■ Cycling
Armstrong keeps pace
Lance Armstrong kept up with the pace in the third stage of the Tour of Murcia cycling race in Yelca, Spain on Friday, finishing among the pack in the same time as winner Max van Heeswijk of the Netherlands. Van Heeswijk, a US Postal Service teammate of Armstrong's, completed the 156km route which began and ended in this southeastern town in 3 hours, 32 minutes, 23 seconds, followed by German Erik Zabel of the T-Mobile team. Armstrong, preparing to win a sixth consecutive Tour of France title this year, stayed second in the overall standings, 29 seconds behind leader Jose Ivan Gutierrez of Spain. Armstrong's Tour de France rival Jan Ullrich of Germany also finished among the pack, and was 61st overall, 9:10 behind Gutierrez. Saturday's second-to-last stage is the toughest of the tour's five, a 169km route which includes three mountain climbs.
■ Diving
Huang, Richter on top
China's Qiang Huang won the men's 3m springboard and Austrian Anja Richter the women's 10m platform at a diving grand prix in Rostock, Germany on Friday. The Chinese swept four of the six podium places on the opening day of the three-day event, the second grand prix of the season. Qiang was awarded 493.50 points, followed by countryman Shauyun Tang with 464.18 and Germany's Andreas Wels at 432.60. Richter scored 355.56 and edged China's Dongjin Jia at 345.42 and Na Lin with 338.43. "We saw high-class finals with extreme difficult programs, especially from the Chinese," German coach Lutz Buschkow said.
■ Boxing
Phillips wastes no time
Verno Phillips stopped Julio Garcia with a second left in the first round of their junior middleweight bout at Pala Casino in Pala, California on Friday night. Phillips, who improved to 37-9-1 with his 19th knockout, floored Garcia twice before referee Jack Reiss halted the scheduled 12-round fight. Both fighters weighed in at 153 1/2 pounds. Phillips is ranked No. 3 in the world by the International Boxing Federation. Garcia is 25-3-2. In an earlier 10-round bout, Carlos Quintana of Puerto Rico stopped Edwin Cassiani of Miami in the third round. Quintana is 16-0 with 12 knockouts, and Cassiani is 26-4.
■ Baseball
Selig has zero tolerance
Commissioner Bud Selig hopes major league baseball can institute a zero-tolerance policy on steroid use similar to one that covers players with minor league contracts. Selig recently sent a directive to all 30 teams, telling them to decline comment on steroids and the federal grand jury that indicted the trainer of San Francisco Giants star Barry Bonds. "There's been enough comment," he said. "We know what we have to do and we're going to do it." Selig, attending Anaheim's game against San Diego, sought to put baseball's focus back on the field. He said baseball could set an attendance mark this season, based on preseason ticket sales.
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
‘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
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
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