ICE HOCKEY
US head to world junior final
Boston University’s Cole Eiserman on Saturday broke a second-period tie as the defending champions US beat the Czech Republic 4-1 to advance to the World Junior Championship final. The Americans were last night to face Finland — a 4-3 overtime winner over Sweden in the first semi-final — for the title. Finland beat the US 4-3 in overtime in group play. Eiserman made it 2-1 with 6 minutes, 19 seconds left in the second with a one-timer off a cross-ice feed. The Americans were seeking their seventh title and first back-to-back championships. “It would mean everything,” said Gabe Perreault, who also played last season. “We definitely have the team to do it. We’ll be ready to go.”
Photo: AFP
LUGE
Forgan, Kirkby clinch medal
Chevonne Forgan and Sophie Kirkby of the US on Saturday grabbed their third World Cup women’s doubles medal of the season, continuing their climb in the rankings. Forgan and Kirkby finished second in a race at Sigulda, Latvia, behind only World Cup leaders Selina Egle and Lara Kipp of Austria. The Egle-Kipp sled has won gold in three consecutive races. Latvia’s Marta Robezniece and Kitija Bogdanova were third. Through four of nine World Cup races this season, Egle and Kipp have 350 points, 40 more than the second-place sled of Forgan and Kirkby in the overall standings. In the women’s singles race, Elina Bota of Latvia held on to win on her home track. Merle Fraebel of Germany was second and Lisa Schulte of Austria was third. In the men’s doubles, Germany’s Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt prevailed — the 54th World Cup race win of their careers, while Latvia’s Martins Bots and Roberts Plume were second, with Austria’s Yannick Mueller and Armin Frauscher third.
Photo: EPA-EFE
TENNIS
Rybakina defends coach
Sixth-ranked Elena Rybakina defended her former coach Stefano Vukov after the WTA provisionally suspended him as the governing body investigates a potential breach of its code of conduct. Rybakina last week said that Vukov is rejoining her team, but the WTA suspension means the Croat would not be accredited to enter player-only areas including practice courts and training areas. On Saturday, the 2022 Wimbledon champion told a news conference in Sydney that Vukov “never mistreated me” in their years working together. “The only thing I can say is, he never mistreated me. I respect him for everything he did from the very beginning when I was [ranked world No.] 200 all the way what we did,” 25-year-old Rybakina said. Vukov told The Athletic that he “never abused anyone.”
SOCCER
Player proposes after loss
A player from Spanish fourth-division club Barbastro on Saturday lost and won. After a 4-0 defeat to Barcelona in the Copa del Rey, Israel Garcia dropped to one knee on the field and asked his girlfriend Pilar to marry him. She looked surprised and covered her face with her hands while smiling, before saying “yes,” to cheers from spectators behind the couple. They later posed for photographs, with Pilar showing her hand with the ring she was given by Garcia. “It was the appropriate day,” Garcia told Spanish media. The midfielder played the whole round-of-32 match against Barcelona.
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
‘TOUGH TO BREATHE’: Tunisian three-time Grand Slam finalist Ons Jabeur suffered an asthma attack in her 7-5, 6-3 victory over Colombia’s Camila Osorio Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei yesterday cruised into the second round of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while Iga Swiatek romped into a third-round women’s singles showdown with Emma Raducanu and Taylor Fritz was just as emphatic in his pursuit of a maiden Grand Slam title. Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia, the third seeds, defeated Slovakia’s Tereza Mihalikova and Olivia Nicholls of Britain 7-5, 6-2 in 90 minutes in Melbourne. Ostapenko and Hsieh — who won the women’s doubles and mixed doubles at the Australian Open last year — hit 25 winners and converted five of nine break points to set
Dubbed a “motorway for cyclists” where avid amateurs can chase Tadej Pogacar up mountains teeming with the highest concentration of professional cyclists per square kilometer in the world, Spain’s Costa Blanca has forged a new reputation for itself in the past few years. Long known as the ideal summer destination for those in search of sun, sea and sand, the stretch of coast between Valencia and Alicante now has a winter vocation too. During the season break in December and January, the region experiences an invasion of cyclists. Star names such as three-time Tour de France winner Pogacar, Remco Evenepoel and Julian Alaphilippe
AGING WELL: Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen, 22, was sent packing after being dispatched by world No. 97, Laura Siegemund, the second-oldest player in the draw at 36 Novak Djokovic yesterday created a slice of Grand Slam history on his way into the Australian Open third round, but last year’s women’s finalist Zheng Qinwen was knocked out in the biggest shock so far. Defending champion Aryna Sabalenka, in-form Coco Gauff, two-time Melbourne winner Naomi Osaka and a rampant Carlos Alcaraz were all victors on a rainy day four. Play was suspended on the outside courts for a couple of hours in the early evening because of the wet weather. That led to the rescheduling of a women’s doubles match between wild-cards Tsao Chia-yi of Taiwan and Thailand’s Peangtarn Plipuech and 11th
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