SOCCER
US, Trinidad in same group
The United States' road to the 2018 World Cup opens in November with a four-nation group that includes Trinidad and Tobago. Given a bye in the first three rounds along with the other powers of the North and Central American and Caribbean region, the United States was drawn into Group C for the fourth round, which will include Guatemala or Antigua and Barbuda, and Aruba or St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Seeking its eighth consecutive World Cup appearance, the Americans will start with a pair of games on Nov. 13 and 17. Play resumes March 25 and 29, and then takes a six-month break before concluding Sept. 2 and 6, 2016. The top two nations advance to the final round Hexagonal, which will produce three qualifiers and determine the fourth-place team that meets Asia's No. 5 team in a playoff for a berth. The Hexagonal starts Nov. 7, 2016, and ends Oct. 10, 2017. Mexico is in Group A with Honduras, Canada or Belize, and El Salvador or Curacao. Group B includes Costa Rica, Jamaica or Nicaragua, and Haiti or Grenada.
• Backup goalkeeper Luis Mejia saved two penalties in the shootout as an inspired Panama team ended a trying week with a medal at the Gold Cup, beating the United States in the third-place game Saturday in Chester, Pa. Panama won the shootout 3-2 after extra time ended with the score 1-1. Mejia saved DaMarcus Beasley's shot in the fifth round in what might have been the veteran defender's last game for the U.S. Panama was on the verge of beating Mexico in Wednesday's semifinals despite being down to 10 men, but was called for a disputed hand ball in the area. Mexico converted the penalty in stoppage time, then scored on another penalty in extra time for the 2-1 victory.
HORSE RACING
Hard Not to Like wins at Saratoga
Hard Not to Like closed with a flourish down the middle of the stretch to catch Tepin and win the Grade I, $500,000 Diana by a nose Saturday at Saratoga Race Course. Ridden by Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez, the 6-year-old Speedway Stable mare hit the wire in 1:45.22, setting a Mellon turf course record for 1 1/8 miles. The previous mark of 1:45.33 was set by Shakis in the 2007 Grade II Bernard Baruch Handicap. It was the third victory of the day and second stakes victory for Velazquez and third career Diana triumph for trainer Christophe Clement. Hard Not to Like returned $14.40, $5.90 and $4.70 for her second consecutive Grade I victory and third overall. Tepin paid $4.20 and 3.20, and 26-1 pacesetter Kitten's Queen returned $7.50. In the co-feature, Uncle Vinny was elevated to victory following the disqualification of Magna Light for interference in the Grade III, $150,000 Sanford Stakes for 2-year-olds. Magna Light finished first in 1:10.92 for six furlongs on the main track, but was taken down and placed third behind Percolator after altering course sharply under the whip of jockey Jose Ortiz and impeding Percolator in the stretch. Uncle Vinny, with Velazquez up, rallied to edge Percolator for second under the wire. Uncle Vinny paid $10, $5.80 and $5.30 for his first stakes victory in three lifetime starts. Percolator returned $17.60 and $11.20, and Magna Light paid $8.60 to show.
• Argentine-bred Catch a Flight won the $200,000 San Diego Handicap at Del Mar, moving up from third in the stretch to edge Appealing Tale by a head. Ridden by Hall of Famer Gary Stevens and trained by Richard Mandella, the 5-year-old Catch a Flight ran 1 1/16 miles in 1:43.080 and paid $8.40, $3.80 and $2.80 for his 10th victory in 17 starts and fourth in seven U.S. races. He earned $120,000 to push his career total to $573,239. Appealing Tale returned $6.80 and $4.40, and 2014 Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Bayern paid $3 to show in the seven-horse field. Hoppertunity, who won the 2014 Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn, was fourth.
BOXING
Kovalev retains titles
Sergey Kovalev had little trouble retaining his light heavyweight titles Saturday night in Las Vegas, stopping Nadjib Mohammedi in the third round in a fight that was a mismatch from the start. The unbeaten Russian dropped Mohammedi in the second round with a series of right hands, then put him down for good with a combination in the third round. Mohammedi got to his knees but was holding his nose as if it was broken and referee Kenny Bayless called a halt to the bout at 2:38 of the third. Kovalev, who stopped Jean Pascal in his last fight in March in Montreal, was defending his 175-pound crown against the mandatory challenger from France. Mohammedi was so little thought of that oddsmakers would not even accept bets on the fight. Kovalev improved to 28-0-1 with 25 knockouts.
