In brief: U.S. women’s team counts on veterans
Basketball: Despite a wealth of talent on the U.S. women’s basketball roster, only three players have world championship experience.
Sue Bird, Diana Taurasi and Tamika Catchings have competed at past worlds. The veterans see it as their responsibility to bring along the young roster.
Sylvia Fowles and Swin Cash have competed in the Olympics, with Fowles playing on the 2008 team and Cash in 2004. Still, that schedule is different from worlds because there is a day off between games.
That leaves over half the roster without any major international experience. Connecticut senior Maya Moore is the youngest on the team at 21, and former UConn player Tina Charles is taking on more of the load in the post.
After a day off, the U.S. will open the second round today against Canada.
So far the abundance of new players hasn’t hampered the team. The Americans have cruised through the first three games, winning by an average of 34 points. But the games will get more difficult. After Canada, the U.S. will play Belarus on Tuesday and rival Australia on Wednesday.
Cycling: Lance Armstrong rode in a charity cycling event on a cool morning in Aspen, Colo., that had participants bundling up as if they were preparing for the slopes rather than a jaunt on the roads.
With temperatures hovering around 36 degrees Sunday, a band of riders followed Armstrong’s lead out of the starting gate. The event consisted of 25- and 50-mile rides through the valley to raise funds for Wapiyapi, a nonprofit organization that provides camps and support to families affected by childhood cancer.
Simon beats Zverev to win in France
Tennis: Eighth-seeded Gilles Simon of France defeated qualifier Mischa Zverev of Germany 6-3, 6-2 to win the Open de Moselle in Metz, France, and his seventh career title.
Simon, who won his last title on hard courts at Bangkok in October last year, made quick work of beating Zverev in just over an hour.
Simon had nine aces and won on his first match point when Zverev’s service return went out.
• Chela wins title in Bucharest: Juan Ignacio Chela defeated Spanish qualifier Pablo Andujar 7-5, 6-1 to win the BCR Open Romania in Bucharest for his sixth career title.
The fourth-seeded Argentine broke Andujar three times in the first set and twice in the second.
Andujar appeared to tire at 5-5 in the first set, dropping eight of the next nine games. His semifinal on Saturday lasted more than 3 hours.
The 105th-ranked Andujar trailed 4-1 in the second and made consecutive double-faults to lose the game. Chela served out the match.
FC Pride wins WPS title over Phily
Soccer: Christine Sinclair scored twice, Marta had a goal and two assists, and the FC Gold Pride defeated the Philadelphia Independence 4-0 to win the Women’s Professional Soccer championship in Hayward, Calif.
Kandace Wilson also scored for the Pride, who won their first WPS title in the league’s second season after finishing in last place in 2009.
Philadelphia, which played two games this week to reach the championship game, was no match for the faster, more rested Pride. The Independence managed only three shots on goal while losing to the Pride for the fourth time this season.
Sinclair had 10 goals in the regular season and was second on the Pride in scoring behind Marta before getting two goals against the Independence in front of a near-capacity crowd of 5,228 at Pioneer Stadium.
• Warner admires World Cup support: CONCACAF President Jack Warner says David Beckham’s role with the England bid to host the 2018 or 2022 World Cup adds a “lot of weight” to the country’s chances of staging the event for the second time.
The former England captain brought his David Beckham Academy to Trinidad and Tobago, coaching about 200 youngsters at Marvin Lee Stadium to fulfill a long-standing commitment to Warner.
Beckham’s visit is also intended to secure CONCACAF votes for England’s bid to host its first World Cup since 1966.
Miscellany: Mathieu Dandenault, the versatile defenseman who won three Stanley Cups with the Detroit Red Wings and later played for the Montreal Canadiens, has retired.
Dandenault, 34, last played in the NHL in 2008-09 with Montreal. Last season, he joined Hartford of the American Hockey League, but was sidelined by a tear in his groin and opted to leave the team in March.
• British rugby player found dead: Terry Newton, a former British international rugby league player who became the first athlete to be suspended for testing positive for human growth hormone, has died. He was 31.
Police say officers found Newton dead at a house in Orrell after receiving a report of concern for his welfare. They say “there are not believed to be any suspicious circumstances surrounding his death.”
Newton was banned for two years in February after testing positive for human growth hormone.
• Makau of Kenya wins Berlin Marathon: Patrick Makau of Kenya won the 37th Berlin Marathon, but failed to break the world record set on the course two years ago.
Makau ran through the rain-soaked German capital in 2 hours, 5 minutes and 8 seconds, finishing 2 seconds ahead of countryman Geoffrey Mutai. Bazu Worku of Ethiopia was third.
• Kenya’s Mungara wins Toronto Waterfront Marathon: Kenya’s Kenneth Mungara won the Toronto Waterfront Marathon for the third straight year, breaking his own record with a time of 2 hours, 7 minutes, 57 seconds.
Reid Coolsaet was the top Canadian, finishing 10th in 2:11:22 – the fastest ever by a Canadian on home soil – to smash his personal best by more than 5 minutes and qualify for the 2012 Olympics.
Kenya’s Sharon Cherop won the women’s race in 2:22:42.
• Snake in room adds to C’wealth Games woes: Two more Australian athletes withdrew and a South African competitor reportedly found a snake in his room as complaints over cleanliness, security and construction continued to dog the troubled Commonwealth Games a week before the sporting event opens in New Delhi.
The games open Sunday.