HOCKEY
Lundqvist shines for Sweden
Sweden won the ice hockey world championship with a 2-1 victory on penalties over two-time defending champion Canada on Sunday in Cologne, Germany. Sweden goaltender Henrik Lundqvist stopped all four penalties as Nicklas Backstrom and Oliver Ekman-Larsson scored shootout goals for the Swedes to win their first title since 2013. The game ended 1-1 after overtime. Lundqvist and Canada counterpart Calvin Pickard, who saved William Nylander's first penalty for Sweden, were outstanding in a game in which the Canadians narrowly outshot their opponents by 43-42. The breakthrough came against the odds, with Backstrom penalized for slashing, when Victor Hedman scored short-handed with 20.8 seconds left in the second period. Ryan O'Reilly equalized when he scrambled the puck in off a rebound from Mitch Marner.
FOOTBALL
Stallings recovering
Former Alabama football Coach Gene Stallings said he's recovering from a stroke. Stallings told Alabama media in telephone interviews from his home in Paris, Texas, that it happened Thursday. He was in Montgomery, Ala., for a banquet where he introduced Dabo Swinney, his former player and now head coach at Clemson. Stallings said he didn't feel well so he went to a hospital where it was determined that he had a stroke before the banquet. Stallings flew back to Texas on Friday. He canceled a weekend appearance in Tuscaloosa. He said doctors said he should curtail travel for six weeks. Stallings was head coach at Alabama from 1990-96. His 1992 team won a national championship.
BASKETBALL
Romanian defends decision
Romania's foreign minister said his country had no choice in detaining Oklahoma City Thunder center Enes Kanter in the capital's airport. Teodor Melescanu said Romania could not "proceed otherwise" and declined to comment further. Kanter was detained at Henri Coanda Airport on Saturday before departing to the United States via London. Kanter, who is Turkish, said in a video Saturday on his Twitter account that the Turkish embassy canceled his passport and that he'd been detained for several hours at a Romanian airport. Kanter said he believed he was held because of his political views. He has been a critic of Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Kanter supports Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen, who opposes Erdogan.
Taurasi suspended game
Phoenix Mercury guard Diana Taurasi has been suspended one game without pay for hitting San Antonio Stars forward Dearica Hamby in the back of the head with a forearm. The WNBA said Sunday that she will serve her suspension Tuesday, when the Mercury host the New York Liberty. Taurasi was assessed a technical foul with 4:09 remaining in the second quarter of the Mercury's 78-72 victory Friday. The league reviewed the play, and rescinded the technical but upgraded the play to a flagrant foul 2.
SOCCER
Ronaldo leads Real Madrid
Real Madrid won the Spanish league for the first time since 2012 with a 2-0 victory over Malaga on Sunday. Cristiano Ronaldo scored two minutes into the match and Karim Benzema sealed the victory in the second half. That gave Madrid a three-point advantage over second-placed Barcelona, which rallied from two goals down to beat Eibar 4-2 at the Camp Nou. Madrid entered the last round needing a draw to make certain of avoiding its worst title drought since the 1980s and keep Barcelona from its third consecutive championship. Zinedine Zidane's team won its 33rd league title. Players threw the former France great up and down as they celebrated the title at the Rosaleda Stadium. Ronaldo put Madrid in control early in Malaga, entering the area and rounding the goalkeeper before finding the open net following a pass by Francisco "Isco" Alarcon. Karim Benzema added to the lead in the 55th minute off the rebound of a close-range shot by Sergio Ramos.
BASEBALL
McCann goes to DL
The Houston Astros have placed catcher Brian McCann on the 7-day concussion disabled list. The move is retroactive to Saturday and comes a day after Houston placed ace Dallas Keuchel (Arkansas Razorbacks) on the 10-day disabled list because of a pinched nerve in his neck. Houston isn't sure exactly when McCann was injured, but Manager A.J. Hinch said that McCann told the team he wasn't feeling like himself Saturday. He was then evaluated by a doctor who diagnosed him with a concussion. McCann is hitting .265 with 6 home runs and 25 RBI in 30 games this season.