TENNIS
Stosur advances to Gastein finals
Second-seeded Samantha Stosur beat Anna Karolina Schmiedlova of Slovakia 6-1, 7-5 at the Gastein Ladies in Bad Gastein, Austria. Rain washed out the second semifinal between top-seeded Sara Errani and fellow Italian Karin Knapp. It was moved to today, 10 a.m. local time, with the final to be played later in the day. Stosur reached her second final of the season after winning the last five games against the seventh-seeded Schmiedlova. The 23rd-ranked Australian, who won her seventh career title in Strasbourg in May, avoided break points, and won five games in a row from 1-1 to comfortably take the opening set. She missed four break points in the opening game of the second set and fell 5-2 behind, before winning five straight games again. The 44th-ranked Schmiedlova, who won the title in Bucharest last week, saw her eight-match winning streak ended.
• Benoit Paire of France knocked out defending champion Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay 6-4, 6-3 in the Swedish Open semifinals in Bastad, Sweden. Paire will chase his first ATP title today against Tommy Robredo of Spain, who will be trying for his third Bastad title, following victories in 2006 and 2008. Robredo defeated German teenager Alexander Zverev 6-3, 6-4 in the other semifinal Zverev led 2-0 in the second set but couldn't take advantage, missing eight of 10 chances to break Robredo.
• Dominik Thiem of Austria and Joao Sousa of Portugal came from a set down to reach the Croatia Open final in Umag, Croatia. Fourth-seeded Thiem upset top-seeded Gael Monfils of France 1-6, 6-3, 6-1, and Sousa knocked out second-seeded Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain 4-6, 6-2, 6-3.
• Lesia Tsurenko of Ukraine and Usrzula Radwanska of Poland will play for their first WTA singles title in the Istanbul Cup final. The 99th-ranked Radwanska beat the 71st-ranked Tsurenko in their only previous match by retirement, in Doha, Qatar, in 2012. Tsurenko made it to her first career final by defeating Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium 6-4, 6-2 on Saturday for the first time in three meetings. In the other semifinal, Radwanska beat Magdalena Rybarikova of Slovakia 6-3, 4-6, 6-3.
BASKETBALL
Moore leads West in WNBA All-Star game
UNCASVILLE, Conn. — Maya Moore scored a record 30 points to lead the West to a 117-112 victory over the East on Saturday in the WNBA All-Star Game.
The league’s reigning MVP scored eight consecutive points in the final two minutes to turn a one-point deficit into a 113-106 advantage. After a basket by the East cut it to a four-point game, the Minnesota forward hit another deep 3 to seal the victory.
Moore surpassed Shoni Schimmel’s 29 points in last year’s overtime game. The former UConn great was honored as the game’s MVP.
The West’s victory was the All-Star swan song for Indiana star Tamika Catchings, who has played in a record 10 of them. She is planning to retire at the end of next season and the WNBA typically doesn’t play All-Star games in Olympic years.
Catchings became the league’s career leader in All-Star points with a putback in the second quarter right after she broke up a potential dunk attempt by Brittney Griner on a fast break. Griner later got a two-handed slam midway through the third quarter. She followed it up on the next possession with a three-pointer that gave the West its first lead since early in the game.
The West opened up a double-digit lead before the East rallied behind Connecticut Sun star Alex Bentley, who was playing in front of her home crowd.
The game became tight in the fourth before Moore took over in the final minutes.
While Catchings played in her All-Star finale, the future of the league is bright with so many talented young stars, including Griner and the league’s leading scorer Elena Delle Donne. Griner finished with 21 points for the West.
Delle Donne, who was the leading vote-getter this season, made her first All-Star appearance. The Chicago Sky star was voted in the last two years as a starter as well, but couldn’t play because of injuries.
Sports on 07/26/2015