■ FOOTBALL
Cincinnati beat Louisville
The University of Cincinnati remained in the hunt for college football’s Big East title with a 28-20 win over reeling Louisville on Friday. Quarterback Tony Pike threw for 250 yards and two touchdowns for the No. 22-ranked Bearcats moved half a game ahead of idle West Virginia and No. 21 Pittsburgh in the conference title race. Cincinnati beat West Virginia last week and host Pittsburgh next weekend. Dominick Goodman caught nine passes for 134 yards and a touchdown and John Goebel ran for 77 yards and a score for the Bearcats. Pike, who took over the quarterback job when Dustin Grutza suffered a broken leg, completed 19-of-33 passes in soggy conditions before getting knocked out in the fourth quarter.
■ ICE HOCKEY
Islanders’ Pock suspended
New York Islanders defenseman Thomas Pock was suspended for five games without pay on Friday for elbowing Ottawa Senators forward Ryan Shannon the previous night. Pock was given a major penalty and a game misconduct for elbowing Shannon on Thursday. Shannon, who was making his Senators debut, had to be helped off the ice to the dressing room. “I understand why there is a need for the league to enforce a strict policy to hits to the head,” Pock said in a statement released by the Islanders. “I have reached out to Ryan to apologize and I hope he makes a quick recovery.”
■ CYCLING
Tour canceled over funds
The Tour of Georgia has been canceled next season for economic reasons, organizers said on Friday. “The planning process for the Tour of Georgia requires a tremendous amount of time and effort and we wanted to give all of our partners enough time to plan and allocate their resources to take full advantage of the event,” a statement read. “Therefore, we will skip 2009,” organizers said, adding they were planning to stage the race again in 2010. The Tour of Georgia, created in 2003, failed to secure regular sponsors after American Lance Arsmtrong retired at the end of the 2005 season. The Texan, who announced his return to professional cycling in September, did not include the Tour of Georgia in his plans for next year. “I am obviously disappointed to learn that the Tour of Georgia has been canceled for next year. However, I am very pleased that the race will return in 2010,” said USA Cycling CEO Steve Johnson.
■ BASKETBALL
Barbosa flies home to family
Brazil’s Leandro Barbosa has left the Phoenix Suns to fly home following the death of his mother, American media reported on Friday. Barbosa left for Brazil on Thursday following the death of 66-year-old Dona Ivete Barbosa, who had been fighting pneumonia in a Brazilian hospital for more than a month. The 1.92m Barbosa, considered one of the fastest players in the National Basketball Association, missed two weeks of training camp under new coach Terry Porter out of concern for his mother’s health.
■ ATHLETICS
Another NY marathoner dies
New York City Marathon officials say a 41-year-old man who collapsed during the race has died. Race organizer New York Road Runners says the man died on Thursday in a New York City hospital. The group did not identify him. It was the third death connected to the Nov. 2 marathon. A 58-year-old Brazilian man died of a heart attack shortly after crossing the finish line. Another man died several hours later.
Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Belgian partner Elise Mertens on Monday notched up their first win in the doubles group stage of the WTA Finals in Riyadh to keep their semi-final hopes alive, while Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russian partner Veronika Kudermetova were aiming to record their first victory after press time last night. Third seeds Hsieh and Mertens came back from a disheartening opening-day loss to Australia’s Ellen Perez and Nicole Melichar-Martinez to defeat top seeds Ukraine’s Lyudmyla Kichenok and Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko, the women’s doubles world No. 3 and 4 respectively. The 6-1, 6-3 victory at King Saud University Indoor Arena
Taiwan’s top table tennis player Lin Yun-ju made his debut in the US professional table tennis scene by taking on a new role as a team’s co-owner. On Wednesday, Major League Table Tennis (MLTT), founded in September last year, announced on its official Web site that Lin had become part of the ownership group of the Princeton Revolution, one of the league’s eight teams. MLTT chief executive officer Flint Lane described Lin’s investment as “another great milestone for table tennis in America,” saying that the league’s “commitment to growth and innovation is drawing attention from the best in the sport, and we’re
Coco Gauff of the US on Friday defeated top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka 7-6 (7/4), 6-3 to set up a showdown with Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen in the final of the WTA Finals, while in the doubles, Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching was eliminated. Gauff generated six break points to Belarusian Sabalenka’s four and built on early momentum in the opening set’s tiebreak that she carried through to the second set. She is the youngest player at 20 to make the final at the WTA Finals since Denmark’s Caroline Wozniacki in 2010. Zheng earlier defeated Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic 6-3, 7-5 to book
Atalanta BC brought Serie A leaders SSC Napoli down to earth with a bump with a 3-0 victory on Sunday as Ademola Lookman grabbed two goals. Napoli were hoping to open up a substantial lead at the top before, but Atalanta stunned the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium as they decisively ended the home side’s unbeaten run that stretched back to Aug. 18. Inter then closed the gap with a 1-0 victory over Venezia to end the weekend just a point behind Napoli. Lookman pounced first in the 10th minute when Marten de Roon’s header fell for the London-born Nigerian international