BOXING
Inoue retains championship
Naoya Inoue of Japan retained his WBO super flyweight title for a fifth time Sunday in Tokyo with a third-round knockout of Ricardo Rodriguez of the U.S. Inoue dominated from the outset and sent Rodriguez to the canvas with a left to the jaw before the referee called the bout after 1 minute, 8 seconds in the third round. Inoue improved to 13-0-0 with 11 knockouts while Rodriguez fell to 16-4-0. On the undercard, Japan's Akira Yaegashi suffered a first-round technical knockout and surrendered his IBF light flyweight belt to interim champ Milan Melindo of the Philippines.
TRACK AND FIELD
Gatlin fastest in Japan
Justin Gatlin clocked 10.28 seconds to win the 100 meters at a Golden Grand Prix event in Kawasaki, Japan, on Sunday. The American crossed the finish line just .03 seconds ahead of Japan's Aska Cambridge. Shuhei Tada, also of Japan, was third in 10:35. Cambridge, who anchored Japan's silver medal-winning run in the 400 relay in Rio last summer, missed a chance to qualify for the world championships in London in August. He will have another opportunity at the national championships in June. Aaron Brown of Canada won the men's 200 with a time of 20.62. Ivet Lalova-Collio of Bulgaria powered to victory in the women's 100, clocking an 11.40 to beat Tawanna Meadows of the United States by .04.
Tianna Bartoletta, also of the U.S., was third in 11.47.
MOTOR SPORTS
Hayden remains hospitalized
Four days after being hit by a car while training on his bicycle, American motorcycle racer Nicky Hayden remains in "extremely serious" condition in an Italian hospital. The Maurizio Bufalini Hospital in Cesena, where Hayden is being treated, said Sunday that Hayden's condition "remains unchanged." The hospital said earlier in the week that Hayden has severe cerebral damage and multiple traumatic injuries. Hayden, who was in Italy following a race at nearby Imola, was transported to the Bufalini facility after the incident on the Rimini coast. Hayden, 35, won the MotoGP title in 2006. He is 13th in this season's Superbike standings.
TENNIS
Djokovic falls in Rome, gets Agassi as coach
ROME — Alexander Zverev signaled his anticipated arrival among the tennis elite by defeating Novak Djokovic 6-4, 6-3 Sunday to win the Italian Open in Rome.
Zverev, 20, became the youngest player to win a Masters 1000 event since Djokovic won in Miami a decade ago at 19.
“I don’t know what to say,” Zverev said during the trophy presentation. “Coming in to this week I never thought I could be standing here in the finals or getting this trophy.”
Zverev broke in the very first game and was never really challenged by Djokovic, who appeared drained after having to win two matches Saturday to reach the final.
Djokovic committed nearly twice as many unforced errors as Zverev — 27 to 14.
The match lasted 1 hour, 21 minutes.
Afterward, Djokovic announced that Andre Agassi will coach him at the French Open, which starts Sunday.
“We are both excited to work together and see where it takes us,” Djokovic said. “We don’t have any long-term commitment. It’s just us trying to get to know each other in Paris a little bit.”
The title will move Zverev up to a career-high No. 10 in the rankings today and place him among the contenders for Roland Garros. It also adds credibility to the belief by many tennis experts that Zverev will reach No. 1 some day.
“If I have only half of the career Novak has had, I’ll be fine,” Zverev said when asked if he can follow in Djokovic’s footsteps.
Earlier Sunday, Elina Svitolina surged to No. 1 in the season-long rankings race by beating Simona Halep 4-6, 7-5, 6-1 in the women’s final.
It was a tour-best fourth title this year for Svitolina and the most prestigious trophy of her young career. The 22-year-old Ukrainian also leads the tour with 31 match victories this season.
The fourth-ranked Halep was in full control and serving for the first set at 5-2 when she rolled her right ankle while sliding over what appeared to be a small hole in the Foro Italico stadium court.
Sports on 05/22/2017