GOLF
Kim moves two shots clear
South Korean Kim Sei-young backed up her low opening round at the LPGA JTBC Founders Cup in Phoenix, Arizona, with another impressive effort on Friday, shooting a six-under 66 to move two shots clear. Last season’s rookie of the year, who shot a 63 on Thursday, moved to 15-under 129 at the Wildfire Golf Club — two clear of the US’ Brittany Lang. Lang started the day tied with Kim, but dropped off the pace after a 68 on Friday. Jacqui Concolino (64) and Italian Giulia Sergas (68) share third at 12-under. World No. 7 Kim has set her sights on a Rio Olympic berth and the 23-year-old, who won three times last year, came out firing with a birdie and eagle to start her round. Another eagle at the 15th put her firmly in the driving seat. Koahsiung-born Candie Kung shot a two-under 70, while Taiwan’s Hsu Wei-ling carded an even-par 72. The other Taiwanese competitors, Yani Tseng and Min Lee, were cut from the competition.
GOLF
Day leads at Arnold Palmer
Jason Day made it look easy on Friday in the Arnold Palmer Invitational with a seven-under 65. Henrik Stenson and Justin Rose had to work hard to stay in the game. Day made a pair of long birdie putts and stretched his lead to five shots when he finished his round at Bay Hill in the morning. Stenson was eight shots behind when he started his second round and shot 66 to close within two shots. Rose had a 66 and was three behind. Day was at 13-under 131. Rory McIlroy made the cut with a 67, though he was still 11 shots behind Day.
FOOTBALL
Ravens’ Tray Walker dies
The Baltimore Ravens’ cornerback Tray Walker died on Friday from injuries sustained in a motorcycle accident in Florida, the NFL team said. “We are grieving the loss of a special young man. #RIPTrayWalker,” the Ravens said in a posting on their Twitter account that included a picture of the 23-year-old player. Walker’s agent Ronald Butler told US media that Walker was pronounced dead at 5pm at Jackson Memorial Hospital, less than 24 hours after he suffered head injuries in a dirt bike accident not far from where he attended high school at Miami Northwestern. Walker, a fourth-round pick in last year’s NFL draft, played in eight games for the Ravens last season and competed mostly on special teams kicking plays, contributing one solo tackle from scrimmage.
ATHLETICS
Bromell holds on to win 60m
The US’ Trayvon Bromell captured the 60m title at the World Indoor Track and Field Championships on Friday night in a race that was so close that it took several minutes to determine the rest of the medalists. Bromell finished in 6.47 seconds and had the flag draped around him as he waited to see who would join him in celebration. When everything was sorted out, Asafa Powell of Jamaica was moved up to second and Ramon Gittens of Barbados third, just ahead of China’s Xie Zhenye and Su Bingtian.
GOLF
Chawrasia takes lead
India’s S.S.P. Chawrasia shot a four-under-par 68 to overtake second-round leader Terry Pilkadaris of Australia at the Hero Indian Open in New Delhi yesterday. Pilkadaris slumped to a one-over 73 to be two shots off the lead and two ahead of Rashid Khan (69) and Anirban Lahiri (67) on 206 overall. Taiwan’s Lee Chieh-po missed the cut.
Aaliyah Edwards on Monday pulled off the stunner of the opening round of the Unrivaled one-on-one tournament, beating top-seeded Breanna Stewart 12-0. The tournament to be played over three days featured 23 of the WNBA’s 36 players. A few had other commitments and a couple others were out with injuries. Stewart got the ball first against Edwards and missed a contested layup. Edwards then hit a three-pointer from the corner and a jumper from the elbow to go up 5-0. The player who scores keeps the basketball. Edwards hit two layups and a three-pointer to seal the win. Stewart, a two-time WNBA Most Valuable Player,
Eugenie Bouchard already has her own signature pickleball paddle. She is No. 17 in the pickleball rankings and constantly appears on the main court at events because she is always a big draw. However, just to be absolutely clear, she is not retired from tennis. The 2014 Wimbledon finalist still practices on the tennis court, still competes at tennis events and still has a Women’s Tennis Association ranking (No. 1,288). The Canadian standout just has a new sport that has caught her attention. Bouchard is one of several familiar tennis names — like Jack Sock and Donald Young — crossing over to
The Philippines curling team has been rocking it in Harbin, claiming the tropical nation’s first Asian Winter Games medal yesterday with a victory in the men’s final against South Korea. The team of Marc Pfister, Alan Frei, Christian Haller, Enrico Pfister and alternate Benjo Delarmente took gold with a 5-3 win at Harbin Pingfang Curling Arena. The Philippines Olympic Committee was quick to celebrate with a post on Instagram to mark the historic gold. “This is the first-ever medal for the Philippines at the Asian Winter Games, and the highest achievement for a Southeast Asian athlete in the Games’ history! What an incredible
Taiwan’s Wu Fang-hsien on Tuesday dumped compatriot and second seed Hsieh Su-wei out of the women’s doubles at the Qatar Open to set up another potential Taiwanese showdown, while world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka suffered a shock defeat in the second round. Wu and partner Jiang Xinyu, who earlier this year won the ASB Classic in Auckland and the Hobart International, defeated Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia 6-2, 6-7 (3/7), 10-5 in 1 hour, 29 minutes on Grandstand Court 3 at the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex. Wu and Jiang on Sunday advanced to the round-of-16 with a 7-6 (7/7),