CYCLING
Contador takes 20th stage
Alberto Contador surged past Chris Froome to win the mountainous 20th stage of the Vuelta a Espana on Saturday and increase his overall lead heading into the final day. Contador stayed close to Froome as they shed the rest of the field on the ascent to the Puerto de Ancares summit. The Tinkoff-Saxo rider then used a final push to power by Froome and win the 186km ride starting in Santo Estevo de Ribas de Sil, which included four category climbs. The Spaniard smiled brightly as he left Froome behind, knowing he was closing in on what would be his sixth grand tour victory.
GOLF
McIlroy in share of lead
Rory McIlroy eagled the par-five 15th to join Billy Horschel in a tie for the lead in the Tour Championship on Saturday. With the FedExCup playoff title and a bonus jackpot of US$10 million on the line at East Lake Golf Club, world No. 1 McIlroy sank a 26-foot putt to draw level at the top, then parred the last three holes to card a three-under-par 67. That left the Northern Irishman at nine-under 201 in the fourth and final playoff event, level with his US playing partner Horschel, who had been three ahead at the turn before losing momentum on the way to a 69. Jim Furyk was third at seven-under after firing a four-birdie 67.
CRICKET
WI solid in 500th Test
The West Indies made a strong start to the second Test against Bangladesh, their 500th Test match, with a century stand from openers Kraigg Brathwaite and Leon Johnson setting them on the way to a first day total of 246-3. Johnson, on Test debut, was part of a solid start along with Brathwaite. Brathwaite made 63 before he was removed after lunch when he slashed a long hop from Shafiul Islam to Taijul Islam at point with the hosts on 143. Soon afterward, Johnson was trapped LBW by Taijul Islam. Kirk Edwards made 16 before he was caught, but Darren Bravo (44) and Shivnarine Chanderpaul (34) saw the hosts to the close.
TENNIS
Venus, Lucic-Baroni advance
Venus Williams and Mirjana Lucic-Baroni advanced to the final of the WTA Quebec City tournament with semi-final triumphs on Saturday. Williams defeated fourth seed Shelby Rogers 6-3, 6-3, while Lucic-Baroni advanced to her first WTA final since 1998 by defeating German fifth seed Julia Goerges 6-4, 5-7, 6-2. Williams saved nine break-point chances created by 21-year-old Rogers in the first set of their semi-final. With Williams serving for the match, Rogers finally claimed her only break to pull within 5-3, only to have Williams break back in the ninth game to win. Firing nine aces and seven double faults, Lucic-Baroni was broken in the final game of the second set by Goerges, but won five of the next six games on her way to the win.
GOLF
Norman reports accident
Greg Norman said he was recovering in a US hospital yesterday after almost cutting off his hand with a chainsaw. Australia’s former world No. 1 posted a photo to Instagram of himself lying in a hospital bed with his left arm heavily bandaged. Norman, 59, issued a warning with the photo and suggested he had come close to severing one of his hands. “Working with a chainsaw ALWAYS be respectful of the unexpected. I was one lucky man today. Damaged, but not down & out. Still have left hand,” Norman tweeted. Norman last week posted a photo of himself working with a chainsaw to cut back a small tree at what appeared to be one of his seaside properties.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
HSIEH MAKES QUARTERS: Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens of Belgium won in the women’s doubles and face Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Sofia Kenin of the US Top-ranked Iga Swiatek and US Open champion Coco Gauff were knocked out of the women’s singles at the Miami Open on Monday, while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei advanced in the women’s doubles. Swiatek lost to Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-4, 6-2, hours after third seed Gauff fell in three sets to No. 23 Caroline Garcia 6-3, 1-6, 6-2. Alexandrova beat a top-ranked player for the first time and advanced to face Jessica Pegula, a 7-6 (7/1), 6-3 winner over Emma Navarro, in the quarter-finals. Alexandrova recorded her second win over Swiatek, following a 2021 victory in Melbourne. Swiatek had won their three matches since. “We played quite