■CYCLING
Moncoutie wins stage
Controversial Spanish rider Alejandro Valverde stayed on course to win the Dauphine Libere race after Frenchman David Moncoutie won the seventh and penultimate stage of the race on Saturday. Moncoutie beat Dutchman Robert Gesink by around 40 seconds while former yellow jersey wearer Cadel Evans was third. Valverde, who faces a worldwide doping ban if cycling’s world ruling body the UCI acts upon evidence yet to be delivered by the Italian sporting authorities, finished alongside Evans, some 15 seconds ahead of compatriot and 2007 Tour de France champion Alberto Contador.
■CYCLING
Cancellara returns to form
Olympic time trial champion Fabian Cancellara returned to form to win the opening stage of the Tour of Switzerland on Saturday. The Swiss rider clocked 9 minutes, 21 seconds in a 7.8km time trial over flat terrain in neighboring Liechtenstein. Roman Kreuziger of the Czech Republic was 19 seconds behind and Germany’s Andreas Kloeden trailed Cancellara by 21 seconds in third place. George Hincapie of the US was a further three seconds back as Team Columbia-Highroad riders filled the placings from fourth to seventh. Cancellara was claiming just his second stage victory of the season, after winning the Tour of California prologue in February. He pulled out of that race the next day with flu and has been slowed by shoulder injuries since.
■SOCCER
Trio reach top flight
Tenerife, Xerez and Zaragoza earned promotion to Spain’s topflight division on Saturday. Xerez’s 2-1 victory over Huesca assured its first promotion in the club’s 62-year history, while Tenerife beat Girona 1-0 to return after seven years. Zaragoza’s 3-1 victory over Cordoba saw them return after only one season in the second division. One round still remains in the second division, but fourth-place Hercules are five points behind Zaragoza and four behind Tenerife and Xerez. The three clubs replace Real Betis, Recreativo Huelva and Numancia next season. Alaves, who lost the UEFA Cup final to Liverpool in 2001, were relegated to the third division.
■SOCCER
Cahill booted out of club
Australian international Tim Cahill was kicked out of a Sydney nightclub after a drunken fracas, reports said yesterday. Newspapers said the Everton player was told to leave the nightspot on Friday because of his drunken state. Several witnesses told the Sunday Telegraph Cahill got into an altercation at the club when he was advised to leave because he was “so drunk he couldn’t even stand up.” But Football Federation Australia (FFA) said it investigated the allegations and found them untrue. “FFA has made inquiries of Tim, the other players and their partners who were present and venue management,” an FFA statement said yesterday. “FFA is satisfied that the allegation is untrue. FFA understands that Tim left the premises when asked to do so when it was closing, along with all other patrons.” According to newspaper accounts, Cahill became angry when he was refused service by bar staff and became involved in an argument which escalated into a physical “push and shove” with club security before he was shown the door. “He then got outside where it was about 10 of them, including other players and about five security,” one witness told the Sunday Telegraph. “They were fired up and looked like they wanted to go on with it, but then they jumped in a car and got out of there.”
■GOLF
Hart pulls out of US Open
American Dudley Hart has withdrawn from next week’s US Open Championship because of back problems, organizers said on Saturday. The 40-year-old Hart, who has two US Tour wins to his credit, last year was voted Comeback Player of the Year. Taking his place will be 20-year-old amateur Scott Lewis of Goleta, California. On Friday, Swede Robert Karlsson, the European No. 1 last year, withdrew from the championship because of an eye infection. Karlsson, who tied for fourth in last year’s US Open at Torrey Pines, was replaced in the field at Bethpage Black in Farmingdale, New York, by American Andrew Svoboda.
■BASKETBALL
Mercury set scoring record
Phoenix Mercury set a WNBA record for most points in a game, winning 115-104 in overtime against the Sacramento Monarchs on Saturday. Diana Taurasi scored 31 points and Le’Coe Willingham added 26 as Phoenix recovered after squandering a 14-point lead in the fourth quarter. Mercury’s score topped the 114 scored by Minnesota against Los Angeles in 2006. The 219 aggregate points were also the third-highest combined total. Taurasi scored eight points in overtime, including two three-pointers early in the extra period to help Phoenix pull away. Nicole Powell scored 15 of her 28 points in the fourth quarter for Sacramento. In San Antonio, Texas, New York Liberty remain winless in the new season after the San Antonio Silver Stars scored a narrow 63-60 victory. Becky Hammon scored 10 of her 16 points in the fourth quarter to rally San Antonio in its home opener. Shameka Christon scored 21 points to lead New York, which lost its third straight to open the new season, and its sixth straight against the Silver Stars. San Antonio shot 22 for 30 on free throws as New York was whistled for 21 fouls. The Liberty were 9 for 10 from the line.
