SKIING
Kilde out for season
Norway’s World Cup ski star Aleksander Aamodt Kilde is to miss the remainder of the season after his heavy crash in Wengen, the national team doctor said. “The season is over, the ski season is finished,” Marc Jacob Strauss told Norwegian public broadcaster NRK on Sunday. “We’re now setting ourselves the goal for him to be ready for next season.” He said the medical team was “very happy with the extent” of the damage. “We feared much more serious injuries based on the TV images.” Kilde underwent surgery in nearby Bern on Saturday night after falling hard near the finish of the downhill won by Marco Odermatt.
SNOOKER
O’Sullivan wins 8th Masters
Ronnie O’Sullivan came from behind to claim a record-extending eighth Masters title with a brilliant 10-7 victory over Ali Carter on Sunday at Alexandra Palace. The world No. 1, nicknamed “The Rocket,” trailed 6-3 in the evening session, but then won six of the next seven frames before sealing his win. O’Sullivan claimed the ￡250,000 (US$318,403) first prize, while Carter took home ￡100,000. The 48-year-old adds a 23rd Triple Crown title to his collection and becomes the oldest champion, being also the youngest, having won his first Masters title in 1995 at the age of 19. He collected his eighth UK Championship last month, but had never previously won consecutive Triple Crown events in the same season.
MOTORSPORTS
Dakar enters final week
Sebastien Loeb started the Dakar Rally’s final week with his third stage win on Sunday to slash Spaniard Carlos Sainz’s overall lead in the Saudi Arabian desert to 19 minutes. The nine times world rally champion finished the seventh stage from Riyadh to al-Duwadimi seven minutes and six seconds clear of Toyota’s Brazilian Lucas Moraes with Qatar’s defending champion Nasser al-Attiyah third despite two punctures. Audi driver Sainz was fourth, losing 10-and-a-half minutes to Loeb’s Prodrive Hunter in the rally that started on Jan. 5 and ends on Friday. In the motorcycle category, Chilean Jose Ignacio Cornejo won the stage, while American Ricky Brabec retained the overall lead for Honda by a single second from Botswana’s Ross Branch after 2,865km of timed action. The gap, after 32-and-a-half hours of racing, comes down to about 24m. “The one second difference is crazy, that’s a tight race for sure,” Brabec said.
HORSE RACING
Macao ends horse racing
The government in Macao yesterday said that after more than 40 years, there would be no more horse racing in the territory and announced plans to terminate its contract with its jockey club in April. The gaming hub on China’s south coast near Hong Kong is a home to various gambling businesses, which form a major pillar of its economy, but its jockey club, acquired by a consortium led by late casino tycoon Stanley Ho in 1991, has faced financial woes in the past few years. Macanese Secretary for Administration and Justice Cheong Weng Chon told reporters that the Macao Horse Race Company had last year asked that the contract with the government be terminated, citing operational difficulties and the “impossibility of aligning horse racing activities with the current developmental needs of society.”
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to
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