■ MARATHONS
Skvortsova beats men in US
Silviya Skvortsova of Russia crossed the finish line ahead of Christopher Cheboibich of Kenya at the Las Vegas Marathon on Sunday. Nine elite female runners started 18 minutes, 3 seconds ahead of the men's field. Skvortsova finished in 2:29.01 and became the first female in the three-year-old event to claim the US$25,000 bonus. Cheboibich finished in 2:16:49. Each won the US$20,000 first-place prize. Irene Mogaka of Kenya was second in 2:36.15 in the women's field, while Jynocel Basweti of Kenya was the men's runner-up in 2:17.41. The event featured a Run-Thru Wedding Chapel at mile 5 where 56 couples had signed up to get married. About 150 people ran dressed as ``Elvis'' and the Blue Man Group performed during the race.
■ GOLF
Different son, still a winner
Larry Nelson won the Del Webb Father-Son Challenge for the second time with a different son, teaming with 29-year-old Josh for a second straight 12-under 60 and a two-shot victory on Sunday. The Nelsons' eagle-par-birdie finish gave them a 24-under 120 in the scramble format at ChampionsGate Resort in Orlando, Florida, holding off a strong charge from Bob and Kevin Tway, who closed with a 59. The Tways were the runner-up for the second straight year. Mark and Shaun O'Meara (62) finished third, one shot better than Curtis and Thomas Strange and Raymond and Robert Floyd. Nelson, a three-time major champion, also won the Father-Son Challenge three years ago with Drew, his oldest son. He joined Floyd as the only players to win this tournament with different sons. Floyd won three times with Raymond Jr and twice with Robert.
■ GOLF
Park achieves LPGA victory
Jane Park completed a start-to-finish victory in the US LPGA Tour Final Qualifying Tournament on Sunday in Daytona Beach, Florida, topping the 17 players who earned full 2008 playing status. Park, the 2004 US Women's Amateur winner, had a 17-under 274 total. "I was playing great, so I knew I had a good chance to win," Park said. "Just being able to pull it off was just a great confidence booster. I just proved to myself that I can go pretty deep under par. It's a great feeling." Kim Su-a (66) was second, followed by Park Hee-young (70) at 10 under. Kelli Kuehne (67) was another stroke back at 9 under, and Carolina Llano (70, 8 under) also earned a full tour card along with Yani Tseng (72, 7 under), Jacqueline Yang (69, 6 under), Russy Gulyanamitta (70, 6 under), Sarah Kemp (68, 5 under), Becky Lucidi (69, 5 under), amateur Shanshan Feng (70, 5 under), Louise Friberg (72, 5 under), Meredith Duncan (73, 5 under), amateur Sandra Gal (69, 4 under), Danielle Downey (70, 4 under), Liz Janangelo (72, 4 under) and Sophie Giquel (73, 4 under).
■ FOOTBALL
LSU, Ohio to play BCS
Louisiana State University (LSU) won US college football's version of the lottery when it was picked to play Ohio State for the championship and left about a half-dozen other candidates with plenty to complain about on Sunday. The Tigers (11-2), ranked second in the latest Associated Press poll, will be the first team to play in the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) title game with two losses. No. 1 Ohio State goes into the game on Jan. 7 at the Superdome in New Orleans at 11-1. Missouri and West Virginia, the teams that came into the weekend ranked 1 and 2, lost on Saturday, and were left out of the BCS altogether.
Shohei Ohtani and Clayton Kershaw on Friday joined their Los Angeles Dodgers teammates in sticking their fists out to show off their glittering World Series rings at a ceremony. “There’s just a lot of excitement, probably more than I can ever recall with the Dodger fan base and our players,” manager Dave Roberts said before Los Angeles rallied to beat the Detroit Tigers 8-5 in 10 innings. “What a way to cap off the first two days of celebrations,” Roberts said afterward. “By far the best opening week I’ve ever experienced. I just couldn’t have scripted it any better.” A choir in the
The famously raucous Hong Kong Sevens are to start today in a big test for a shiny new stadium at the heart of a major US$3.85 billion sports park in the territory. Officials are keeping their fingers crossed that the premier event in Hong Kong’s sporting and social calendar goes off without a hitch at the 50,000-seat Kai Tak Stadium. They hope to entice major European soccer teams to visit in the next few months, with reports in December last year saying that Liverpool were in talks about a pre-season tour. Coldplay are to perform there next month, all part of Hong Kong’s
Shohei Ohtani, Teoscar Hernandez and Tommy Edman on Thursday smashed home runs to give the reigning World Series champions the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5-4 victory over Detroit on the MLB’s opening day in the US. The Dodgers, who won two season-opening games in Tokyo last week, raised their championship banner on a day when 28 clubs launched the season in the US. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts shuffled his batting lineup with all four leadoff hitters finally healthy as Ohtani was followed by Mookie Betts, then Hernandez and Freddie Freeman in the cleanup spot, switching places with Hernandez. “There’s a Teoscar tax to
Marcus Rashford’s first goals for Aston Villa on Sunday inspired a 3-0 win against Preston North End that sent his side into the FA Cup semi-finals for the first time in 10 years. Rashford struck twice in the second half at Deepdale to end Preston’s stubborn resistance before Jacob Ramsey wrapped up Villa’s long-awaited return to the last four. Villa are to face Crystal Palace — 3-0 winners at Fulham on Saturday — in the semi-finals at Wembley Stadium in London. Revitalized since joining Villa on loan from Manchester United during the January transfer window, Rashford is beginning to show the form that
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