Other Sports

[Smallville22]

Surfing - Florence breezes through at Pipeline

John John Florence put in a sensational display of surfing to breeze into the last 32 of the Volcom Pipe Pro at Banzai Pipeline in Hawaii.
The Hawaiian scored an amazing 19.70 in his round of 64 heat to eclipse the efforts of his rivals on day six of the competition on the island's North Shore.
After four straight lay days, action had finally gotten underway on day five but Florence - one of the top seeds - was made to further wait to take his bow as he entered at the last-64 stage.
When he did eventually take to the water, in eight-to-12-foot waves, the crowd at the ASP World Tour's first event of the 2013 season were not disappointed.
He takes his place in the next round alongside fellow seeds Kolohe Andino, Tanner Gudauskas, Nat Young and Josh Kerr.

RESULTS

Round of 64

Surfers listed in order of 1st through 4th – 1st & 2nd advance

H1: Jamie O’Brien (HI); Kolohe Andino (USA); Makai McNamara (HI); Kai Barger (HI)

H2: Eala Stewart (HI); Joel Centeio (HI); Mitchel Coleborn (AUS); Keanu Asing (HI)

H3: Bruce Irons (HI); Tanner Gudauskas (USA); Torrey Meister (HI); Yujiro Tsuji (JPN)

H4: Nat Young (USA); Kahea Hart (HI); Tim Reyes (USA); Shane Beschen (USA)

H5: Reef McIntosh (HI); Chris Ward (USA); Anthony Walsh (AUS); Nathan Yeomans (USA)

H6: Masatoshi Ohno (JPN); Perth Standlick (AUS); Miguel Tudela (PER); Aritz Aranburu (EUK)

H7: Cory Arrambide (USA); Ricardo Dos Santos (BRA); Nic Von Rupp (DEU); Koa Rothman (HI)

H8: John John Florence (HI); Pancho Sullivan (HI); Sidney Guimaraes (BRA); Parker Coffin (USA)

H9: Josh Kerr (AUS); Alex Gray (USA); Jeremy Johnston (USA); Nathan Florence (HI)

H10: Olamana Eleogram (HI); Krystian Kymerson (BRA); Charles Martin (GLP); Steven Pierson (PYF)

H11: Dale Staples (ZAF); Patrick Gudauskas (USA); Nathan Hedge (AUS); Charlie Carroll (HI)

H12: Wiggolly Dantas (BRA); Cory Lopez (USA); Cristobal De Col (PER); Leandro Usuna (ARG)

Round of 96:

Surfers listed in order of 1st through 4th – 1st & 2nd advance

Heat 9: Nathan Florence (HI); Krystian Kymerson (Brz); Danny Fuller (HI); Simao Romao (Brz)

Heat 10: Steven Pierson (PYF); Jeremy Johnston (USA); Matt Pagan (USA); Gony Zubizarreta (ESP)

H11: Dale Staples (ZAF); Leandro Usuna (ARG); Makuakai Rothman (HI); Jeronimo Vargas (BRA)

H12: Cristobal De Col (PER); Charlie Carroll (HI); Kalani Chapman (HI); Dane Gudauskas (USA)

H13: Marcus Hickman (HI); Connor Coffin (USA); JD Irons (HI); Tanner Hendrickson (HI)

H14: Ian Gentil (HI); Stephen Koehne (HI); Dylan Goodale (HI); Dillon Perillo (USA)

H15: Leandro Bastos (BRA); Joshua Moniz (HI); Ian Walsh (HI); Dege O’Connell (HI)

H16: Balaram Stack (USA); Sean Moody (HI); Evan Valiere (HI); Hank Gaskell (HI)

 

[Smallville22]

Rugby - Six Nations - Ireland hang on to beat Wales

Ireland destroyed Wales in the opening hour then hung on magnificently to earn a 30-22 win in their Six Nations clash at the Millennium Stadium.
Winger Simon Zebo scored one try and set up another for Cian Healy as Ireland soared into a huge lead, with Brian O'Driscoll's try early in the second half putting them 30-3 ahead.
Wales fought back superbly, with Leigh Halfpenny and Toby Faletau leading the charge as the hosts chipped away at the deficit.
But Ireland's defence held strong, getting their Six Nations off to a perfect start and consigning Wales to an eighth consecutive defeat.
Ireland started the match with several relatively new faces in the team, whereas Wales - with the exception of Dan Biggar at fly-half - fielded the side which won the Grand Slam last year.
Yet it was one of those new Irish faces, winger Zebo, who almost decided the match in the visitors' favour inside the first 25 minutes.
Winning just his fourth cap, Zebo began his dream afternoon with a try in the 11th minute as O'Driscoll - in outstanding form despite, or perhaps because of, being relieved of the captaincy - drew the Welsh defence and released the winger to run in.
Jonathan Sexton converted, then added a penalty 10 minutes later - and immediately from the restart Ireland scored a second try.
Biggar was caught taking too long over a clearance in the centre of the park just outside his own 22m, and Rory Best successfully charged him down. The hooker hung on to the ball and made it halfway to the line before spinning it out, but the move looked to have ended when Jamie Heaslip's pass to Zebo went too far back.
Yet Zebo lit up the Millennium Stadium with a truly outstanding piece of skill, flicking his left ankle back to flick the ball forwards, then juggling it twice before hanging on to it and continuing the move.
He was hauled down just before the line but his skill had opened up the Welsh defence and Healy was quickly in to score.
Wales quickly made another mistake to give away another three points, with Mike Phillips caught offside and Sexton landing the penalty from the touchline.
The hosts fought back at the end of the first half, camping in the Irish 22m for almost 10 minutes but coming away with just three points from the boot of Halfpenny.
And that was expunged with the final kick of the half as an Ireland break resulted in a penalty deep in the Welsh 22m for the tackler not rolling away. Sexton once again made no mistake, and the teams went in with Ireland 23-3 ahead.
Bad for Wales became worse within three minutes of the restart, the visitors charging forwards and edging towards the Welsh line where O'Driscoll was on hand to pounce and score his 46th try for his country.
At that point, with Ireland leading 30-3, the match seemed over - but Wales refused to lie down. They proceeded to throw everything at Ireland and put their opponents under huge pressure, which led directly to a first international try for Alex Cuthbert, a yellow card for Best, and a try for the superb Halfpenny.
Wales continued to assault their guests with everything in their arsenal, but Ireland's defence remained dogged to the last with O'Driscoll and winger Craig Gilroy both putting in huge tackles on Halfpenny in full flow that will live long in the memory.
The pressure told on Ireland as Conor Murray was yellow carded stopping Faletau scoring, and their resistance finally gave way when replacement prop Craig Mitchell scored a third Welsh try.
Yet the Welsh effort came too late to make any difference and Ireland hung on for a superb, and unexpectedly dramatic, victory.

