■ GOLF
Stricker leads at Bob Hope
US Ryder Cup player Steve Stricker seized the lead at the Bob Hope Classic in La Quinta, California, on Saturday with a 10-under 62. Stricker’s effort, on the heels of an impressive 61 on Friday, gave him a 33-under total of 255 after four rounds of the 90-hole event. He moved three shots clear of Pat Perez, who had led since shooting a first-round 61. Perez posted a five-under 67 on Saturday for a 30-under total of 258.
■CRICKET
Afghanistan suffer, HK cheer
Afghanistan’s hopes of reaching the 2011 World Cup suffered an early setback on Saturday with a 13-run defeat at the hands of Uganda in the World Cricket League Division Three. But Hong Kong got off to a flyer with a handsome seven-wicket win over hosts Argentina, while Papua New Guinea defeated the Cayman Islands by six wickets. The top two teams in the six-nation event will reach the 2011 World Cup qualifier in South Africa in April from where four countries will go on to the game’s showpiece one-day event. Uganda made 216-8 off their 50 overs before Afghanistan endured a nightmare start to their reply where they slumped to 23-5 and then 53-6 before a 121-run stand for the seventh wicket between Rais Ahmadzai (74) and Samiullah Shenwari (53) brought them in touching distance. Hong Kong coach Aftab Habib praised his side after they dismissed Argentina for 107 and then reached their target with 22.4 overs to spare. Papua New Guinea skipper Rarua Dikana took 5-14 as his side enjoyed a comprehensive six-wicket victory against the Cayman Islands. Papua New Guinea reached their target of 122 with 29.1 overs to spare after the Caymans were bowled out for just 121. Man-of-the-match Vani Morea hit 64 off just 51 balls to guide his team to victory.
■FIGURE SKATING
Lepisto wins European title
Laura Lepisto rewarded the enthusiastic Helsinki home crowd on Saturday, holding off Carolina Kostner to win Finland’s first women’s title at the European Figure Skating Championships. Teammate Susanna Poykio won the bronze, the first time two Finnish skaters have been on the European podium. Kostner won the free skate, but still fell short of winning her third straight European title. Lepisto finished with 167.32 points while Kostner had 165.42. Earlier during the championships, the men’s title went to Brian Joubert of France, who at age 24 took his 12th medal in world or European championships. Defending European champion Tomas Verner of the Czech Republic fell to sixth place. In the pairs, defending champions Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy from Germany won by a wide margin. Russia’s Jana Khokhlova and Sergei Novitski claimed their first ice dance title in a watered-down field. World champions Isabelle Delobel and Olivier Schoenfelder of France didn’t compete because she’s recovering from a shoulder injury and defending European champions Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin withdrew after compulsories because Shabalin fell and injured his knee.
■ATHLETICS
Shibui wins in Osaka
Japan’s Yoko Shibui won the Osaka international women’s marathon yesterday, eight years after claiming her debut marathon victory in the race. The 29-year-old moved up a gear shortly before the 29km mark and steadily outpaced the last challenger, fellow Japanese runner Yukiko Akaba, to cross the finishing line in two hours, 23 minutes and 42 seconds. Akaba came in second, 58 seconds behind, followed by 2007 champion Yumiko Hara, also of Japan, in third place with 2:26:57.
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
After fleeing Sudan when civil war erupted, Al-Hilal captain Mohamed Abdelrahman and his teammates have defied the odds to reach the CAF Champions League quarter-finals. They are today to face title-holders Al-Ahly of Egypt in Cairo, with the return match in the Mauritanian capital, Nouakchott, on Tuesday next week. Al-Hilal and biggest domestic rivals Al-Merrikh relocated to Mauritania after a power struggle broke out in April 2023 between the Sudanese army and a paramilitary force. The civil war has claimed tens of thousands of lives and displaced more than 12 million people, according to the UN. The Democratic Republic of the Congo-born Al-Hilal
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
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