CYCLING
Adam Yates wins Clasica
Adam Yates became the first British winner of the Clasica Ciclista San Sebastian on Saturday with the Orica-GreenEdge rider also claiming his maiden title at UCI WorldTour level. The 22-year-old went into the race on the back of a 50th place finish in the Tour de France. Belgium’s Philippe Gilbert of BMC Racing Team, the 2011 winner, was second just ahead of Spain’s defending champion Alejandro Valverde of Movistar Team. Yates won by 15 seconds after reeling in a late escape launched by young French rider Warren Barguil of Team Giant-Alpecin on the race’s final climb, the col de Bordako Tontorra, 7km from the finish. “Incredible,” Yates said. “I won, but I didn’t know I had won. I spoke on the radio to my sport director, but because of the crowds the radio was too quiet. On the final climb there was a breakaway still up the road. Then there was a lot of carnage on the climb, there was a crash with a motorbike and so I just went full gas. At the time I didn’t know if I had reached the lead or not.”
TENNIS
Goffin facing Thiem in final
Top seed David Goffin of Belgium eased to a 6-4, 6-2 win against two-time champion Thomaz Bellucci of Brazil in the Swiss Open semi-finals in Gstaad on Saturday. In yesterday’s final, world No. 14 Goffin was due to face world No. 24 Dominic Thiem of Austria. Thiem beat second seed Feliciano Lopez of Spain 6-3, 6-7 (5/7), 6-3 to maintain a winning run he started by taking the Croatia Open title the previous weekend. Goffin never allowed Bellucci a break point in the match and took control after converting the only chance to break in the first set at 4-4. The 24-year-old Belgian was seeking his third career title and his first on clay. Thiem never dropped serve, landed 79 percent of his first serves and was helped by Lopez’s nine double faults.
GOLF
Kiradech makes semis
Thailand’s Kiradech Aphibarnrat lived up to his billing as the “Asian John Daly” on Saturday when his ambitious game gave him a place in the Paul Lawrie Match Play semi-finals in Aberdeen, Scotland. The 26-year-old recovered from a shaky start to beat Michael Hoey 2-and-1 in his quarter-final. Kiradech was three down after four holes, but he went on to win four of the final seven to see off his opponent and book a last-four clash against second seed Marc Warren of Scotland. Warren shot an eagle on the 19th hole to secure his spot in the semi-finals. The Scotsman overcame a back problem and a three-hole deficit to beat England’s Tyrrell Hatton in a playoff. David Howell was the first man to qualify for the final four when he beat fellow Englishman Chris Wood 5-and-4. Howell was due to take on Robert Karlsson in the semi-finals after the Swede beat Scotland’s Richie Ramsay by one hole.
GOLF
Widegren grabs the lead
Pontus Widegren of Sweden took a one-shot lead into the final round of the Madeira Islands Open and the hope of a first win on the European Tour. Widegren offset two bogeys with two eagles before the turn, and finished the third round with a five-under 67 to sit on a total of 16-under 200. Widegren said he struggled on the greens, but was able to overcome a tough start by hitting “a nice eagle at No. 3” and building momentum. Tied for second were Scott Henry of Scotland and Roope Kakko of Finland. Henry enjoyed a flawless round of 65 with seven birdies, while Kakko finished his round of 64 with three straight birdies.
A stunning Lamine Yamal strike on Thursday helped crown Barcelona La Liga champions with a 2-0 win over local rivals RCD Espanyol, with victory ensuring Real Madrid cannot catch them at the top of the table. Yamal’s effort and Fermin Lopez’s goal took Hansi Flick’s side seven points clear of Los Blancos with two matches remaining, to clinch Barcelona’s 28th title and complete a superb domestic treble. Only the UEFA Champions League title escaped an exciting young Barca side this season, as they won the league for the second time in six years, at Espanyol’s ground again just as in 2022-2023. Back then,
SSC Napoli will have to wait one more week to seal the Serie A title after on Sunday being held to a goalless draw at Parma, while closest rivals Inter drew 2-2 in a dramatic game with SS Lazio. Antonio Conte’s team stayed one point ahead of Inter and were unfortunate not to win after twice striking the woodwork through Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa and Matteo Politano, while Scott McTominay also had a free-kick tipped onto the crossbar. The away side thought they would be handed a chance to take the points from the penalty spot in the 96th minute when David Neres
Jannik Sinner on Thursday marched into the semi-finals of the Italian Open after destroying Casper Ruud in straight sets 6-0, 6-1, while Coco Gauff won a marathon three-set battle with China’s Zheng Qinwen to advance to the women’s singles final. American Gauff is to face Italy’s Jasmine Paolini in today’s title match after pulling through 7-6 (7/3), 4-6, 7-6 (7/4) in a match that lasted over three-and-a-half hours. Ruud was supposed to be Sinner’s toughest test in Rome since he came back from his three-month doping ban, as the Norwegian came into the match in hot form on clay after winning in
Shohei Ohtani on Thursday delivered his first two-homer game of the season and had six RBIs as the Los Angeles Dodgers poured it on with five long balls in a 19-2 victory over the visiting Athletics. Max Muncy, Andy Pages and James Outman also hit home runs for the Dodgers, who left no doubt by taking a 13-2 lead following a seven-run third inning. Muncy and Kim Hye-seong each had three hits for Los Angeles. Dodgers right-hander Matt Sauer led off a bullpen game by allowing two runs in four innings. Left-hander Justin Wrobleski (1-1) finished with four scoreless innings after he
RSS