 

[Smallville22]

Rugby - Six Nations - England crush Scotland at Twickenham

England lived up to their billing as favourites for the Six Nations title as they crushed Scotland 38-18 at Twickenham.
Sean Maitland scored a try on his Scotland debut to give the visitors hope, but the hosts took charge of the match with tries from Chris Ashton, Billy Twelvetrees - on his England debut - Geoff Parling and Danny Care, with Stuart Hogg scoring a second try that was scant consolation for the Scots.
The home side never looked in danger, and while the Scots produced decent rugby at times the penalty count against them made sure that they never had any chance of staying in the game.
England will head to Dublin next week full of confidence after the victory, while Scotland will now have to wait another two years for a chance to end a barren spell at Twickenham which stretches back to 1983.
Stuart Lancaster's men started the match keen to dominate, no doubt still full of confidence after their record win over New Zealand at the end of 2012, and within three minutes Owen Farrell landed a penalty to put them ahead.
Eight minutes later the form book was turned upside down, however asHogg collected a routine punt upfield, and made an outstanding break up the right flank which almost took him to the line. Though he was hauled down he recycled well and Maitland was on hand to pick up and score in the corner less than 11 minutes into his Scotland debut.
With the conversion from the right touchline proving too much for Greig Laidlaw, England were able to go 6-5 in front almost immediately as a penalty straight from the restart allowed Farrell to land a kick from just outside the 22.
And yet another sloppy mistake - a terrible pass by David Denton that was a good four feet over Ruaridh Jackson's head - put pressure on the Scotland defence and saw them concede another penalty. Farrell stroked it over again, though Laidlaw was able to cancel it out immediately after Tom Youngs flew in over the top at the breakdown immediately upon the game restarting.
There was no element of luck as England finally scored a try with Tom Wood making a superb charging run into the Scotland 22 to break open the visitors' defence and Ashton scooping up to score.
Farrell added the extras, and made it five out of five to put England 19-8 ahead just before half-time as Johnnie Beattie was penalised for an innocuous but undeniably high tackle.
Beattie made up for it in style, however as with half-time beckoning he made a storming run from the restart, putting England on the back foot and prompting Wood to give away a penalty almost in front of the posts.
Laidlaw knocked it over to trim the deficit to eight points at half-time and give Scotland hope in the second half.
Those hopes were dashed within three minutes of the restart. England pushed forward immediately, recycling the ball a dozen times in the Scotland 22 to put huge pressure on and earning the inevitable try as Alex Goode popped the ball up from a ruck to Twelvetrees, running in fast at an angle to score a try on his debut.
Foul play by Tom Youngs robbed Joe Launchbury of a try 10 minutes later, but within two minutes the visitors had been opened up again. Ben Youngs cut the defence open with a blistering run before offloading to Farrell, whose long pass to Parling let the second-row run in his first international try.
Scotland briefly sparked hope of an unlikely fightback as Maitland's kick-through let Hogg in to score a well-deserved try.
But they could get no closer, and Care added further insult as he dived in under the posts with the clock in the red to complete a devastating victory for the hosts.

 

[Smallville22]

Snooker - Fu outlasts Hawkins to set up Carter final

Marco Fu won a four-hour semi-final against Barry Hawkins to set up a German Masters final with Ali Carter in Berlin.
Fu fought back from 2-0 down for parity heading into the mid-session interval after almost two hours of play before a superb 142 total clearance gave him the lead for the first time in the match at 4-3.
A second century of 110 put him 5-4 up before the Hong Kong player came from behind to snatch the 10th and reach another ranking event final just after midnight local time in Germany.
Another Englishman stands between Fu and the title, as Carter overcame Neil Robertson 6-2 elsewhere in the last four. The two will decide the 2013 champion on Sunday.

