■ 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.
Taiwanese badminton superstar Lee Yang broke down in tears after publicly retiring from the sport on Sunday. The two-time Olympic gold medalist held a retirement ceremony at the Taipei Arena after the final matches of the Taipei Open. Accompanied by friends, family and former badminton partners, Lee burst into tears while watching a video celebrating key moments in his professional sporting career that also featured messages from international players such as Malaysia’s Teo Ee Yi, Hong Kong’s Tang Chun-man, and Indonesia’s Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan. “I hope that in the future when the world thinks about me, they will
Former Formosa Dreamers player Ilkan Karaman was killed in a traffic accident in Datca, Turkey, Turkish media reported yesterday. He was 34. The former Turkish national team player was reportedly hit by a car, the driver of which was allegedly drunk, while he was standing on a sidewalk, Turkish newspaper Sozcu reported. Karaman and his friends were on their way to the beach town of Dalaman to go scuba diving when they stopped at a gas station to buy gasoline, it reported. Karaman was hit by the car while waiting on a sidewalk as his friends were buying gasoline, it
ANKLE PROBLEM: Taiwan’s Ye Hong-wei and Lee Chia-hsin had a disappointing end to their tournament after an injury forced them out of their mixed doubles semi-final Taiwanese badminton ace Tai Tzu-ying on Friday was knocked out in the women’s singles quarter-finals at her last Taipei Open. The world No. 3 lost 21-18, 16-21, 22-24 to Putri Kusuma Wardani of Indonesia in a match that stretched 68 minutes at the Taipei Arena. Despite her higher ranking, Tai said she was not too sad about the loss, given her struggle with a lingering knee injury. “Wins and losses are just part of the game. Actually, I think I’m going to lose every single match considering my condition now,” said the five-time champion of the Super 300 event, who has announced plans
When details from a scientific experiment that could have helped clear Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva landed at the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the leader of the organization’s reaction was unequivocal: “We have to stop that urgently,” he wrote. No mention of the test ever became public and Valieva’s defense at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) went on without it. What effect the information could have had on Valieva’s case is unclear, but without it, the skater, then 15 years old, was eventually disqualified from the 2022 Winter Olympics after testing positive for a banned heart medication that would later
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