■ CYCLING
Cavendish wins again
Britain’s Mark Cavendish of the High Road team won the 207km Grand Prix de l’Escaut for the second successive year in Schoten, Belgium, on Wednesday, just ahead of top sprinters Tom Boonen of Belgium and Australia’s Robbie McEwen. Germany’s Eric Zabel took fourth place but it needed a photo-finish to separate Cavendish and former world road race champion Boonen. Boonen, who won the Paris-Roubaix classic on Sunday, thought he had won the race and even raised his arms on the finish line, but in fact it was Cavendish who was ruled the winner. “I didn’t see Mark beside me,” Boonen said afterwards. Belgium’s Koen Barbe and Dutchman Albert Timmer made a break early in the race but were caught with 27km to go having at one point led the main bunch by 13 minutes. The teams with top sprinters — Quick Step, High Road, Millram and Silence mainly — took the initiative in reeling in the breakaway riders before trying to set up their men for the dash to the line.
■ SAILING
Brits win fifth race in Miami
Iain Percy and Andrew Simpson of Britain won the fifth race in the six-race Star World Championship at Coral Reef Yacht Club in Miami, Florida, on Wednesday. Big wind shifts from the northwest to the East with wind from 8 knots to 20 knots forced two start line resets and a change on the second weather mark. “We finally got it right,” Percy said. The team had a black flag in race two and a disqualification in race four and despite the win have no chance for anything better than a mid-fleet overall finish. Diego Negri and Luigi Viale of Italy finished second, and John Dane and Austin Sperry of the US followed in third. With all competitors discarding their worst finish after the race, fourth-place Mateusz Kusznierewicz and Dominik Zycki of Poland were first overall with nine points, followed by Negri and Viale with 17.
■ MOTOR RACING
Mosley touted in Jordan
Motor racing supremo Max Mosley will be special guest of the organizers of the Jordan Rally from next Thursday to Sunday, rally chiefs said on Wednesday. “We are pleased to announce that FIA president Max Mosley will be present at the Jordan rally at the invitation of His Majesty Prince Feisal Al Hussein, president of Jordan Motorsport,” a statement read. Mosley “has always supported Jordan’s candidature to take part in this prestigious championship,” the statement continued, in allusion to Mosley’s backing for the first World Rally Championship event in the Arab world. International Motoring Federation (FIA) president Mosley is currently in the news for taking part in sex games with five prostitutes and last week lost an attempt in a London court to force footage of the incident off the Internet as he launches a legal claim for breach of privacy.
■ BASEBALL
Yankees worth US$1.3bn
The New York Yankees’ value increased to US$1.306 billion, a rise of 9 percent over the past year, the annual estimates by Forbes magazine show. The New York Mets were second at US$824 million and the Boston Red Sox third at US$816 million, the magazine said on Wednesday. After that, there was a big gap to the Los Angeles Dodgers (US$694 million) and the Chicago Cubs (US$642 million). At the bottom, the three Major League Baseball teams with the lowest values were Florida (US$256 million), Tampa Bay (US$290 million) and Pittsburgh (US$292 million). Washington had the highest estimated operating profit at US$43.7 million.
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
The Minnesota Timberwolves, with so many promising performances spoiled by late mistakes fresh in their memory bank, sure timed this strong finish well. Jaden McDaniels scored a career playoff-high 30 points and spearheaded Minnesota’s stifling defense on an ailing Luka Doncic, and the Timberwolves beat the Los Angeles Lakers 116-104 to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven Western Conference first-round series in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Friday night. “Jaden never looks tired. He looks like he could play 48 minutes,” said teammate Anthony Edwards, who had 29 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. Julius Randle added 22 points for the Wolves, who outscored
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
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