 

[Smallville22]

Golf - Mickelson surges six ahead in Phoenix

Phil Mickelson continued his red-hot form as he stormed home with five birdies in his last six holes to stretch his lead to a commanding six shots after the third round of the Phoenix Open in Scottsdale, Arizona on Saturday.
Four ahead of the chasing pack overnight, Mickelson fired a sizzling seven-under-par 64 on another near-perfect day for low scoring at the TPC Scottsdale to tighten his grip on the tournament.
The American left-hander, who won the Phoenix Open in 1996 and 2005, pumped his left fist in celebration after rolling in a 15-footer to birdie the last and post a 24-under total of 189, just one shy of the PGA Tour low for 54 holes.
Compatriot Steve Stricker, with rounds of 60, 66 and 62, set the record at 25-under 188 in the 2010 John Deere Classic.
However, the chance to dip below the PGA Tour record for 72 holes was the last thing on Mickelson's mind as he turned his thoughts to Sunday's final round and his bid for a 41st victory on the U.S. circuit.
"I want to make sure that I take care of business first regarding the tournament and those other records and so forth, try not to worry about those," the 42-year-old told Golf Channel.
Birdies at the 13th, 15th, 16th, 17th and the par-four last gave Mickelson a scintillating back nine of five-under 31, leaving fellow American Brandt Snedeker (65) alone in second place at 18 under, a distant six strokes off the pace.
Irishman Padraig Harrington fired the day's lowest score with a 63 in front of record crowds of more than 179,000 to sit joint third at 16 under with American Ryan Moore (65).
The highlight of Harrington's round was an eagle at the par-five 15th where he spectacularly struck a five-wood from 243 yards to nine feet.
"It's a good club for me," the triple major winner said. "When I saw the pin set back right, I said, 'Look, I've got to take the chance of making eagle here to have any chance of catching Phil.' I felt good about my game today."
Fan favourite Mickelson, who studied at the nearby Arizona State University, again captured most of the attention as he continued his quest for a wire-to-wire victory after taking control of the tournament with a stunning, first-round 60.
Under a blazing sun, he birdied the par-four first and the par-four fifth, where he rolled in a 26-footer, to stretch his lead to five strokes at 19 under.
Out in two-under 33, Mickelson's lead was briefly trimmed to three by the charging Harrington but the American forged four ahead by getting up and down from a greenside bunker to birdie the par-five 13th.
Snedeker also closed to within three shots but Mickelson again responded in style, getting up and down for birdie from a greenside bunker at the par-five 15th to move to 21 under.
In front of nearly 20,000 raucous fans crammed around the par-three 16th, the "noisiest hole in golf", Mickelson struck a superb nine-iron to inside two feet and tapped in the birdie putt to regain a five-stroke cushion.
"Your adrenaline is going there so I always just immediately knock five yards off the distance," he said of his tee shot on 16. "I just hit a hard nine ... that turned out pretty good."
Mickelson also birdied the driveable par-four 17th, after chipping from just off the green to two feet, and the last, where he pushed his drive well left into the gallery but took a free drop and struck his approach to 15 feet.
Six ahead of the field going into the final round, Mickelson plans to maintain the same strategy that has worked so well for him this week as he seeks to join Arnold Palmer, Gene Littler and Mark Calcavecchia as triple Phoenix Open winners.
"I'll be pretty aggressive, given if I drive the ball the way I've been driving it and have these opportunities into the pins with short irons, I'm going to be able hopefully to make a lot of birdies," he said.
"I know what Brandt Snedeker can do. He's a great player and a great putter and can really light it up. He had a good round today."

 

[Smallville22]

Motorcycling - CRT teams kick off Sepang test

MotoGP testing got underway on Sunday at the Sepang circuit, with three CRT teams taking to the Malaysian track.
The session, however, did not prove to be very productive for the riders as their teams hit problems early on.
The three squads on track - Forward Racing, IODA Racing and Avintia - have been handed three extra days of testing for having chosen to use the standard ECU that will be mandatory in 2014 during the upcoming season.
Avintia lost most of the day as it worked on solving wiring loom issues. Spanish rider Hector Barbera jumped to the track in the afternoon before being hit by more electronic problems. He managed just four laps all day.
Team-mate Hiroshi Aoyama, using the test to asses his condition after injuring his wrist completed nine laps.
Forward Racing's Claudio Corti did not even manage to get on track as his team was still building its bikes, which were missing some parts. Team-mate Colin Edwards completed an installation lap at the end of the day.
The test continues tomorrow.

 

[Smallville22]

ERC - Ketomaa seals victory in Latvia

Jari Ketomaa has won Rally Liepāja-Ventspils, round two of the FIA European Rally Championship.
Driving a Ford Fiesta RRC, Ketomaa and co-driver Kaj Lindström completed Sunday’s final stage with a winning margin of 31.0s over Craig Breen and David Moynihan in a Peugeot 207 Super 2000, who settled for second after they lost precious seconds with an minor electrical issue on Sunday morning.
French pair François Delecour and Dominique Savignoni completed the podium following a close battle with Alexey Lukyanuk and Alexey Arnautov, which ended when the Russians retired with a suspected mechanical issue on stage 14.
Their exit handed the ERC Production Car Cup honours to Lithuanians Vytautas Švedas and Žilvinas Sakalauskas in a Mitsubishi Lancer. They finished sixth overall.
Jan Černý and Pavel Kohout took fourth place in a privately-run ŠKODA Fabia Super 2000 by winning the final stage. “I really wanted to win this stage but I made a lot of mistakes,” said young Czech driver Černý.
Delecour also reported a minor scare on the 3.40-kilometre Ventspils kalns spectator stage, which brought the ERC action in Latvia to an exciting climax.
“I don’t know about the jump and I jumped too much,” said Delecour. “I think I touched something because the car feels strange.”
Raimonds Kisiels was the top local runner home in fifth overall following a spectacular jump on the final stage in his MINI John Cooper Works RRC. He was second fastest, 2.7s down on Černý.