■BASEBALL
Yoshida records first loss
Japan’s first female professional player struggled with her control in recording her first loss on Friday. Eri Yoshida, a 17-year-old who throws a sidearm knuckleball, took the mound in the ninth inning with the score tied 2-2. With two outs and a runner on third base, Yoshida threw a wild pitch, allowing the winning run to score as the Akashi Red Soldiers won 3-2 against the Kobe Cruise 9. Yoshida also hit a batter with a pitch and threw wildly to first base trying to hold a runner before recording the final out with a strikeout. Yoshida created a stir when she signed a contract in December. Some speculated the move was more of a publicity stunt to generate interest in the four-team Kansai Independent League, which has struggled amid Japan’s worsening economic conditions. The 1.52m, 52kg Yoshida has appeared in only three of the Cruise 9’s 22 games this season.
■BASEBALL
Umpire ejects entire crowd
An umpire has emptied the stands at a high school baseball game in West Burlington, Ohio, ejecting the entire crowd of more than 100 fans for being unruly. Umpire Don Briggs said he had no problem with any of the student athletes during Thursday’s game between Winfield-Mount Union and West Burlington. He said he had to take action because fans were being unruly, yelling and arguing, and called police as a precaution. However, West Burlington superintendent James Sleister said he didn’t see any unusual behavior and said he thought the umpire overreacted. The game resumed after a 40-minute delay. West Burlington won 12-11.
BUMRAH WATCH: Captain Jasprit Bumrah left the SCG for scans for back spasms and although he returned to the ground, there was no word on if he would play Rishabh Pant’s blistering counterattack yesterday capped a chaotic second day of the fifth and final Test between Australia and India, with 15 wickets falling and the star bowler of the series leaving the Sydney Cricket Ground with an ambulance escort. Yet the Border-Gavaskar trophy still remains very much in the balance as India reached 141-6, holding a 145-run lead over Australia with three days remaining. “Low-scoring games like this, it just heightens the pressure within it, so long way still to go,” Australia coach Andrew McDonald said. “There’s gonna be plenty of cricket, so we’ll see what happens.” Australia were bowled out for
Elena Rybakina’s Kazakhstan yesterday dumped defending champions Germany out of the United Cup with world No. 2 Alexander Zverev sidelined by an arm injury barely a week away from the Australian Open. The upset in Perth sent the Kazakhs into the semi-finals of the 18-nation tournament. In Sydney, women’s world No. 2 Iga Swiatek led Poland into the last eight by winning a rematch of her 2023 French Open final against Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic. Britain also progressed to the quarter-finals with Katie Boulter’s dominant 6-2, 6-1 victory over Australia’s Olivia Gadecki enough to guarantee they won their group. The US and
HAT-TRICK PREP: World No. 1 Sabalenka clinched her first win of the season, as she aims to become the first woman in 20 years to win three Australian Opens in succession Coco Gauff, Jasmine Paolini and Taylor Fritz yesterday all clocked impressive wins as tennis powerhouses Italy and the US surged into the quarter-finals of the mixed-team United Cup. World No. 3 Gauff swept past Croatia’s Donna Vekic 6-4, 6-2 to avenge a loss at the Paris Olympics, while Fritz took care of Borna Coric 6-3, 6-2 in searing Perth heat. That was enough to put the Americans — last year’s winners — into a last-eight clash with China today, while Elena Rybakina’s Kazakhstan today are to meet defending champions Germany, led by Alexander Zverev, in the other Perth quarter-final. In Sydney, the in-form
Five-time Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek yesterday beat Elena Rybakina in straight sets to take Poland into the final of the mixed-teams United Cup with victory over Kazakhstan. Last year’s runners-up face the US today for the title in Sydney after they beat the Czech Republic in the other semi-final. “This win makes me really proud,” Swiatek said after seeing off Rybakina 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 to give Poland an unassailable 2-0 lead in the tie. It was a statement of intent from the world number two with the first major of the year to start on Jan. 12. “It is perfect preparation for the
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