GOLF
Larrazabal hopes for wind
Pablo Larrazabal shot a three-under-par 71 in the second round through heavy winds to take a two-shot lead at the Spanish Open on Friday. The Spaniard had four birdies, but also a bogey on the second hole, followed by a six on the par-three third after he hit the bunker. Andrew Johnston of England shot 74 and is two shots behind Larrazabal. Defending champion James Morrison (75), first-round leader Alexander Levy (76) and Alejandro Canizares (75) were all another shot back. Larrazabal was hoping the wind — that held off on Thursday — would persist over the weekend. “If the wind blows like this, a level-par or more total will win,” Larrazabal said.
TENNIS
Arruabarrena beats Vickery
Fourth-seeded Lara Arruabarrena of Spain defeated the US’ Sachia Vickery 6-2, 6-0 to progress to the semi-finals of the Claro Open Colsanitas at the Club Campestre El Rancho in Bogota on Friday. Joining her in the first semi-final will be fifth-seeded Irina Falconi of the US, who beat Argentina’s Catalina Pella 6-1, 6-4. The other semi-final will be between Spain’s Silvia Soler-Espinosa and Brazil’s Paula Cristina Goncalves. Soler-Espinosa toppled Switzerland’s Amra Sadikovic 6-4, 6-4 in the quarter-finals, while Goncalves downed Russia’s Alexandra Panova 6-4, 6-3. In the women’s doubles semi-finals, Arruabarrena and first-seeded Tatjana Maria of Germany defeated Switzerland’s Amra Sadikovic and the US’ Maria Sanchez 6-2, 6-1, while Brazil’s Gabriela Ce and Venezuela’s Andrea Gamiz dispatched Bulgaria’s Aleksandrina Naydenova and Chile’s Daniela Seguel 3-6, 6-3, 10-5.
TENNIS
US lead Australia in Fed Cup
Christina McHale yesterday rewarded a selection gamble when she beat Sam Stosur 3-6, 6-1, 7-5 to give the US a 2-0 lead over Australia in their Fed Cup world group tennis playoff. US captain Mary Joe Fernandez made a surprise decision to play McHale ahead of Coco Vandeweghe in the second singles and the move paid off when McHale, ranked 57, ended a run of four losses to the 26th-ranked Stosur. Earlier, Madison Keys gave the US a winning start with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Russian-born Daria Gavrilova who was making her Fed Cup debut for Australia. The winner of the playoff, which ends today, will play in the Fed Cup world group next year.
OLYMPICS
Police learn ‘Paris’ lessons
Brazilian police working to protect the Rio Olympics have liaised with their French counterparts several times to learn lessons from the Paris attacks in November last year. The national stadium in the French capital was among the targets on November 13, when Islamic State suicide bombers and gunmen went on a rampage, killing 130 people across Paris. The Olympics are often a high-profile target and Brazilian police are eager to avoid Rio becoming hit in the same way Paris was when the Games take place in August. “We, the Brazilian police, went to France several times,” said the justice ministry’s Andrei Rodrigues, who is in charge of security for major events in Brazil. “We have had a report on the lessons learned about what happened in the attacks of November 13, before, during and after,” he said. Brazil has stayed outside the war waged by the Islamic State group and other jihadists. However, three days after the Paris attacks, Maxime Hauchard, a leading French recruit of the Islamic State group, tweeted: “Brazil, you’re our next target.”
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