 

[Smallville22]

Rugby - Six Nations - Italy stun France in Roman classic

Italy outfought and outplayed France to claim a magnificent 23-18 victory in their Six Nations clash at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome.
The home side went ahead early on as Sergio Parisse scored a try inside five minutes and, though France got back in front, Martin Castrogiovanni finished off a magnificent team effort by Italy with 20 minutes left, a try which proved to be the decisive score.
France pushed hard to get back on terms in the final 10 minutes, but they simply had nobody who was able to cut open the superb Italian defence - and for the second time in three years, France came away from the Eternal City with a loss that devastates their Six Nations hopes.
Italy came into the match with high hopes of recreating their famous victory against the French at the Stadio Flaminio two years ago, and they got off to a dream-like start as fly-half Luciano Orquera broke the line before delivering a pass for Parisse to run in for a try.
Orquera added the extra points to put his side seven points ahead and, though France quickly pulled a try back thanks to a characteristically storming run by Louis Picamoles, Italy were in charge. Their constant pressure quickly lead to a pair of penalties and the home side were 13-5 ahead inside 20 minutes.
France were on the back foot, but the shock of falling so far behind spurred them into activity. A spell of camping inside the Italy 22m line saw Yohan Huget cross over in a bundle of bodies, but the TMO was unable to see if he had touched down and Frederic Michalak had to settle for three points to cut the deficit to five just before the half-hour mark.
Six minutes later France got their noses in front, beginning to take control thanks to a fantastic counter-attack by Huget, who timed his final pass to Benjamin Fall perfectly and allowed the winger to outstrip his chasers and touch down under the posts.
It seemed that order would be restored as France stretched their lead 10 minutes into the second half as a string of penalties given away by Italian sloppiness and indiscipline allowed Michalak to land another penalty.
Yet with 23 minutes left Italy took the initiative once more with an amazing turn of events: France number nine Maxime Machenaud produced a blistering run from just outside his own 22m to get within 10 metres of the Italian line - but he failed to hang on to the ball when tackled, and Italy hit on the break.
Almost the whole team was involved in the silky, flowing move which followed, with Orquera making the key break to get to within five metres of the line and offloading to Castrogiovanni to score.
Orquera added the conversion to put Italy into a lead that they never relinquished, and even increased when substitute fly-half Kris Burton slammed a huge drop goal over from at least 40m.
France continued to press to get back into the match but Italy's defence was simply too tough and disciplined, while the French side was atypically devoid of invention in the crucial phases despite the introduction of the ferocious Mathieu Bastareaud.
Italy held on bravely for a victory that was if anything even finer than the one they won at Stadio Flaminio two years ago: then, they were surprise victors after a magnificent defensive display. On Sunday, however, they were simply a better all-round team who earned a victory that may yet prove to be a statement of intent that they are genuine contenders for the Six Nations crown.

 

[Smallville22]

Snooker - Fu leads Carter in German Masters final

Marco Fu will carry a 5-3 lead into the closing session of the German Masters final against Ali Carter at Berlin's Tempodrom.
The 2007 Grand Prix winner was perhaps fortunate to open up an advantage with Carter missing a cut on a red to present Fu with the chance to sneak the eighth frame when 4-4 seemed a likelier outcome.
Fu edged himself ahead by winning an elongated opening frame of the day that lasted almost one hour. He never fell behind from that point onwards.
Double world championship finalist Carter retrieved the two snookers he needed to give himself a chance to win the first frame, but Fu finally scrambled into the lead by holing a splendid long pink with the tension palpable already before almost two thousand German snooker fans.
A break of 55 earned the man from Happy Valley in Hong Kong a 2-0 lead before Carter won his first frame of the final with his own version of Fu's 55.
Carter was first among the balls in the fourth frame, but paid a heavy price for a glaring miss on a red using the rest as Fu returned to the table to piece together an imperious 104 for a 3-1 advantage.
Carter redoubled his efforts after the mid-session interval to draw level at 3-3.
A 70 was enough to win the fifth frame with Fu slipping up among the balls on 38 as the break concluded messily with what appeared to be a push shot.
Carter worked his way back into the frame with Fu missing a long red late in the frame that would ultimately cost him it.
As both men suddenly warmed to their respective tasks in the vast area, errors were being punished and Carter would watch Fu make 83 for a 4-3 advantage after an attempt to escape from a snooker left his opponent with plenty of balls to go at.
It seemed likely that it would go 4-4, but Carter somehow missed a cut on a red at the scoring end of the table after Fu had made a mess of potting an easy black off its spot.
Fu's 33 was enough to leave Carter needing a snooker, but this time there would be no late drama in trying to get them.
It might yet prove to be a pivotal moment in the final with the first man to nine frames claiming the trophy and cheque for 60,000 euros when they resume play at 7pm (GMT) this evening.

