinrich Haussler and Fred Rodriguez. The crash took place with about 5km to go and involved about 12 competitors, including one of the race’s top sprinters, Michael Matthews. Sagan overtook Haussler and Rodriguez in the final 1km. The racers had to cycle through morning fog at the beginning of Sunday’s stage, but blue skies provided a fitting finish as they sprinted through the streets of Santa Rosa.
RUGBY SEVENS
N Zealand retain their title
New Zealand retained their Sevens World Series title, ending the season with a third-place finish at the London Sevens to finish on 167 points, six ahead of closest rivals Fiji. A record two-day Sevens crowd of 103,027 attended Twickenham over the weekend, a fitting climax to another thrilling season. Fiji stormed to the London title to cap a season of achievement for them, matching New Zealand’s three titles and underlining just how tight things are at the top of the Sevens game. Fiji beat New Zealand 31-7 in their semi-final, before seeing off Samoa 38-15 in the final. New Zealand sealed a 10th title in 13 years with a ruthless 36-0 quarter-final win over South Africa. Despite losing to Fiji in the semi-final, the Kiwis then claimed third place with a 40-0 triumph over Argentina.
CRICKET
Lions crush the Windies
England Lions crushed the West Indies by 10 wickets on Sunday, dealing a further blow to the brittle confidence of the tourists ahead of the first Test which starts at Lord’s on Thursday. Joe Root (115 not out) and Michael Carberry (72 not out) led the Lions to victory in Northampton, England, with a session to spare on the final day of the four-day game, finishing on 197-0 after the West Indies had been bowled out for 390 in their second innings. As well as defeat, the West Indies also saw seam bowlers Kemar Roach and Ravi Rampaul suffer new injuries. The tourists’ mid-match fightback — by Kieran Powell (108) and Shivnarine Chanderpaul (77) — came to nothing on the final day after they were dismissed after just 30 minutes in the morning session. The Lions moved to 61 without loss at lunch, while the West Indies — without Roach, who took a blow to his right hand batting against Stuart Meaker — also saw Rampaul leave the field after four overs with the new ball. Darren Bravo was required to bowl only his second spell in first-class cricket, and Root and Carberry were predictably untroubled.
SOCCER
Salzburg claim seventh title
Salzburg claimed their seventh Austrian league title on Sunday after winning 5-1 at Wiener Neustadt in their penultimate game of the season. The emphatic victory took them six points clear of nearest rivals Rapid Vienna. It was a fourth title for Salzburg since the club were taken over by Dietrich Mateschitz, founder of energy drink company Red Bull, in 2005. Salzburg will attempt to complete the double for the first time in their history when they meet Ried in the Austrian Cup final on Sunday.
Shohei Ohtani and his wife arrived in South Korea with his Los Angeles Dodgers teammates yesterday ahead of their season-opening games with the San Diego Padres next week. Ohtani, wearing a black training suit and a cap backwards, was the first Dodgers player who showed up at the arrival gate of Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul. His wife, Mamiko Tanaka, walked several steps behind him. As a crowd of fans, many wearing Dodgers jerseys, shouted his name and cheered slogans, Ohtani briefly waved his hand, but did not say anything before he entered a limousine bus with his wife. Fans held placards
Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals at the All England Open, beating Kim Ga-eun of South Korea 21-17, 21-15. With the win, Tai earned a semi-final against China’s He Bingjiao, who beat Michelle Li of Canada 21-9, 21-9. Defending champion An Se-young defeated India’s P.V. Sindhu 21-19, 21-11. An on Wednesday cruised into the second round, unlike last year’s men’s winner, Li Shifeng, who suffered a shock defeat. South Korea’s An, the world No. 1, overcame Taiwan’s Hsu Wen-chi 21-17, 21-16 to set up the match against Sindhu. In other women’s singles matches, Taiwan’s Sung Shuo-yun lost 21-18, 24-22 against Carolina Marin of
EYEING TOP SPOT: A victory in today’s final against Storm Hunter and Katerina Siniakova would return 38-year-old Hsieh Su-wei to the world No. 1 ranking Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens on Thursday secured a spot in the women’s doubles finals at the BNP Paribas Open after dispatching Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez 6-2, 7-6 (7/5) at Indian Wells. Hsieh and her Belgian partner Mertens, who won the Australian Open in late January, coasted through the first set after breaking their opponents’ serve twice, but found the going tougher in the second. Both pairs could only muster one break point over 12 games, neither of which were converted, leaving the set to be decided by a tiebreaker. Hsieh and Mertens took a 6-3 lead,
DOUBLES PAYBACK: Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Martens avenged their defeat in the quarters at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open against Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei on Wednesday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California. Hsieh and partner Elise Mertens of Belgium dispatched Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani 6-1, 6-4 to set up a clash against Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez for a spot in the final of the WTA 1000 tournament. Hsieh and Martens made a blistering start to their rematch after they lost to Schuurs and Stefani in the quarter-finals at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open last month, winning three games without reply at the start of the first set