GOLF
Kim maintains lead by one
Kim Sih-wan of South Korea birdied his last two holes to shoot a two-under 69 and lead by a stroke after the second round of the Saint-Omer Open on Friday. Kim made three birdies and a bogey to remain on top of the leaderboard with a six-under 136 total. Darren Fichardt of South Africa also carded a 69 to move into second place at five-under.
CYCLING
Kessiakoff takes stage
Sweden’s Fredrik Kessiakoff of the Astana team won Friday’s seventh stage of the Tour de Suisse, while Movistar’s Portuguese rider Rui Costa kept the race leader’s yellow jersey. Kessiakoff surprised all by winning the 34.4km time trial around Gossau, finishing two seconds ahead of Swiss specialist Fabian Cancellara, with Belgian Maxime Monfort a further 18 seconds adrift. Costa came in eighth and increased his lead over Czech Roman Kreuzinger to 50 seconds.
SOCCER
UEFA probes Balotelli abuse
UEFA is looking into reports that Croatia fans threw a banana at the pitch and racially abused Italy striker Mario Balotelli during their match at Euro 2012. UEFA said it is seeking more information about the incidents, which reportedly happened on Thursday in Poznan, Poland. An anti-discrimination group appointed by UEFA said it has “categorical” eyewitness accounts that about 300 people directed monkey chants at Balotelli, who is black. Piara Powar, of Football Against Racism in Europe, said the chants were “not a boo or something that could be misinterpreted.” Balotelli has now been the target of alleged abuse at both Italy matches at Euro 2012.
BASEBALL
Mets’ no-hit appeal denied
The New York Mets’ appeal for a scoring change that would have given pitcher R.A. Dickey credit for just the franchise’s second no-hitter was denied by MLB on Friday. Joe Torre, MLB’s executive vice president of baseball operations, upheld a scorer’s initial ruling that a grounder in the first inning of Wednesday’s game against the Tampa Bay Rays was a hit and not an error, according to a report posted on the league’s Web site. The hit was the only one Dickey allowed. Tampa Bay’s B.J. Upton bounced the grounder down the third-base line and Mets third baseman David Wright was unable to successfully field the ball with his bare hand.
BASKETBALL
Brawl scratches Parker’s eye
San Antonio Spurs and France guard Tony Parker said he suffered a scratched retina on one of his eyes during a New York nightclub brawl on Thursday involving singer Chris Brown and members of hip-hop star Drake’s entourage early. Parker, wearing dark sunglasses, described the incident on Friday in Paris during a news conference posted on YouTube. He said he expects to be sidelined for about a week as France prepare for the Summer Olympics. Parker said he was wearing a “therapeutic” contact lens and had to go to an emergency room for treatment after arriving in Paris. “I was with my friend Chris Brown and me and my friends took some punches, so I’ll be missing the start of the French team because I can’t do anything for a week except keep the lens in and then take drops,” Parker said. Parker said “they started throwing bottles everywhere. I don’t know what happened. At first [my eye] was OK, but then it started getting worse and when the plane landed it was really hurting so I went straight to the ER.”
OUT AGAINST INDONESIA: Taiwan reached the semi-finals at the tournament for the first time by defeating Denmark, with Chou Tien-chen beating Viktor Axelsen Taiwan yesterday crashed out of the Thomas Cup team competition in Chengdu, China, but achieved their best result at the top-tier badminton event by reaching the semi-finals. Indonesia were too good in the semis, winning 3-0 to advance to today’s final against China, who eliminated Malaysia 3-1. In the opening singles of the men’s team clash at the Hi-Tech Zone Sports Center Gymnasium 2, Anthony Ginting defeated Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen 21-18, 21-19 in 51 minutes, which put a huge hole in Taiwan’s aspirations to perhaps even make the final. In the men’s doubles, Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Ardianto downed Lee Yang and Wang
NO DOUBT: Spurs star Wembanyama was unanimously selected as NBA Rookie of the Year, winning all 99 votes to become the first Frenchman to capture the honor The Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night produced a dominant defensive display to seize a commanding 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven playoff series against the Denver Nuggets with a 106-80 road victory. The third-seeded Timberwolves harassed Denver relentlessly to claim a second straight win over the NBA champions as the series heads back to Minneapolis for Game 3 on Friday. Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards scored 27 points apiece, but the star of the show was Minnesota’s suffocating defensive effort, which knocked Denver out of their stride almost from the tip-off. The Timberwolves finished with 11 steals and 12 blocks, in sharp contrast to
Top-ranked Iga Swiatek on Saturday came through “the most intense and crazy final” she has ever contested to avenge her loss to Aryna Sabalenka in last year’s Madrid Open final with a grueling three hour, 11 minute victory in the Spanish capital. Coming back from 1-3 down in the decider and saving three match points in total, Swiatek claimed a 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (9/7) victory to secure the Madrid Open trophy for the first time. “Well, who is going to say now that women’s tennis is boring, right?” Swiatek said. Swiatek, who picked up the 20th title of her career, and ninth at
One of Malaysia’s top soccer clubs has pulled out of today’s season-opening Charity Shield after a spate of assaults, including an acid attack, on players in the country. It leaves the kickoff of Malaysia’s season this weekend under a cloud following the unprecedented acts of violence against players, which have left the country shocked and angry. Authorities said they have imposed tighter security, but Selangor said that they would not play in the showpiece curtain-raiser against Malaysian Super League champions Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) citing “a series of criminal incidents and recent threats.” Selangor and Malaysia winger Faisal Halim is in intensive care