 

[Smallville22]

Swimming - Laure Manaudou retires from swimming

Former Olympic gold medallist Laure Manaudou has retired for a second time at the age of 26.
"I quit. I took the decision a long time ago," the 26-year-old Manaudou, who added she is expecting a second child, told the French television channel Canal Plus.
"I am three months pregnant. I have stopped swimming for two months and I'm fine with it. I want to meet new people. I will not come back this time."
Manaudou was the Olympic 400m champion in Athens, as well as picking up a silver and bronze in the same Games.
She had retired for the first time in 2009, gave birth to a daughter in 2010, but returned in time to qualify for London 2012.
She competed in the 100m backstroke, 200m backstroke and 4x100m medley relay in 2012, but did not advance from the heats on either occasion
Manaudou's brother Florent was crowned Olympic 50m freestyle champion last summer.

 

[Smallville22]

Badminton - Mills eyes maiden national title in Manchester

Peter Mills will come full circle with Chris Langridge at the English National Badminton Championships and he's vowing to mark the occasion with a maiden title in Manchester.
The 24-year-old and Langridge's men's doubles partnership began not long before last year's Championships where the pair went all the way to the final before suffering defeat.
Mills and Langridge lost in straight sets 24-22, 21-12 to Chris Adcock and Andy Ellis who, as a partnership, were to narrowly miss on a place at the London 2012 Olympics.
However they have now played almost a full year together, winning the Czech International title in September last year as well finishing as runner-up in the Bitburger Open.
And, with Langridge having contested five national finals with victory coming once, Mills is determined to make a second successive one and claim his first title.
"Considering we had only just been put together, reaching the final last year was pretty special. We have had a year to work on our game and I really think we have improved a lot," said Mills.
"Looking back on what we did at the nationals last season makes me really encouraged for this year. It was our first event together as a doubles partnership and we finished second.
"This year the focus is obviously to go and win it. We know we can be competitive and that's the main thing. We are getting better with every passing match.
"We know each other better and that is a huge bonus when you are trying to improve as a pair and that's another thing going our way.
"We've had a year and we've been picking up form along the way so I'm excited going into the competition that we can do well."
Just over a month after the English National Championships comes the Yonex All England Open in Birmingham, which last year saw Mills and Langridge fail to qualify for the main draw.
However, almost 12 months on, and Mills is determined to do so this year. He added: "It's such a big tournament that we really want to go there and give a good account of ourselves.
"We are improving with every game and every event we enter so I don't see why we can't do that and for me I like to focus solely on doubles rather than going in and out of singles as well."

 

[Smallville22]

Badminton - White eyes another title at national champs

Gabby White has won four titles on her last three visits to the English National Badminton Championships and she fully intends to take that tally to six in Manchester.
The 22-year-old reached her first final at the Nationals in 2009, that coming in the women's doubles with Jenny Wallwork where they lost to Donna Kellogg and Suzanne Rayappan.
However, since then White hasn't failed to leave the tournament without a title having won the women's doubles crown with Wallwork for the past three years running.
White made it a double last year by winning the mixed doubles for the first time ever with fiancé Chris Adcock, who she is now back with permanently after a break.
This year, however, White isn't teaming up with Wallwork, changes giving them separate mixed doubles partners in Lauren Smith and Alex Langley respectively.
The Nationals will also mark White and Adcock's first since being partnered back together and the former wants another double in Manchester.
"Chris and I won at the Nationals last year and that was really great. I also got the women's doubles title with Jenny so it's a competition I enjoy going to," said White.
"I think everyone likes going there and winning and I'm no different. Any event is going to be competitive when it's a National Championship.
"It's a shame for me this year because Jenny and I won't be able to defend our title. Things are always being mixed up, so now I'm with Lauren.
"I'm excited by the new partnership but it's always a big shame when you aren't able to go and defend a former title so it was disappointing.
"We had the chance to be the first to win it for four years in a row. It will be good to link up with Lauren, though, and hopefully we can do really well."
White and Adcock start as second seeds in the mixed doubles and face James Lauder and Zoe Hallam first up in the second round while she will also start as second seeds with Smith in the women's doubles.

 

[Smallville22]

Gymnastics - American gymnast Sacramone announces retirement

Alicia Sacramone, one of the United States' most decorated gymnasts with an American record 10 world championship medals, announced her retirement on Tuesday.
For nearly a decade Sacramone was a cornerstone of the US women's team, claiming two individual world titles (floor, 2005; vault, 2010) and team gold medals in 2007 and 2011.
She was also part of the silver medal winning squad at the 2008 Beijing Olympics but failed in her comeback to make the US team for the 2012 London Games.
"Alicia was special, and determined to accomplish the goals she set for herself," said Martha Karolyi, the women's national team coordinator in a statement. "Alicia had a great career, full of success that was well earned.
"She also showed her strength of character by the dignified way she handled the moments that fell short of her goals."
One of Sacramone's biggest disappointments came when she narrowly failed to earn a spot on the five-member US team for the London Olympics after having fought her way back from a career threatening ruptured Achilles' tendon.
Sacramone sustained the injury just prior to the 2011 world championships but was back competing at the 2012 Olympic trials finishing second on both the vault and balance beam.
"Alicia has had a major impact on women's gymnastics," said Steve Penny, president of USA Gymnastics. "Her personality, sense of humour and leadership skills were important ingredients in the success of our team.
"Alicia is a strong individual who knows what she wants and is not afraid to put herself out there to achieve it."

