TENNIS
Barthel surprises champion
Mona Barthel surprised defending champion Barbora Zahlavova Strycova, cruising to victory in straight sets 6-3, 6-4 in the quarter-finals of the WTA Tour’s Bell Challenge tournament in Quebec City, Canada, on Friday. The 22-year-old German third seed hammered four aces and had to overcome seven double faults in the 87-minute match on the indoor carpet at the PEPS Laval University facility. Czech player Zahlavova Strycova, who beat Kiwi Marina Erakovic in last year’s final, finished with four double faults and won less than half (42 percent) of her second serve points. Barthel advances to the semi-finals where she will face Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium, who was leading Anna Tatishvili 6-2, 3-0 when the Georgian retired from their match. Flipkens upset top seed Dominika Cibulkova in the opening round. In other quarter-finals on Friday, France’s Kristina Mladenovic routed American Melanie Oudin 6-0, 6-1 in just 63 minutes. Mladenovic will next square off against eighth seeded Lucie Hradecka for a place in the final. Czech Hradecka cruised past Lauren Davis of the US 6-4, 6-2 in their quarter-final match.
MOTORCYCLING
Leaders opt out of practice
World championship rivals Jorge Lorenzo and Dani Pedrosa opted out of Friday practice for the San Marino Grand Prix after rain dashed hopes of any useful dry runs. Only 13 of the 21 riders went out on the partly dry Misano circuit with nine-time world champion Valentino Rossi managing just one careful lap before he headed back to the Ducati garage. “On days like this, it’s almost impossible to get any feedback on the bike,” said Honda’s Pedrosa, who has won the last two races and trails Yamaha star Lorenzo by just 13 points in the world title race. “Actually, we saw in both sessions that the weather was changing so quickly that the riders going out with slick tires had to come back in because it started raining or the other way around: Going out with wets and destroying them in just a few laps as it was drying up again. The weather forecast looks better for tomorrow [Saturday] and Sunday, so let’s hope we can take advantage of tomorrow morning’s session to find a good setting and have a good qualifying.”
CYCLING
Wiggins pulls out of race
Olympic and Tour de France champion Bradley Wiggins’ withdrawal from the Tour of Britain with a stomach bug on Friday has left the race without one of its main attractions. Fans flocking to the 190km route from Powys Castle in Welshpool to Caerphilly Castle in south Wales were left disappointed after Wiggins failed to start the sixth stage, which was won by Czech rider Leopold Koenig. Wiggins’ fellow Briton Jonathan Tiernan-Locke grabbed the overall lead after finishing just behind Koenig. However, rather than cheering on those who crossed the line first, spectators were lamenting Wiggins’ absence. “I’m sorry to have to pull out of the Tour,” Wiggins told his Team Sky Web site. “I’ve loved the last six days, meeting so many people around the country and enjoying those crowds along the roads. It has been a great experience, but this bug sadly means I’ll now miss the climax this weekend. I’m sorry I can’t continue and would like to thank all those fans, of all ages, for the support.” Amateur rider Joel Bland, 18, from Lampeter, was one of thousands who had lined the streets, and after learning about Wiggins’s withdrawal, he told the BBC: “I can’t believe that. That’s a shame.” The race finishes today.
GOLF
Linkou play suspended
Play in the second round of the Yeangder Tournament Players Championship in Taiwan was abandoned yesterday, as strong winds and rain caused by a passing typhoon lashed New Taipei City, organizers said. The blustery and damp conditions at the Linkou International Golf and Country Club forced officials to reduce the US$500,000 event to a 54-stroke play tournament, the Asian Tour said in a statement. “The extremely wet and windy conditions made it a challenge for play to continue today. The safety of our players going out to the course was also another priority,” said Wanchai Meechai, the Asian Tour’s tournament director. “As such, we have taken the decision to abandon play for today,” he said. Play would resume this morning, when conditions were expected to be calmer, he said. “We are also not ruling out a Monday finish so that we can get all 54 holes played,” Wanchai added. Angelo Que of the Philippines holds the clubhouse lead with his first round seven-under 65, while American Jason Knutzon, who was even-par through nine holes, took a share of second place alongside India’s Gaganjeet Bhullar. Taiwan’s Lin Wen-tang is in fourth place after an opening 67, while India’s Anirban Lahiri is one back in fifth place on 68. Singapore’s Koh Dengshan, who was one-over after three holes before play was abandoned, remained unperturbed by the weather conditions. “This is expected of the weather in Taipei and before I came, I was already mentally prepared for these conditions,” Koh said.
SOCCER
Kansas City salvage draw
C.J. Sapong scored in the third minute of second-half stoppage time to salvage a 1-1 draw Sporting Kansas City against Houston on Friday, pushing out their lead in Major League Soccer’s Eastern Conference to four points. A day after Chicago had closed within three points, Sporting looked like going down to a dispiriting home loss as they trailed to Brad Davis’ 58th-minute goal. However Sapong bobbed up with the last-gasp equalizer to extend Sporting’s unbeaten streak to six games. By contrast, Houston has won only one of its past six. In the Western Conference, Los Angeles moved up to third with a 2-0 home win over Colorado. Robbie Keane scored on a Landon Donovan pass in the 15th minute and Swedish international Christian Wilhelmsson, making his MLS debut, netted from a long pass from Marcelo Sarvas in the 58th minute.
GOLF
Senior leads in Hawaii
Australia’s Peter Senior shot a 7-under 65 on Friday to take a one-stroke lead after the first round of the Champions Tour’s inaugural Hawaii Championship. Winless in 65 starts in three seasons on the 50 and over tour, the 53-year-old Senior birdied seven of the first 13 holes and closed with five pars in breezy afternoon conditions. “It would be nice to have a win,” Senior said. Senior has five runner-up finishes on the tour, losing three playoffs. He won the 2010 Australian PGA for the last of his 27 regular international victories and also won the 2010 Australian Senior Open. Jay Don Blake and Bill Glasson were tied for second. Blake, coming off a victory three weeks ago in the Boeing Classic, finished with eight straight pars after making six birdies in an eight-hole stretch. Mark McNulty and Eduardo Romero shot 67, and Charles Schwab Cup leader Tom Lehman was another stroke back along with Duffy Waldorf and Willie Wood. Waldorf is making his second senior start. The four-time PGA Tour winner tied for eighth in the Boeing Classic.
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to
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