BASKETBALL
Lithuania beat Greece
Mantas Kalnietis made two free throws with 14 seconds remaining to seal Lithuania’s 73-69 victory over Greece in the match for fifth place at the European basketball championship in Kaunas, Lithuania, on Saturday. The match was mainly a matter of prestige since both teams had already advanced to the pre-Olympic qualifying tournament ahead of next year’s London Games. Earlier on Saturday, Goran Dragic scored 21 points to lead Slovenia to a 72-68 win over Serbia in the match for seventh place. That match meant even less since both teams had missed the Olympic qualifying tournament.
TENNIS
Erakovic reaches first final
New Zealand’s Marina Erakovic rallied to defeat defending champion Tamira Paszek 2-6, 7-5, 6-4 on Saturday and reach her first WTA final at the US$220,000 Quebec City Challenge. In yesterday’s championship match, the 85th-ranked Kiwi will face Czech sixth-seed Barbora Zahlavova Strycova, who easily defeated Dutchwoman Michaella Krajicek 6-4, 6-3 in the other semi-final. Like Erakovic, the 25-year-old Zahlavova Strycova is gunning for her first WTA Tour title. They have never faced each other on the tour.
TENNIS
Pervak wins maiden title
Top-seeded Ksenia Pervak won her maiden WTA title on Saturday, beating Eva Birnerova in the final of the Tashkent Open. After Birnerova had rallied in the first set from 3-0 down to level, Pervak responded by winning the next three games to take a 1-0 lead. The Russian won four consecutive games in the second set, serving for the match at love and wrapping up the victory with an ace. The 52nd-ranked Pervak has not dropped a set on the way to her second final of the season. She lost to Vera Zvonareva in the final in Baku in July and reached the fourth round at Wimbledon.
BOXING
Alvarez stomps Gomez
Saul “Canelo” Alvarez kept his WBC light middleweight title belt by stopping Alfonso Gomez at 2 minutes, 36 seconds of the sixth round in Los Angeles on Saturday. Alvarez (38-0-1, 28 KOs) started and finished strongly in a Los Angeles bout that was held as a two-city undercard for television viewers before the Floyd Mayweather-Victor Ortiz bout. Alvarez knocked down Gomez (23-5-2) with a compact left hook late in the first round. Gomez rallied in the next few rounds and hung in with the hard-punching Alvarez, but Alvarez dominated the fifth round, and he finished off his Mexican compatriot with a nasty uppercut and several big shots. Gomez thought referee Wayne Hedgpeth stopped the fight too soon, despite Alvarez raining blows.
BOXING
Morales bloodies Cano
Veteran boxer Erik Morales, the last fighter to beat Manny Pacquiao, stopped fellow Mexican Pablo Cesar Cano to win a title in a fourth weight division in Las Vegas on Saturday. Morales battered and bloodied the younger Cano before the fight was stopped at the end of the 10th round by the corner of Cano, who was a late replacement and took the fight on with just a few days’ notice. With the win, Morales earned the vacant World Boxing Council junior welterweight belt. Cano’s corner stopped the fight as blood streamed down the left side of his face from a cut around his eye. He was fighting outside of Mexico for the first time.
SOCCER
Mechelen thrashed by Mons
Taiwan international Javier Chen’s KV Mechelen were thrashed 5-1 by RAEC Mons on Saturday as they dived to eighth place in Belgium’s Jupiler League. Jeremy Perbet opened the scoring for hosts Mons in the sixth minute, before Mechelen’s Abdul-Yakuni Iddi equalized after 34 minutes. Mons edged ahead again when Rachid Bourabia scored two minutes before halftime. Perbet increased Mons’ lead in the 62nd minute and then completed his hat-trick in the 84th minute. Bourabia grabbed a brace and completed the rout five minutes later. Chen played the full 90 minutes for the visitors.
GOLF
Teen Thompson leads by five
US teen Lexi Thompson, trying to become the youngest winner in the LPGA’s 61-year history, fired a five-under 67 on Saturday to seize a five-stroke lead at the Navistar Classic in Prattville, Alabama. Prodigy Thompson, who turned 16 in February, finished 54 holes on 15-under 201 and was poised to shatter the LPGA age mark and collect her first elite-level victory. Marlene Hagge of the US captured the 18-hole Sarasota Open in 1952 just two weeks past her 18th birthday to become the LPGA’s youngest winner. Paula Creamer of the US was nine months and 17 days past her 18th birthday when she won the 2005 Sybase Classic, becoming the youngest winner of a typical multi-round event. South Korea’s Meena Lee was second on 206, with England’s Karen Stupples, Becky Morgan of Wales and Tiffany Joh of the US sharing third on 208, seven adrift of Thompson. Taiwan’s world No. 1 Yani Tseng carded a disappointing 75 and was tied for 43rd place on even-par 216.