 

[Smallville22]

Olympic Games - One Olympic sport to be cut in February

One Olympic sport will learn next month that its Games future is in jeopardy when the International Olympic Committee meets to decide the shape of the Summer Games from 2020.
The IOC's executive board, meeting in Lausanne on February 12 and 13, will pick a core of 25 summer Olympic sports that will be put to a single vote at their session in Argentina in September.
"The IOC in February is expected to make a recommendation on the 25 core sports to be put up for a vote in Buenos Aires," an IOC official told Reuters.
The organisation will recommend one sport to be cut from the original list of 26. Rugby and golf, which are being added to the Games from the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, will not part of the process.
The decisions of the executive board will need to be ratified by the session in Buenos Aires but it is unlikely that the board's recommendation would be overturned.
Several Olympic sports are reportedly at greater risk, with modern pentathlon among those mentioned most.
The IOC is eager to revamp the Games' sports programme in an effort to keep up with the times and attract younger fans and sponsors as well as to rein in the size of the Games and keep the number of summer sports at a maximum of 28.
Modern pentathlon with its five disciplines of pistol shooting, fencing, show jumping, swimming and running, is an outdated sport with little global TV and sponsor appeal, critics say.
"I do not want to start a discussion about pentathlon at the Games because we are focusing on our sport alone," international federation chief Klaus Schormann told Reuters after its executive board meeting.
"We have modernised our sport, we have presented and delivered," he said of several innovations, including laser pistols at the London 2012 Games.
The sport was brought into the modern Games by its founder Pierre de Coubertin.
"What we have developed not only underlines the legacy of De Coubertin but also of modern pentathlon. We deliver on what we promise."
The federation has been trying hard to increase the sport's appeal to broadcasters and spectators by cutting events down to one day and they are eager to take it a step further with a single venue hosting all disciplines in Rio.
There are seven candidate sports for a place on the programme with baseball and softball, off the Games since Beijing in 2008, making a joint bid for re-entry.
Chinese martial arts sport wushu, sport climbing, roller sports, squash, karate and wakeboarding are also in the running for an Olympic spot.
The sport recommended by February's meeting to be dropped will automatically become a candidate sport, with the IOC then recommending one of the eight bidding sports for inclusion at its board meeting in late May in St Petersburg.
Olympic acceptance gives a sport instant publicity and increased funding while Games exclusion, especially for less-popular sports, translates into money problems and severely limited global exposure.
"We look confidently into the future," said Schormann when asked again about the IOC meeting. "We know the IOC will deal with the report on what we have achieved. We do not just talk, we deliver."

 

[Smallville22]

Surfing - Florence wins third straight Volcom Pipe Pro title

John John Florence completed a superb tournament performance to secure his third straight Volcom Pipe Pro title in Hawaii.
The 20-year-old local climinated Chris Ward (USA), Josh Kerr (Australia) and Olamana Eleogram (Maui) to wrap up his latest success at the Banzai Pipeline.
He positioned himself perfectly for two strong tube rides just three minutes into the 30-minute final before sitting back for 15 minutes as his opponents looked to play catch-up and snaring a third wave to put the result beyond doubt.
"It was definitely a special final for me, my third time in a row, I can't even believe it," said Florence.
"I was just happy to make it through today really, because the waves were small but still really good.
"Surfing the four man heats in small, peaky conditions like that is really tough and it's quite a battle to even get a wave. I'm glad I snuck some in."

RESULTS:

Final

1st :John John Florence - 16.33 points (8.43, 7.9)

2nd:Chris Ward - 14.8 (7.93, 6.87)

3rd: Josh Kerr - 13.83 (8.33, 5.5)

4th: 13.3 (6.87, 6.43)

Semi-finals:

1st and 2nd advance; 3rd=5th; 4th=7th

H1: John John Florence (HI); Chris Ward (USA); Kolohe Andino (USA); Reef McIntosh (HI)

H2: Josh Kerr (AUS); Olamana Eleogram (HI); Conner Coffin (USA); Dusty Payne (HI)

Quarter-finals:

1st and 2nd advance; 3rd=9th; 4th=13th

H1: John John Florence (HI); Reef McIntosh (HI); Bruce Irons (HI); Jamie O'Brien (HI)

H2: Kolohe Andino (USA); Chris Ward (USA); Kahea Hart (HI); Masatoshi Ohno (JPN)

H3: Olamana Eleogram (HI); Dusty Payne (HI); Dale Staples (ZAF); Jesse Mendes (BRA)

H4: Josh Kerr (AUS); Conner Coffin (USA); Alex Gray (USA); Sebastian Zietz (HI)

Round of 32:

1st and 2nd advance; 3rd=17th; 4th=25th

H1: Jamie O'Brien (HI); Kahea Hart (HI); Tanner Gudauskas (USA); Eala Stewart (HI)

H2: Bruce Irons (HI); Kolohe Andino (USA); Joel Centeio (HI); Nat Young (USA)

