GOLF
Lipsky edges Storm for title
David Lipsky of the US beat overnight leader Graeme Storm at the first extra hole of a playoff to win the European Masters in Crans Montana, Switzerland, on Sunday, his first success on the European Tour. Playing the 18th, the 26-year-old from Los Angeles stayed safe for a par four, while Englishman Storm could not recover from a wayward tee shot that came to rest against a fence and had a bogey five. Both men had finished on 18-under, Lipsky’s birdie at the last giving him a share of the lead after a five-under 65, while Storm, whose hole-in-one in round three won him a sports car, had a two-under 68.
SOCCER
Ten-man Mali down Malawi
Mali survived the sending-off of goalkeeper Mamadou Samassa to defeat Malawi 2-0 on Sunday in an Africa Cup of Nations qualifier. France-based Samassa was sent off in the second half in Bamako soon after striker Bakary Sacko of Wolverhampton Wanderers had scored for the Eagles. Another French Ligue 1 player, striker Cheick Tidiane Diabate from leaders Girondins de Bordeaux, assured a home victory with a stoppage-time goal. His strike took Mali to the top of Group B on goal-difference from Algeria, who defeated Ethiopia 2-1 in Addis Ababa on Saturday. Malawi host Ethiopia tomorrow, while Mali are away to 1990 Africa Cup of Nations champions Algeria.
CYCLING
Impey edges out Dumoulin
South Africa’s Daryl Impey won the Tour of Alberta by a second on Sunday, sprinting to take the sixth and final stage and earn the deciding 10 second bonus. Impey, riding for Australian team Orica-GreenEdge, edged Dutchman Tom Dumoulin for the title. “We had nothing to lose today,” Impey said. “We took the initiative and tried to get every second we could. Today was a bit gamble for us. When you gamble like we did, sometimes things pay off.” Dumoulin, riding for Giant-Shimano, had held the lead since winning the opening prologue. “To lose by one second on the last day is incredible,” Dumoulin said.
ATHLETICS
Gatlin finishes undefeated
US sprinter Justin Gatlin finished the season undefeated by winning the 100m in 9.83 seconds at the IAAF world challenge meeting in Rieti, Italy, on Sunday. Gatlin won all 18 races he entered this year. “My season ends now. I need to rest,” Gatlin said. “The crowd gave me a lot of energy.” Two finals were held and former world record holder Asafa Powell won the first in 9.90 seconds. In the high jump, Bohdan Bondarenko edged fellow Ukrainian Andriy Protsenko, 2.36m to 2.25m, for the 10th consecutive time.
BASEBALL
Season ends for Yu Darvish
Yu Darvish was placed on the 60-day disabled list on Sunday by the Texas Rangers, ending the season for the 28-year-old Japanese right-handed pitcher. Darvish suffered with inflammation in the right elbow near the ligament, prompting the Rangers to sit him out for the remainder of the campaign as a precaution rather than risk a torn ligament. Darvish finished the season 10-7 with a 3.06 earned-run average, with 182 strikeouts over 22 games for the Rangers, who own the worst record in Major League Baseball at 53-89. “If we wanted to be aggressive and push it, we could get him back the last week, but we don’t see any value in that. There is a lot more risk to it. He’s too important to rush back for one or two more starts,” Rangers general manager Jon Daniels said.
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