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.
Barcelona’s Ferran Torres scored twice on Sunday to help secure a late 4-2 comeback win at Atletico Madrid in a pulsating La Liga clash that took the Catalan side back to the top of the table. Barca have 60 points and a game in hand after last week’s postponement of their home game with CA Osasuna. They are level on points with Real Madrid, who won 2-1 at Villarreal on Saturday. “I am happy and proud of this team,” Barcelona head coach Hansi Flick told a news conference. “They never give up... It’s a great three points and we are happy to
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
Paolo Banchero on Sunday scored 24 points as the Orlando Magic overturned a 13-point deficit to end the Cleveland Cavaliers’ 16-game unbeaten streak with a gutsy 108-103 road victory. Cleveland, the runaway Eastern Conference leaders, had looked poised to extend their franchise-record winning run after surging clear of Orlando early in the third quarter, but after a season where they have staged hefty winning comebacks of their own, the tables turned on Cleveland in the face of a furious burst of Orlando scoring. The Magic outscored Cleveland 35-23 in the third quarter, with Franz Wagner leading the charge with nine points and
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
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