H3: Masatoshi Ohno (JPN); Reef McIntosh (HI); Ricardo Dos Santos (BRA); Pancho Sullivan (HI)

H4: Chris Ward (USA); John John Florence (HI); Cory Arrambide (USA); Perth Standlick (AUS)

H5: Olamana Eleogram (HI); Josh Kerr (AUS); Patrick Gudauskas (USA); Cory Lopez (USA)

H6: Dale Staples (ZAF); Alex Gray (USA); Wiggolly Dantas (BRA); Krystian Kymerson (BRA)

H7: Conner Coffin (USA); Dusty Payne (HI); Kaimana Jaquias (HI); Leandro Bastos (BRA)

H8: Sebastian Zietz (HI); Jesse Mendes (BRA); Marcus Hickman (HI); Ezekiel Lau (HI)

 

[Smallville22]

Golf - Gallacher wins Dubai Desert Classic

Stephen Gallacher won the Dubai Desert Classic on Sunday with a final-round 71 for a total of 266 in the European Tour golf event.
Gallacher holed his approach to the par-four 16th in the final round for his fifth eagle of the week to shake off the persistent challenge of South African Richard Sterne.
"I'm obviously delighted," said Gallacher after carding one-under-par 71 in the final round.
"It's taken a long time but it's sweeter now," added the Scot, whose only previous European Tour title in 404 starts came in 2004 at St Andrews.
Chile's Felipe Aguilar and Dane Thorbjorn Olesen tied for third place and England's Lee Westwood was joint fourth with Australian Marcus Fraser after hitting his second shot into the water on the par-five final hole.
Gallacher, 38, had gone into the closing round three shots ahead but Sterne wiped out his advantage within two holes.
The pair swapped the lead until Gallacher holed a 110-yard wedge to the 16th and finished off with a total of 266, 22 under par.
"I've holed four shots this week but you've got to do that these days to win - you need that little bit of magic," he said.
Gallacher, nephew of former Ryder Cup captain Bernard, looks set to climb into the top 60 of the world rankings ahead of the WGC-Accenture Match Play championship in Arizona in a fortnight and has a good chance of getting into the top 50 in time for a Masters Tournament debut at Augusta National in April.
"It's the only major I've never played," he said. "I sit and watch it in the house with the kids every year and obviously it would be a dream to play there."

 

[Smallville22]

Olympic Games - British Olympic rowing medallist dies at 35

Acer Nethercott, who coxed the British men's eight team to an Olympic silver medal in Beijing in 2008, has died at the age of 35.
"It is very sad news," performance director David Tanner told British Rowing's official website.
"Acer was the top British cox of his time. He had an exceptional period with the GB rowing team."
The cause of death was not disclosed but media reports said Nethercott had been fighting brain cancer.
Nethercott coxed the men's eight crew that came second in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, the culmination of a glittering career on the water that saw him guide Oxford to Boat Race victories in 2003 and 2005.
The Essex-born Nethercott, who earned a PhD in linguistics in his time at Oxford, began crewing for Britain in 2005, and won gold, silver and bronze medals in World Cup and World Championship races before the silver in Beijing.
He stepped away from the sport after that but returned a few years later to get in contention to cox the men's eight at London 2012 before the role was given to Phelan Hill.
Nethercott's unusual Christian name means "fierce, keen and eager" in Latin, and former team-mates took to Twitter to pay tribute to a man who lived up to his name.
"A privilege to have known him, he lived up to the meaning of his name in every way," said 1992 gold medal-winning cox Garry Herbert, while the Great Britain rowing team wrote, "Keen, eager & spirited like his name. Great member of GB Rowing Team. Thoughts are with family."

RIP Acer Nethercott

 

[Smallville22]

Snooker - Carter roars back to revel in German Masters glory

Ali Carter hit back-to-back centuries on his way to winning six of the last seven frames in a 9-6 victory over a fading Marco Fu in the German Masters final.
Carter - nicknamed 'The Captain' because he possesses a pilot's licence - continues to battle bad health in the form of Crohn's disease while he almost faced bad luck before this tournament began after his cue was lost in transit from the UK, apparently turning up around an hour before his opening match at Berlin's Tempodrom.
"The captain landed it tonight," said Carter as he posed with the trophy and a cheque for 60,000 euros. "It was tough out there tonight. Marco struggled a bit. We were both keen to put on a good show for the crowd, and I'm delighted to come out the winner at the end of the week.
"Things have turned around for me massively. I just give it my all..it is very satisfying to come out the winner here."
This was Carter's third ranking event success and probably his biggest coming after winning the Welsh Open in 2009 and the Shanghai Masters a year later.
He is probably most renowned for losing the World Championship final twice to Ronnie O'Sullivan in 2008 and 2012.
Trailing 5-3 from the afternoon session, Essex potter Carter quickly set out his agenda before a crowd of two thousand observant German snooker fans with breaks of 116 and 121 carrying him level with Fu doing little or nothing wrong.
Fu was obviously mentally winded and passed up several obvious chances as Carter pocketed his third straight frame to lead for the first time at 6-5.
Fu had spent 86 minutes without potting a ball in the opening three frames of the evening, and it began to show in his stuttering play.
The man from Happy Valley in Hong Kong was cutting a dejected figure, but managed to pinch the 12th frame aided by a 48 after Carter had missed a brown with the rest in trying to free the yellow.
Despite that error, there was a feeling that Fu's safety and scoring game was struggling to cope with the occasion.
That theme was played out as Carter collected the final three frames with Fu continuing to fall away, perhaps drained by the tactical nature of his 6-4 win over Barry Hawkins in Saturday's semi-final that ran for over four hours.
A run of 71 carried Carter to the brink at 8-6 before he dominated the final frame of the match with Fu's fate sealed long before Carter sunk the winning balls.
"Ali played very well tonight so all credit to him. I just didn't play very well tonight, and was faced with a lot of tough shots," said Fu. "It is nice to be in the final again. The crowd have been great this week. Hopefully, I can come back next year and win it."

