Cycling
Kittel wins 3 stages in a row; Phinney wins Dubai Tour
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – Even a third consecutive stage win for Germany’s Marcel Kittel wasn’t enough to deny American Taylor Phinney overall victory in the inaugural Dubai Tour on Saturday.
Giant-Shimano rider Kittel dominated the sprint finish to cross the line ahead of Omega Pharma QuickStep’s Mark Renshaw of Australia and Astana’s Andrea Guardini of Italy.
Phinney played it safe and successfully held on to the blue jersey that he got after winning the opening day’s individual time trial. He finished the tour 15 seconds ahead of BMC Racing teammate Stephen Cummings, while Garmin-Sharp’s Lasse Norman Hansen was third, 17 seconds behind Phinney.
Golf
Rain, rain goes away, but the wind halts Pebble’s play
PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. – The third round of the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am was halted because of the weather.
Only it wasn’t the rain.
Right when PGA Tour officials thought they caught a break when the rain stayed away, the 30-mph gusts kept blowing golf balls across the green. The round was suspended shortly after Trevor Immelman’s ball rolled 6 feet away from where he had marked it on the fourth green at Pebble Beach.
Officials watered the green – a strange sight with rain starting to move in – with hopes a moist green would keep balls from rolling. It didn’t work.
Jimmy Walker was 10-under par at Monterey Peninsula.
Jordan Spieth already was 1-over through two holes at Pebble Beach, putting him two shots behind.
JOHANNESBURG – Hometown players Thomas Aiken and Justin Walters moved into a tie for the lead at 17 under at the Joburg Open on Saturday as overnight pace-setters David Horsey and Edoardo Molinari lost ground.
GOLD COAST, Australia – American Cheyenne Woods, the 23-year-old niece of Tiger Woods, will take a one-stroke lead into the final round of the Australian Ladies’ Masters after shooting a 2-under 71 on Saturday to stay on track for her first professional victory.
BOCA RATON, Fla. – Michael Allen birdied four of his last eight holes for a 3-under 69 and a one-stroke lead over Scott Dunlap and Chien Soon Lu on Saturday in the Allianz Championship at Broken Sound.
Soccer
Americans blank Russia 7-0 to win their 41st in a row
BOCA RATON, Fla. – Carli Lloyd and Christen Press each scored twice to help the United States women’s soccer team beat Russia 7-0 on Saturday in an exhibition game that extended the Americans’ unbeaten streak to 41 games.
Abby Wambach entered 14 minutes into the second half and scored the seventh goal in the 67th minute. She has a record 164 international goals.
Sydney Leroux and Heather O’Reilly also scored for the Americans, who are 35-0-6 since March 2012 and unbeaten in 79 home games (69-0-10).
The U.S. had a 32-3 shots advantage, and Russia only had one shot on goal.
The teams will play again Wednesday night at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.
The U.S. attacked from the opening minutes at FAU Stadium and took the lead on Lloyd’s first goal in the 29th minute. O’Reilly scored in the 32nd, and Lloyd struck again 5 minutes later.
Tennis
Americans fall behind 2-0 to Italy in Fed Cup play
CLEVELAND – Camila Giorgi and Karin Knapp won the opening singles matches to give Italy a 2-0 lead over the United States on Saturday in their Fed Cup quarterfinal.
Knapp beat Christina McHale 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 in the first match at Cleveland Public Auditorium, and Giorgi routed Madison Keys 6-2, 6-1 in the second.
Since World Group play began in 1995, the United States is 0-10 after falling behind 0-2.
Associated Press
