■BASKETBALL
Howard joins Wizards
The Washington Wizards have acquired veteran swingman Josh Howard and three other players from the Dallas Mavericks in exchange for forward Caron Butler, center Brendan Haywood and guard DeShawn Stevenson. Going to Washington with Howard are center-forward Drew Gooden, forward James Singleton and guard-forward Quinton Ross, the Wizards said in a statement on Saturday. “This trade gave us a good opportunity to change our short-term future and improve our long-term future,” Wizards president Ernie Grunfeld said. “It accomplished two goals by giving us financial flexibility and bringing a new look and energy to the roster.” The Wizards are mired in last place in the Southeast Division at the All-Star break with a 17-33 record.
■TENNIS
Youzhny stuns Djokovic
Russian Mikhail Youzhny upset top seed Novak Djokovic 7-6, 7-6 on Saturday to reach the final of the World Indoor Tournament. Sixth seed Youzhny next faces Swede Robin Soderling who overcame Nikolay Davydenko of Russia 7-6, 6-4. Djokovic and Youzhny made sloppy starts, both dropping their first service games. The Serb was unable to reach the high level of tennis he showed earlier this week and hit a double-fault to lose the first set 7-5 on the tiebreak. Djokovic then saved two match points before Youzhny won the second tiebreak 8-6. Earlier, second seed Davydenko dropped his first service game to Soderling but regained control to take the opening set into a tiebreak. Third seed Soderling prevailed and a break in the ninth game of the second set was enough to give him victory.
■SOCCER
Van Nistelrooy sparks win
Ruud van Nistelrooy came on as a substitute and scored two quick goals, his first for the club, to give Hamburg SV a 3-1 win at VfB Stuttgart in the Bundesliga on Saturday. The Dutchman entered the fray in the 65th minute with the score at 1-1 and struck twice in a three-minute spell to hand Stuttgart their first defeat under coach Christian Gross. Bayer Leverkusen and Bayern Munich stayed level on points at the top after winning at home. Leverkusen overcame VfL Wolfsburg 2-1 while Bayern beat Borussia Dortmund 3-1. Werder Bremen ran riot at Hanover 96, scoring four first-half goals in a 5-1 win. Hertha Berlin drew 1-1 at home to Mainz.
■SOCCER
Brighi stars as Roma win
Matteo Brighi scored twice and created another on Saturday to help AS Roma beat Palermo 4-1 in Serie A. Julio Baptista and John Arne Riise also scored for Roma, while Fabio Miccoli scored a penalty for Palermo late in the game. In the only other match, Sampdoria scored twice in the first half to beat Fiorentina 2-0 with goals from ex-Fiorentina players Franco Semioli and Giampaolo Pazzini. Roma took the lead in the 33rd minute when Francesco Totti’s corner picked out Brighi, whose volley took a deflection off Palermo defender Cesare Bovo on the way past goalkeeper Salvatore Sirigu. In the 53rd minute Palermo’s defense was unable to clear and Brighi backheeled the ball along the line for Baptista to score into an empty net. Nine minutes later, Roma scored a third. Again Palermo’s defense was unable to clear and Brighi took one touch and fired a low shot in to the corner of the goal. Miccoli scored a penalty in the 80th after Taddei brought down Javier Pastore, but Riise added Roma’s fourth three minutes later.
Taiwanese badminton player Lin Chun-yi had to settle for silver in the men’s singles at the Orleans Masters in France on Sunday after losing in the final to his French opponent. The 25-year-old Lin, ranked world No. 14, lost to Alex Lanier 13-21, 18-21 in a match that lasted 42 minutes at the Palais des Sports arena. It was the first time that the two players were facing each other in their professional careers. In the opener, Lin was slow to warm up, which gave the 20-year-old Lanier an opportunity to take an early lead with seven consecutive points. Despite
Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday held their nerve to beat Liverpool 4-1 on penalties and reach the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals after their tie finished one-apiece on aggregate, while Bayern Munich saw off Bayer 04 Leverkusen to complete a 5-0 win over both legs. Lamine Yamal and Raphinha fired Barcelona into the next round as the Catalans bested SL Benfica 3-1, and Inter booked a last-eight meeting with Bayern by seeing off Feyenoord 2-1. At Anfield, Ousmane Dembele netted the only goal of the night as PSG bounced back from Liverpool’s late winner last week to force the tie to extra-time and penalties. Maligned
Taiwan’s Lin Chun-yi on Wednesday inflicted a first-round defeat on former badminton world No. 1 Viktor Axelsen at the All England Open. Lin came out of top after a back-and-forth first game before Axelsen dominated the second, but the Dane was not able to keep that form in the decider as Lin reeled off six points in a row on the way to a 21-19, 13-21, 21-11 victory. “If I don’t play my best, everyone can win against me,” said Axelsen, the world No. 4. “Today’s opponent played a fantastic game; it was disappointing, but that is how it is.” “I just tried
Two-time Indian Wells champion Iga Swiatek on Thursday avenged her shock Paris Olympics loss to Zheng Qinwen with a 6-3, 6-3 win over the Chinese eighth seed, setting up a semi-final against 17-year-old Russian Mirra Andreeva in the California desert. In the men’s singles, Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz put on a show with his acrobatic shotmaking under the lights to close out the day’s action, overcoming a 4-1 second-set deficit to defeat Francisco Cerundolo 6-3, 7-6 (7/4), while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei crashed out of the women’s doubles. Swiatek, one of the gold medal favorites when she lost to eventual champion Zheng in the
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