■ GOLF
Ochoa wins title at home
Lorena Ochoa won her first US LPGA Tour title in her home country on Sunday, closing with a 4-under 69 to hold off Julieta Granada and Paula Creamer in the Corona Morelia Championship. Ochoa, who never trailed after shooting a course-record 64 in the second round on Friday, won for the fourth time this season to tie Australia's Karrie Webb for the tour lead. The 24-year-old Mexican finished at 20-under 272 on the hilly, Jack Nicklaus-designed Tres Marias course, five strokes better than Granada. Granada, the 19-year-old up-and-comer from Paraguay, shot a 71.
■ GOLF
Love wins Chrysler Classic
Davis Love III won on the course he redesigned, shooting a 6-under 66 on Sunday for his second victory in the Chrysler Classic of Greensboro in North Carolina. A native of the state who also played at the University of North Carolina, the 42-year-old Love had three straight birdies late in the round to seal his 19th US PGA Tour victory and first since 2003. He finished at 16-under 272 and earned US$900,000. Jason Bohn (66) finished two strokes back at 14 under and Eric Axley (67) and Steve Flesch (68) were another shot behind. Love, a six-stroke winner in the 1992 Chrysler Classic, redesigned the Forest Oaks Country Club course three years ago.
■ TENNIS
Agassi nearly loses rackets
Andre Agassi nearly lost a grip on two special rackets at a benefit auction before his wife, Steffi Graf, bought them for US$360,000. In the live auction before Agassi's 11th Grand Slam for Children on Saturday at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, the tennis star was almost ready to donate the racket that he won his first professional match with and the racket he used in his final US Open. Bidding topped US$320,000 before Graf intervened. "Those rackets are supposed to stay with us," she said, after making the final, top bid. Agassi offered the next highest bidder a free tennis lesson. "It's all crazy money, so thank you," he said from the stage. In all, US$8.6 million was raised at the benefit.
■ BASKETBALL
Parker sparks Spurs in Paris
Tony Parker scored 27 points to help the San Antonio Spurs beat Maccabi Tel Aviv 97-84 on Sunday in an exhibition game in Paris. Tim Duncan added 15 points, while Manu Ginobili scored 10 to give the Spurs their second straight win in France, Parker's home country. "It's been a long week," said Parker, who scored 26 points against Asvel Villeurbane on Thursday. "It's been a pleasure to come back here and see family and friends and we had two good games and two wins." Parker, who missed playing for France at the world championships because of a broken finger, has fully recovered, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said.
■ GOLF
Jenkins wins soggy SAS
Tom Jenkins earned his seventh career Champions Tour title on Sunday after soggy conditions forced the cancelation of the final round of the SAS Championship. The 58-year-old finished at a 10-under 134 for 36 holes, beating out Champions Tour money leader Loren Roberts and tour newcomer Chip Beck by one stroke. "I was looking forward to competing with Loren and Chip, but I am certainly happy to be the champion," said Jenkins, who has now won a tournament in each of the last five seasons. "A win is a win. The weather was on my side this year."
Japan’s Shohei Ohtani is the record-breaking baseball “superhuman” following in the footsteps of the legendary Babe Ruth who has also earned comparisons to US sporting greats Michael Jordan and Tom Brady. Not since Ruth a century ago has there been a baseball player capable of both pitching and hitting at the top level. The 30-year-old’s performances with the Los Angeles Dodgers have consolidated his position as a baseball legend in the making, and a national icon in his native Japan. He continues to find new ways to amaze, this year becoming the first player to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases
Zhang Shuai yesterday said that she nearly quit after losing 24 matches in a row — now the world No. 595 is into the quarter-finals of her home China Open. The 35-year-old is to face Spain’s Paula Badosa as the lowest-ranked player to reach this stage in the history of the tournament after Badosa reeled off 11 of the last 12 games in a 6-4, 6-0 victory over US Open finalist Jessica Pegula. Zhang went into Beijing on a barren run lasting more than 600 days and her string of singles defeats was the second-longest on the WTA Tour Open era, which
Francesco Bagnaia yesterday profited from a mistake by rookie Pedro Acosta to win the Japan MotoGP sprint and close the gap on overall championship leader, Jorge Martin. Spaniard Acosta crashed with four laps to go while leading the field at Motegi, allowing defending world champion Bagnaia to take first ahead of Enea Bastianini and Marc Marquez. Spain’s Martin finished fourth and saw his overall lead over Italian Bagnaia in the championship standings cut to 15 points. “I am very happy because with these conditions, it’s not very easy to win and gain points,” Bagnaia said after a sprint race that took place under
Naomi Osaka is braced for a “battle” after yesterday setting up a clash with Coco Gauff in the round-of-16 of the China Open, while top seed Aryna Sabalenka also marched on. Osaka defeated 60th-ranked American Katie Volynets 6-3, 6-2 and next faces Gauff in a showdown of former US Open champions in Beijing. World No. 2 Sabalenka swatted aside Ashlyn Krueger 6-2, 6-2 for her 14th consecutive victory and plays another American in 24th-ranked Madison Keys. Looking ahead to the Gauff meeting, four-time Grand Slam champion Osaka said: “She’s very athletic, obviously.” “For me, my strongest traits are being aggressive and also my serve,
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