SOCCER
Mexico defeat Costa Rica
Marco Bueno scored twice as defending Olympic champions Mexico beat Costa Rica 4-0 on Friday night in their Group B opener in CONCACAF qualifying for next year’s Rio Olympics. Bueno opened the scoring in the 19th minute, Costa Rica’s William Fernandez Gonzalez scored an own-goal in first-half stoppage-time, Bueno connected again in the 77th, and Erick Torres added a goal in the 88th. In the first game of the doubleheader, Honduras beat Haiti 1-0. Seeking their 11th berth in the Olympics, Mexico are to play Haiti in Carson, California, today and finish group play on Wednesday night against Honduras in Commerce City, Colorado. Costa Rica are trying to reach the Olympics for the fourth time and first since 2004. They are to play Honduras in Carson today and finish against Haiti on Wednesday in Commerce City. The top two teams in the group are to advance to the semi-finals on Saturday in Sandy, Utah.
SOCCER
DC United win to go top
Alvaro Saborio knocked in a loose ball from a free-kick in stoppage-time as DC United beat New York City 2-1 on a rainy Friday night to secure an Eastern Conference playoff spot. Frank Lampard opened the scoring in the first minute for the fastest goal in City’s opening season. Bill Hamid blocked David Villa’s attempt and Lampard slotted the rebound for his third goal in his last four games. Fabian Espindola equalized in the 73rd minute. Josh Saunders dived to get a hand on Chris Pontius’ shot and Espindola put in the rebound. Villa sent a ball just over the crossbar in the 41st and rolled one wide of the near post in first-half stoppage-time. DC United ended their six-game winless stretch to move into a share of first place with the New York Red Bulls. City had their three-game winning streak stopped.
OLYMPICS
BMX test event delayed
Organizers of next year’s Rio Olympics have moved a BMX test event back one day over safety concerns. The event, which was to have been held yesterday and today, was pushed back to today to modify jumps and other parts of the course. Rio organizers said athletes complained about the course and made test runs on Friday before deciding it was unsafe and needed to be changed. The event is expected to feature many of the world’s top riders and is to be run on a course built in northern Rio de Janeiro, designed by Tom Ritzenthaler. He also designed the courses for the last two Olympics in Beijing and London.
MOTOR RACING
Westbrook claims pole
Richard Westbrook took the Prototype pole on Friday for the IMSA Tudor United SportsCar Championship’s season-ending Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta. The British driver turned a lap in 1 minute, 27.860 seconds — averaging 167.492kph — around the 4.09km circuit to put the No. 90 VisitFlorida.com Corvette DP in position to claim its first season title. Westbrook and co-driver Michael Valiante lead the Prototype standings by six points over defending champions Christian Fittipaldi and Joao Barbosa. Westbrook was also to be joined by Mike Rockenfeller yesterday in the 10-hour race. Fittipaldi was to start from the outside front row in the No. 5 Mustang Sampling Corvette DP. IndyCar veteran Sebastian Bourdais was to join Fittipaldi and Barbosa. Joey Hand was third in Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates’ No. 01 Ford EcoBoost/Riley that he was to share with Scott Pruett and IndyCar champion Scott Dixon.
US track and field athletes have about four dozen pieces to choose from when assembling their uniforms at the Olympics. The one grabbing the most attention is a high-cut leotard that barely covers the bikini line and has triggered debate between those who think it is sexist and others who say they do not need the Internet to make sure they have good uniforms. Among those critical or laughing at the uniforms included Paralympian Femita Ayanbeku, sprinter Britton Wilson and even athletes from other countries such as Britain’s Abigail Irozuru, who wrote on social media: “Was ANY female athlete consulted in
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
Former US Masters champion Zach Johnson was left embarrassed after a foul-mouthed response to ironic cheers from spectators after a triple bogey at Augusta National on Friday. Johnson, the 2007 Masters winner, missed the cut after his three-over-par round of 75 left him on seven-over 151 for 36 holes, his six on the par-three 12th playing a big role in his downfall. Television footage showed Johnson reacting to sarcastic cheers and applause when he tapped in for the triple bogey by yelling: “Oh fuck off.” Such a response would be considered bad form in any golf tournament, but is particularly out of keeping
Taiwan’s Lee Jhe-huei and Yang Po-hsuan on Saturday won the men’s doubles bronze medal at the Badminton Asia Championships in Ningbo, China, after they were bested by the hosts in their semi-final. The Taiwanese shuttlers lost to China’s Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang, who advanced to yesterday’s final against Malaysia’s Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzudin. The Chinese pair outplayed Lee and Yang in straight games. Although the Taiwanese got off to a slow start in the first game, they eventually tied it 14-14, before Liang and Wang went on to blow past them to win 21-17. In the second game, Lee and