■ CYCLING
Greipel wins Aussie Tour
German rider Andre Greipel won his fourth stage of the Tour Down Under yesterday to take the overall race title by 15 seconds over Australian Allan Davis. Greipel led by four seconds going into the 88km final stage around Adelaide's East End. But Davis, who trailed by four seconds going into yesterday's last stage of the six-day race, won a first intermediate sprint to reduce the margin to one second. Greipel was unhappy about the tactics of one of Davis' teammates at the first sprint and then dominated the second sprint and the finish. The German rider's four stage wins equals the Tour Down Under record set by Australian Robbie McEwen in the 2002 race. The race marked its 10th anniversary by having ProTour international status for the first time.
■ BOXING
Chris John retains title
Indonesia's long-reigning World Boxing Association featherweight champion Chris John retained his title on Saturday, stopping Roinet Caballero of Panama in the seventh round. Fighting before a packed home crowd at Jakarta's Senayan Indoor Tennis Stadium, 28-year-old John dominated the scheduled 12-round bout. American referee Raul Caiz Jr stopped the fight after Caballero's trainer threw in the towel at the start of the eighth round, giving John a win by technical knockout. It was Caballero's first fight outside Panama, and possibly the toughest bout of his career. "Thanks for the blessing from God, Jesus and Mother Mary," said John, who won the featherweight belt in September 23, 2003. The victory extended John's record to 40-0-1.
■ RALLYING
Loeb extends lead
Four-time world champion Sebastien Loeb won four of six stages in the Monte Carlo Rally on Saturday to extend his lead in the season-opening race. The Frenchman leads by 2 minutes, 10.6 seconds over Mikko Hirvonen of Finland, who has become Loeb's main title rival since Marcus Gronholm's retirement. Loeb's teammate, Daniel Sordo of Spain, won the opening stage of the third leg to consolidate second spot. But the Citroen driver had to retire in the 11th stage because of turbo problems. Chris Atkinson of Australia, driving a Subaru, managed to beat Loeb in the 13th stage, climbing up to third place and trailing Hirvonen by 52 seconds.
■ ATHLETICS
Yamauchi wins Osaka race
England's Mara Yamauchi won the Osaka international women's marathon yesterday, knocking three seconds off her personal best. The 34-year-old caught crossed the finishing line in two hours, 25 minutes and 10 seconds. It was her 10th full marathon. Japan's Tomo Morimoto came in second in 2:25:34, followed by Julia Mumbi of Kenya in 2:26:00. "When I ran in the world championships in Osaka last year, I spurted too much and slowed down later, so I tried to keep running strongly until the end this time," said Yamauchi, who is married to a Japanese national. "When I saw the Osaka castle, I also saw a big group was following me, so I felt like I was seeing a nightmare, but I didn't give up. I'd like to thank the spectators who supported me despite snow falling and cold conditions. "It was my personal best by three seconds. I wanted to run a little bit faster, but a victory is a victory. I'm really happy about my first marathon victory," she said.
Shaquille O’Neal is staying with TNT Sports on a new contract worth more than US$15 million per year, Front Office Sports reported on Friday. The news means the cast of Inside the NBA is staying together even as TNT is set to license out the show to ESPN starting next season. TNT was the odd network out in the NBA’s recent TV rights negotiations, as NBC and Amazon joined previous rightsholder ESPN in inking deals for basketball games. That left TNT without a need for pregame and postgame NBA shows. In a trade with ESPN, TNT is licensing Inside the NBA to the
Eugenie Bouchard already has her own signature pickleball paddle. She is No. 17 in the pickleball rankings and constantly appears on the main court at events because she is always a big draw. However, just to be absolutely clear, she is not retired from tennis. The 2014 Wimbledon finalist still practices on the tennis court, still competes at tennis events and still has a Women’s Tennis Association ranking (No. 1,288). The Canadian standout just has a new sport that has caught her attention. Bouchard is one of several familiar tennis names — like Jack Sock and Donald Young — crossing over to
Starting with three fights in the first nine seconds and ending with a celebration and a spot in the 4 Nations Face-Off final, the US on Saturday delivered exactly what Matthew Tkachuk hoped for by beating Canada. “We needed to send a message,” Tkachuk said. “The message we wanted to send is ‘It’s our time.’” Tkachuk fought Brandon Hagel off the opening faceoff, brother Brady tussled with Sam Bennett the next time the puck dropped, J.T. Miller dropped the gloves with Colton Parayko next and the Americans followed those fisticuffs with a 3-1 victory over their biggest rival. “That was one of the
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