CYCLING
Boom tightens grip on tour
Lars Boom of the Netherlands tightened his grip on the Tour of Britain on Friday after winning the sixth stage to increase his overall lead in the standings. The Rabobank rider came home ahead of France’s Alexandre Pichot and Germany’s Leopold Koenig in a sprint finish after a demanding 146km stage from Taunton to Wells, England. It was the second stage win of the race for Boom, who is now well placed with only this weekend’s final two stages remaining. Boom leads Koenig by 28 seconds in the general classification with Britain’s Daniel Lloyd a further second behind.
BASKETBALL
Crittenton waives right
Former professional basketball player Javaris Crittenton waived his right on Friday to appear before a magistrate judge in Atlanta, Georgia, on a murder charge in the drive-by shooting death of a young mother of four. Crittenton, 23, was arrested at a Southern California airport last month as he prepared to check in for a flight to Atlanta to turn himself in to authorities. He is accused of the Aug. 19 slaying of 22-year-old Julian Jones, who witnesses said was gunned down in Atlanta with an assault rifle by someone driving a dark-colored sport utility vehicle, the FBI said. Atlanta police have said they do not believe Jones was Crittenton’s intended victim, but would not elaborate on the case.
MOTOGP
Outage delays qualifier
A power outage at a nearby electricity station forced the cancelation of the afternoon practice session for the Aragon motorcycling Grand Prix in Alcaniz, Spain, on Friday, organizers said. Repsol Honda rider Dani Pedrosa had been quickest in the morning session, with his Spanish compatriot and reigning champion Jorge Lorenzo of Yamaha second and Australian series leader Casey Stoner, also of Repsol Honda, third. An extended final practice session was scheduled for yesterday and qualifying was to go ahead in the afternoon as originally scheduled, according to the MotoGP Web site. The race is today.
BASEBALL
Choo disabled again
Cleveland Indians outfielder Choo Shin-soo will miss the rest of the season after aggravating a left rib cage injury. The South Korean came off the disabled list before Cleveland’s game in Texas on Thursday, but left the game in the second inning. “Same injury, he just re-aggravated it,” Cleveland manager Manny Acta said in Minneapolis on Friday before the Indians’ game at Minnesota. Choo hit .259 with eight homers and 36 RBIs, while being limited by injuries to 84 games. He had 22 homers and 90 RBIs last season. “The guy was healthy,” Acta said. “He went through the rehab period. The last five days he was feeling good.”
ICE HOCKEY
Crosby cleared to practice
Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby, fighting back from a concussion, said on Friday he has been cleared to practice without contact and was to skate yesterday with his NHL teammates. The 24-year-old Canadian center said he was not sure when he might be allowed to participate in full-contact drills with the Penguins as they begin their pre-season training camp with the season opener only three weeks away. Crosby led the Penguins to the NHL Stanley Cup crown in 2009 and scored the title-winning over-time goal for Canada at last year’s Vancouver Winter Olympics in the gold medal final against the US.
US national team star Folarin Balogun was among the scorers as AS Monaco on Friday won 3-1 at Paris Saint-Germain, dealing a blow to the side from the French capital before they face Chelsea in a crunch UEFA Champions League round-of-16 tie. Maghnes Akliouche gave Monaco a first-half lead at the Parc des Princes, and Aleksandr Golovin doubled their advantage early in the second half of the French Ligue 1 clash. Bradley Barcola pulled one back for the reigning European champions, but Balogun struck shortly after with a fifth goal in his last five games as Monaco claimed a precious
West Ham United on Monday advanced to the FA Cup quarter-finals with a 5-3 penalty shoot-out win against Brentford, who paid the price for Dango Ouattara’s spot-kick blunder. Nuno Espirito Santo’s side twice blew the lead as Jarrod Bowen’s double was canceled out by an Igor Thiago brace to force extra-time in the 2-2 draw at the London Stadium, but in the shoot-out, Brentford winger Ouattara attempted a chipped Panenka penalty, but his woeful effort was straight at West Ham goalkeeper Alphonse Areola. It was an awful mistake by the Burkina Faso international and West Ham took full advantage. Bowen, Valentin Castellanos, Callum
Teenage star Lamine Yamal’s superbly-taken goal on Saturday earned Barcelona a 1-0 win at Athletic Bilbao in Spanish La Liga. The champions restored their four-point lead over second-placed Real Madrid, who had on Friday temporarily closed the gap by beating Celta Vigo. Atletico Madrid tightened their grip on third with an entertaining 3-2 win over Real Sociedad. Yamal, 18, curled into the top corner after 68 minutes to split the sides at Athletic’s San Mames stadium. “We’re already seeing what Lamine can do — he puts it right in the top corner, and there’s nothing the keeper can do,” Barca
Thanks to Italy beating Mexico on Wednesday, the US get another chance in the World Baseball Classic (WBC). What looked like a potentially disastrous early exit for US manager Mark DeRosa and his team turned out to be nothing more than substantial worry and significant embarrassment for about 24 hours. It remains to be seen whether the US really want to win badly enough for the reprieve to matter, as if it is just a switch they can flick, but there is little reason for their fans to be optimistic. The team’s attitude and behavior have been all over the place when
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