■ Racing
Rossi secures pole position
Valentino Rossi of Italy, aiming for his third consecutive Australian Grand Prix win in the MotoGP class, took pole position Saturday after the final round of qualifying. Rossi, the provisional pole winner Friday on a Honda, beat his rivals by almost half a second with a lap time of 1 minute, 30.068 seconds. He was 0.428 seconds quicker than the Ducati of fellow Italian Loris Capirossi. Spanish Honda rider Sete Gibernau took third spot in the final minutes of qualifying ahead of Australian Troy Bayliss. Rossi said he felt more comfortable since clinching the world title last week.
■ Baseball
Americans trounce France
Darren Blaklery's three-run homer propelled the US to a 14-2 win over France in seven innings, and its fourth straight win in the baseball World Cup Friday. The win in the eastern city of Holguin virtually ensured the US team a quarterfinals berth. France's fourth straight defeat virtually eliminated it from the competition. Also, Canada beat Italy 5-3 in Havana, as pitcher Brent Crowther gave up just three runs on seven hits, and Taiwan topped South Korea 8-2 in the provincial capital of Matanzas for its second win. Jothan Vegan and Avelino Asprilla hit two consecutive home runs to give Panama a 4-2 win over the Netherlands in the easternmost city of Santiago.
■ Racing
Kenny Brack rebounds
Kenny Brack, the IRL driver who was severely injured in the Chevy 500 on Sunday night, was upgraded from serious to satisfactory condition Friday and even felt well enough to crack jokes, his wife said. Brack remains at Parkland Memorial Hospital, but Team Rahal plans to have him transferred him next week to an Indianapolis rehabilitation center that has extensive experience in racing injuries, a team spokesman said. "Kenny was funny and telling us jokes today," said Brack's wife, Anita. "He told the team he would have the Texas race report next week for them. He told them he was a little busy this week to work on it." Brack was injured when his car spun into the air after contact with Tomas Scheckter's car in the closing laps of the race at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth. He had surgery on a broken thigh and broken ankles Sunday night, and on his broken back Monday, when doctors repaired a spinal fracture and fused three vertebrae.
■ Tennis
Serena Williams still out
Serena Williams will miss the rest of the season because of the knee injury that has sidelined her since Wimbledon. Williams, ranked third in the world, announced Friday that she has withdrawn from the WTA tournament beginning Oct. 27 in Philadelphia, and the season-ending Tour Championships in LA in November. This year's Australian Open and Wimbledon champion has not played since having surgery Aug. 1 to repair a partial tear in the quadriceps tendon of her left knee. "I really miss playing tennis and I can't wait to come back and compete," Williams said. "However, I feel that I need more time to prepare and get myself in the best shape possible." Williams, who withdrew from this year's US Open, had won five of the previous six grand slam titles
Memphis Grizzlies forward Brandon Clarke, 29, has died, the NBA team said in a statement on Tuesday, while the family of Jason Collins, the first openly gay man to play in a major US pro sports league, announced the former Grizzlies and Brooklyn Nets player had died after a battle with brain cancer. “We are heartbroken by the tragic loss of Brandon Clarke,” the Grizzlies said in a statement posted on social media. “Brandon was an outstanding teammate and an even better person whose impact on the organization and the greater Memphis community will not be forgotten.” The statement did not provide
Mathys Tel was hero and villain as Tottenham drew 1-1 at home to Leeds United on Monday — a result that leaves their English Premier League future hanging in the balance. The Frenchman broke the deadlock early in the second half to ease the tension at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, but then gave away a penalty with a reckless attempted clearance. In the dying minutes, Spurs were grateful to Antonin Kinsky, who produced an astonishing save to deny the visitors a win. Tottenham are now two points clear of 18th-placed West Ham United with just two games left this season. The
Houston Astros right-hander Teng Kai-wei, the only active Taiwanese pitcher in MLB, on Sunday suffered his third loss of the season, throwing a season-high 63 pitches in his second start of the year. Teng allowed three earned runs over three innings on five hits in the Astros’ 5-0 road loss to the Cincinnati Reds. He struck out one, walked one, and hit one batter among the 15 hitters he faced, raising his earned run average to 3.12. It was the Astros’ second attempt to use the 27-year-old Taiwanese as a starter, after he had established himself as a reliable bullpen
‘DONE IT ALL’: LeBron James is now out of contract with the Lakers and would head into the off season as a free agent with uncertainty swirling around his future LeBron James on Monday said he would take time to consider his future after the Los Angeles Lakers were swept out of the NBA playoffs by the Oklahoma City Thunder in what could turn out to be the final game of his career. James, 41, delivered a typically defiant performance with 24 points and 12 rebounds, but it was not enough to prevent the Lakers from falling 115-110 as the Thunder completed a 4-0 sweep in the Western Conference semi-finals series. The four-time NBA champion is now out of contract with the Lakers and would head into the off season
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