GOLF
Levy grabs four-shot lead
France’s Alexander Levy closed in on a third career European Tour triumph on Saturday when he stormed to a four-shot lead at the fog-hit European Open in Bad Griesbach, Germany. After being badly affected by the weather on Thursday and Friday last week when seven hours were lost, the tournament suffered three more hours of delays on Saturday, forcing organizers to declare a 54-hole event. The third and final round was to be played yesterday. Levy, who won two titles in 2014, went into Saturday with just one hole of his delayed second round to complete. He made par on the ninth to stay at 17-under. Ross Fisher made a birdie on the seventh in his final three holes to cut the Frenchman’s overnight lead to five shots, but it was Swede Michael Jonzon who surged through the field, shooting a 63 to get to 13-under. Jonzon only found out he was playing on Wednesday afternoon after being fourth reserve for the event, but he had the chance to win his third European Tour title, 19 years after claiming his first at the Portuguese Masters. “I always said I function well under these circumstances,” 44-year-old Jonzon said. “I’m just going to go out tomorrow [Sunday] and try to shoot as good as I can, whatever happens after that is not in my control.”
CYCLING
Pibernik claims stage win
Slovenia’s Luka Pibernik of Lampre-Merida won the sixth stage of the Eneco Tour on Saturday, beating Englishman Mark McNally of Wanty-Groupe Gobert and Belgian rider Bert van Lerberghe of Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise in a sprint in Lanaken, Belgium. Australian Rohan Dennis of BMC Racing was leading in the overall standings, his advantage 16 seconds from teammate Taylor Phinney of the US and 24 seconds over Germany’s Tony Martin of Etixx-QuickStep ahead of yesterday’s final stage, a 197.8km ride from Bornem to Grammont which included climbs that feature on the Tour des Flandres. “I have a strong team and I feel good, but it could rain and that would make the cobbles very slippery. I’ve not won the race yet,” Dennis said.
BOXING
Linares wins fourth title
Jorge Linares defeated Anthony Crolla by unanimous decision at the Manchester Arena in England on Saturday to take the WBA lightweight belt. Linares, the Tokyo-based Venezuelan, hurt a knuckle in his right hand in the sixth round, but was not being hurt by Crolla and he finished stronger to earn his fourth world title. It was the same hand that Linares hurt previously and which forced him to give up the WBC belt after his second defense almost a year ago. The three-weight champion improved his record to 41-3 and said he would be happy to have a rematch with Crolla (31-5-1). Crolla, in his hometown, lost his second defense of the WBA belt and while dogged to the end, he was outsmarted.
BOXING
Amateur boxer dies in ring
An amateur boxer has died after collapsing during a charity bout on Saturday, police said. Witnesses said 49-year-old Neville Knight slumped onto the ropes then fell to the canvas midway through his bout at a corporate fundraising event at Te Rapa, near Hamilton, New Zealand. Paramedics tried to resuscitate Knight, but he could not be revived and died at the scene, police said. Acting Inspector Andrew Mortimore said “medical staff tried for in excess of 30 minutes to resuscitate the man, but were unsuccessful.” Police are speaking to witnesses and family, and will be referring the death to the coroner.”
SS Lazio on Monday fired the far-right sympathizer who handles their eagle mascot after he posted online a series of videos and pictures of his erect penis. Falconer Juan Bernabe, who has been present at Lazio home matches with Olimpia the eagle since the 2010-2011 season, posted the footage on social media after having surgery on Saturday to implant a penile prosthesis to improve his sexual performance. Lazio said that they had “terminated, with immediate effect” their relationship with Bernabe “due to the seriousness of his conduct,” adding that they were “shocked” by the images. The Serie A club added that Bernabe’s dismissal
The NHL postponed the Los Angeles Kings’ home game against the Calgary Flames on Wednesday with several massive wildfires burning across the greater Los Angeles area. The Kings and Flames were scheduled to play on Wednesday night at the Kings’ downtown arena. The NBA’s Los Angeles Lakers were scheduled to host the Charlotte Hornets in the same arena last night. “Our hearts are with our entire Los Angeles community,” the Kings said in a statement. “We appreciate the hard working first responders who are diligently working to contain the fire and protect our community. We appreciate the league’s support in keeping our
Doping fears prevented former US Open champion Emma Raducanu from treating insect bites on the eve of the Australian Open, she said, with players increasingly wary about ingesting contaminated substances. The British player was speaking in the wake of high-profile doping cases involving Iga Swiatak and Jannik Sinner. “I would say all of us are probably quite sensitive to what we take on board, what we use,” the 22-year-old said, recalling an incident on Friday. “I got really badly bitten by, I don’t know what, like ants, mosquitoes, something. I’m allergic, I guess,” she added. The bites “flared up and swelled up really a
TWO IN A WEEK: Despite an undefeated start to the year playing alongside Jiang Xinyu of China, Wu Fang-hsien is to play the Australian Open with a Russian partner Taiwan’s Wu Fang-hsien yesterday triumphed at the Hobart International, winning the women’s doubles title at the US$275,094 outdoor hard-court tournament, while McCartney Kessler lifted the trophy in the women’s singles. Fourth-ranked Wu and partner Jiang Xinyu of China took 1 hour, 15 minutes to defeat Romania’s Monica Niculescu and Fanny Stollar of Hungary, 6-1, 7-6 (8/6) at the Hobart International Tennis Centre, their second title in a week. Wu and Jiang on Sunday won the women’s doubles title at the ASB Classic in Auckland, beating Serbia’s Aleksandra Krunic and Sabrina Santamaria of the US. Their winning ways continued in Australia as they stretched
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