GOLF
Todd leads at Travelers
Brendon Todd and Dustin Johnson shot career-low 61s at the Travelers Championship on Saturday, leaving Todd with a two-stroke lead over the 2016 US Open champion. Todd, playing a couple holes behind Johnson, had a chance at the tournament’s second 60 of the week but missed a 10-foot putt to the left on the 18th hole. He finished with a 54-hole score of 192, 18-under-par, after shooting 66 and 65 the first two rounds. Johnson also has improved each day, opening with a 69-64. Both shot bogey-free rounds, with Todd making five birdies on the front nine and Johnson five on the back. Taiwan’s C.T. Pan missed the cut.
SOCCER
Lazio return to winning
Ciro Immobile and Luis Alberto got title-chasing SS Lazio back to winning ways with a 2-1 victory over ACF Fiorentina on Saturday to close the gap on Serie A leaders Juventus to four points. Lazio’s 21-match unbeaten run ended with a 3-2 defeat against Atalanta BC on Wednesday, after surrendering a two-goal lead. However, Simone Inzaghi’s side consolidated second position, behind the eight-time reigning champions, who dominated US Lecce 4-0 in Turin on Friday. “The lads know the stakes are high,” Inzaghi said as Lazio target a first Serie A title in two decades. “It’s a victory of character and determination. We have a limited squad at the moment with several injuries.” Earlier, Cagliari kept their Europa League hopes alive with a 4-2 victory over Torino. Basement club Brescia look destined for a return to Serie B after throwing away a two-goal lead in a 2-2 draw against relegation-rivals Genoa.
SOCCER
Barca hopes take blow
Barcelona’s title hopes suffered a blow on Saturday after they were held to a 2-2 draw by RC Celta de Vigo, handing Real Madrid the chance to move two points clear at the top of La Liga. Luis Suarez twice put his team in front at Balaidos with his first goals since January, but Iago Aspas bent in a late free-kick to earn Celta a draw in what could prove a pivotal moment in the title race. Barca face an even tougher test tomorrow against in-form Atletico Madrid, who held off a late fightback from Alaves to win 2-1 at the Wanda Metropolitano.
CRICKET
Proposed changes slammed
Women’s cricket needs better marketing and investment to grow, not innovations like a shorter pitch or smaller boundaries, India pace bowler Shikha Pandey wrote on Twitter on Saturday. Her comments were a response to New Zealand captain Sophie Devine recommending a smaller ball and Pandey’s India teammate Jemimah Rodrigues suggesting a shorter pitch to pack more action into women’s cricket. “In Olympic 100m female sprinter doesn’t run 80m to win first place medal... So the whole ‘decreasing the length of the pitch’ for whatever reasons seems dubious,” she wrote. Pandey saw some merit in using a smaller ball, but said it must weigh the same because a lighter ball would be tougher to grip and travel more slowly. She resented the idea of having smaller boundaries to encourage power-hitting. “We have surprised you with our power-hitting in recent times, so remember, this is only the beginning; we will get better. Please have patience.”
Freddie Freeman homered and drove in four runs, Shohei Ohtani also went deep and Roki Sasaki earned his first major league win as the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Atlanta Braves 10-3 on Saturday night for their seventh straight victory. The Dodgers have won the first two games of the series to improve to 5-0 against Atlanta this year. Los Angeles’ three-game sweep at home early in the season left the Braves 0-7. Sasaki allowed three runs and six hits over five innings. The 23-year-old right-hander gave up a home run to Ozzie Albies, but received plenty of offensive support in his
Bayern Munich on Sunday were crowned German champions for the 34th time, giving striker Harry Kane his first major trophy, after second-placed Bayer 04 Leverkusen drew 2-2 at SC Freiburg. Bayern’s 3-3 draw at RB Leipzig on Saturday, when the Bavarians came from two goals down to take the lead before conceding a stoppage-time equalizer, meant defending Bundesliga champions Leverkusen needed to win at Freiburg to delay the title party. Leverkusen were two goals down before scoring twice in the final 10 minutes, but Xabi Alonso’s side could not find a third, as Bayern reclaimed the title at the first attempt after
INTER AWAIT: Superb saves by PSG ’keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma inspired the victory, as Arsenal were punished for misses, including one by Bukayo Saka Arsenal on Wednesday fell short on the big stage again as their painful UEFA Champions League semi-final exit against Paris Saint-Germain left Mikel Arteta to rue his club’s failure to provide him with enough attacking options. Arteta’s side were unable to reach the Champions League final for the first time in 19 years as PSG clinched a tense 2-1 win at Parc des Princes. Trailing 1-0 from last week’s first leg in London, the Gunners made a blistering start to the second leg, but could not convert their chances as Gianluigi Donnarumma’s superb saves inspired PSG’s 3-1 aggregate victory. Arsenal were punished for
THRILLER: Raphinha gave Barca a 3-2 lead with two minutes remaining of regular time, but Francesco Acerbi equalized the game in the second minute of added time Davide Frattesi on Tuesday fired Inter into the UEFA Champions League final with an extra-time winner that gave the Italians a stunning 4-3 triumph over Barcelona, 7-6 on aggregate. Italy midfielder Frattesi won a tie for the ages under a downpour in Milan when he lashed home in the 99th minute, sending a packed and rocking San Siro wild with joy. Simone Inzaghi’s team will face either Arsenal or Paris Saint-Germain at the end of this month in Munich, Germany, where they would feel they have a great chance to be crowned kings of Europe for a fourth time after
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