GOLF
Gambler Rose surges clear
Britain’s Justin Rose carded a two-under 69 to open up a commanding four-stroke lead after the third round of the BMW Championship in Lemont, Illinois, on Saturday to give himself a shot at the season-ending US$10 million jackpot. Adopting a gambler’s all-or-nothing approach, Rose surged clear of the field with a red-hot putter and some daring shot-making to finish the round at 13-under 200. Australian John Senden was outright second at nine-under after recovering from a horrendous start to his third round. He bogeyed three of his first five holes, but rallied on the back nine, picking up four shots for a 70. Lurking a further shot back was another Australian, Geoff Ogilvy, who needed a birdie on his final hole at the Deutsche Bank two weeks ago just to earn a spot in the 70-man field for the BMW Championship. The former US Open champion made the most of his opportunity by returning a 68 to join Bill Haas of the US (69) five shots off the pace.
GOLF
McGinley’s men dominate
Great Britain and Ireland need to win just three of the remaining 10 singles matches to retain the Vivendi Seve Trophy after dominating Continental Europe in Saint-nom-la-Breteche, France, on Saturday. Paul McGinley’s team won six out of eight points in the greensomes and foursomes to take a commanding 11.5 to 6.5 lead and close in on a sixth successive tournament triumph. “We are absolutely delighted in there. It’s been a great day — things went really well for us,” McGinley said. “Our concentration levels were really good and we were really up for it. We’re really motivated and really concentrated, and we are really focused. We got the job done.”
The US’ bid for a fourth consecutive CONCACAF Nations League title came to a stunning end as they fell 1-0 to Panama after a stoppage-time goal from Cecilio Waterman on Thursday in Inglewood, California. Despite dominating possession, the US struggled to break down a resilient Panama side for long periods. Panama spent the bulk of the match defending, but pounced on a giveaway by the US before substitute forward Waterman sent a shot from the right side of the area to the bottom left corner late in stoppage time. Up next for Panama in tomorrow’s final is to be Mexico, who beat
DOMINATION: McLaren drivers Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris took the first two spots as Mercedes’ George Russell and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen followed them Australian Oscar Piastri yesterday roared back from season-opening disappointment in his home race by winning the Formula One Chinese Grand Prix from pole position in a McLaren one-two with championship-leading teammate Lando Norris. George Russell finished third for Mercedes, ahead of Red Bull’s reigning champion Max Verstappen with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Saturday’s sprint winner Lewis Hamilton fifth and sixth respectively. Piastri’s win denied Norris a third victory in a row, including last year’s Abu Dhabi season-ender, but left champions McLaren unbeaten in two races so far this year. “Mega job guys. The car was very, very lovely,” Piastri said
TO FINAL FOUR: France had 22 chances and scored two goals, while Croatia could not manage a single shot on target in 120 minutes. Les Bleus won 5-4 on penalties France on Sunday overturned a two-goal deficit to qualify for the UEFA Nations League Final Four by eliminating Croatia 5-4 on penalties after a 2-0 victory in their quarter-final second leg at the Stade de France. Dayot Upamecano scored the winning spot kick in a nail-biting shootout in which France keeper Mike Maignan made two saves, sending Les Bleus into the semi-finals against Spain. Michael Olise opened the scoring and Ousmane Dembele doubled their lead 10 minutes from time to send the tie into extra time after their 2-0 loss in Split, Croatia, on Thursday. France had a total of
Armand Duplantis will be among the reigning Olympic champions adding star power to the world indoor championships this weekend when the Chinese city of Nanjing hosts the first major global athletics meet since the Paris Games last year. The three-day event was originally slated for 2020 and faced multiple postponements due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but Nanjing’s Sports Training Center would finally welcome more than 570 athletes for the start of the showpiece today. One of the main attractions would be pole vaulter “Mondo” Duplantis, who soared 6.27m to break the world record for a staggering 11th time in Clermont-Ferrand last
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