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.
SEESAW CONTEST: The Pistons remain top of the Eastern Conference after battling to a win over the Hawks in a game that saw the lead change 27 times The Phoenix Suns on Monday shrugged off an injury to Devin Booker to end the Los Angeles Lakers’ seven-game winning streak with an emphatic 125-108 victory on the road. Booker exited in the first quarter, but the loss of the star point guard did little to halt the flow of Phoenix points over the remainder of the game. Dillon Brooks led the Phoenix scoring with 33 points, while Collin Gillespie added 28 — including eight three-pointers — as the Suns romped to victory. The Lakers were left ruing a colossal 22 turnovers — at a cost of 32 Suns points — on a
New Zealand yesterday reached 231-9 at stumps on a first day of the first Test against the West Indies shortened by rain after Justin Greaves triggered a middle-order collapse with the wicket of Kane Williamson. New Zealand tumbled from 94-1 to 148-6 on a bowler-friendly wicket after Williamson was dismissed for 52, his 38th Test half-century. Michael Bracewell and Nathan Smith arrested the slide with a 52-run stand for the seventh wicket. Smith eventually fell for 23 and Bracewell for 47. After Matt Henry went for 8, Zak Foulkes and Jacob Duffy were both on 4 when bad light stopped play after 70
Robin Smith, the batter who shone for England in a period when it was beaten regularly in Test cricket, has died. He was 62. Smith’s family said in a statement from the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) that he died unexpectedly at his home in Perth, Australia, on Monday. No cause was given. He played 62 Tests for England from 1988 to 1996, scoring 4,236 runs at an average of 43.67 with nine centuries. His signature shot was the square cut. Smith also played in 71 one-day internationals and was part of England’s squad who reached the 1992 ICC World Cup final. His unbeaten
SSC Napoli on Sunday joined AC Milan at the top of Serie A after winning 1-0 at title rivals AS Roma, as Inter kept pace with the leading pair by beating Pisa SC 2-0. David Neres stroked home the only goal of a feisty game in the 36th minute at the Stadio Olimpico, ending a blistering counterattack with a calm finish which put Napoli on 28 points. Napoli are behind Milan on goal-difference, and just one point ahead of both Roma and Inter in a tight scudetto battle in which Antonio Conte’s team are to host Juventus at the weekend. “To come to
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