 

[Smallville22]

Golf - Mickelson wins Phoenix Open by four shots

Phil Mickelson held off a last-day charge by fellow American and playing partner Brandt Snedeker to end a week of scintillating golf with a four-shot triumph at the Phoenix Open in Scottsdale, Arizona on Sunday.
Left-hander Mickelson birdied three of the last six holes to close with a four-under-par 67 at the TPC Scottsdale, completing a wire-to-wire victory with a record-tying 28-under total of 256 to clinch his 41st PGA Tour title.
The 42-year-old Californian, who never relinquished his grip after taking control of the tournament with a stunning first-round 60, joined Arnold Palmer, Gene Littler and Mark Calcavecchia as triple winners of the Phoenix Open.
FedExCup champion Snedeker, who birdied four of the first nine holes to pile early pressure on the pacesetting Mickelson, had to settle for second place after signing off with a 65.

 

[Smallville22]

Champions League - Match in England 'fixed'

Investigators from across Europe said on Monday they had identified about 380 football matches that had been fixed across Europe, bringing in about 8 million euros in profits.

One of the matches identified is an unnamed Champions League game taking place in England, though the identity of the match cannot be confirmed due to "ongoing judicial proceedings".
Speaking in The Hague, Europol head Rob Wainright said the joint investigation had identified about 425 corrupt officials, players and serious criminals in 15 countries.
"This is a sad day for European football," Wainwright said.
He said a Singapore-based criminal network was involved in the match fixing, spending up to 100,000 euros (£86,000) per match to bribe players and officials.
Wainwright refused to identify any of the suspects, players or matches involved, citing ongoing investigations.
He said while many fixed matches were already known, the Europol investigation lifted the lid on the widespread involvement or organised crime in rigging games.
"This is the first time we have established substantial evidence that organised crime is now operating in the world of football," he said.
Matches fixed included World Cup and European Championship qualifying matches and top flight league matches in several European countries. The investigator found that criminals from Asia also participated in the match fixing and that some of the fixed matches took place outside Europe.
Wainwright has revealed the Champions League match in England took place in the last three to four years, adding: "The focus has been on other countries, not the United Kingdom. However we were surprised by the scale generally of the criminal enterprise and just how widespread it was.
"It would be naive and complacent of those in the UK to think such a criminal conspiracy does not involved the English game and all the football in Europe."
He continued: " This is the work of a suspected organised crime syndicate based in Asia and operated with criminal networks around Europe.
"It is clear to us this is the biggest-ever investigation into suspected match-fixing in Europe. It has yielded major results which we think have uncovered a big problem for the integrity of football in Europe.
"We have uncovered an extensive criminal network."
UEFA said it expected to receive further information from Europol in the coming days.
"As part of the fight against the manipulation of matches, UEFA is already cooperating with the authorities on these serious matters as part of its zero tolerance policy towards match-fixing in our sport," it added.
A German investigator described a network involving couriers ferrying bribes around the world, paying off players and referees in the fixing which involved about 425 corrupt officials, players and serious criminals in 15 countries.
"We have evidence for 150 of these cases, and the operations were run out of Singapore with bribes of up to 100,000 euros paid per match," said Friedhelm Althans, chief investigator for police in the German city of Bochum, told a news conference.
Althans said that, though German police had concrete proof of 8 million euros in gambling profits from the match fixing, this was probably the tip of the iceberg.
Investigators described how gang members immediately subordinate to the Singapore-based leader of a worldwide network were each tasked with maintaining contacts with corrupt players and officials in their parts of the world.
Laszlo Angeli, a Hungarian prosecutor, gave an example of how the scam worked. "The Hungarian member, who was immediately below the Singapore head, was in touch with Hungarian referees who could then attempt to swing matches at which they officiated around the world," he said.
Accomplices would then place bets on the internet or by phone with bookmakers in Asia, where bets that would be illegal in Europe were accepted. "One fixed match might involve up to 50 suspects in 10 countries on separate continents," said Althans.
"Even two World Cup qualification matches in Africa, and one in Central America, are under suspicion," Althans added.
FIFA issued a statement pointing to quotes from its Director of Security, Ralf Mutschke, before a match-fixing conference in Rome last month.
"World Cup qualifying matches are tough to fix as a general rule, since the World Cup is the biggest event for teams and above all players," he said. "We're obviously still keeping a very close eye on the matches, but as yet there have been no suspicions of fixing.
Althans said there was a need to coordinate match fixing legislation around Europe. "In many countries, including Germany, fixing a match only becomes a crime if you then place a bet on the outcome," he said, adding that proving a bet had been placed was often difficult.