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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Rodriguez wins Giro di Lombardia to finish No. 1

From Staff And Wire Reports

Cycling: Joaquin Rodriguez won the Giro di Lombardia in Lecco, Italy, on Saturday with a late solo breakaway in the rain to end the season at the top of the UCI rankings.

The Katusha rider attacked on the Villa Vergano climb with 6.2 miles to go and became the first Spaniard to win the single-day classic.

Parker helps Sparks finish sweep of Silver Stars

WNBA: Candace Parker scored 32 points and the visiting Los Angeles Sparks swept their Western Conference semifinals against the San Antonio Silver Stars with a 101-94 win.

• Sun reach Eastern finals: Tina Charles had 25 points and 14 rebounds, and the Connecticut Sun closed with a 14-0 run to beat the New York Liberty 75-62 in Newark, N.J., to advance to the Eastern Conference finals.

Fehr, NHL Commissioner Bettman meet again

NHL: The best that can be said about back-to-back days of negotiations between the NHL and the locked out players’ association is that the sides are still talking and making more plans to meet yet again today.

NHL Players’ Association head Donald Fehr and NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman met for about four hours.

Petrova beats Radwanska to win Pan Pacific title

Tennis: Russia’s Nadia Petrova beat defending champion Agnieska Radwanska 6-0, 1-6, 6-3 to win the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo.

• Simon reaches final of Thailand Open: Gilles Simon upset top-seeded Janko Tipsarevic 6-4, 6-4 to reach the final of the Thailand Open in Bangkok, for the second time.

Simon will play Jarkko Nieminen, who beat Richard Gasquet after he retired in the third set, in the final.

FIFA selects 2018 World Cup venues in Russia

Miscellany: Three stadiums in Moscow will host some 2018 World Cup games, among the dozen arenas finalized by FIFA for the first cup in Russia.

• Michigan State A.D. donates $1 million: Michigan State athletic director Mark Hollis and his wife Nancy are donating $1 million to the school to support an academic scholarship endowment, improvements to Spartan Stadium and arts programming at the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum and the Wharton Center for Performing Arts.

• Povetkin stops Rahman: Undefeated Alexander Povetkin of Russia retained his WBA heavyweight title, stopping American challenger Hasim Rahman in the second round in Hamburg, Germany.

• Celski, Smith earn U.S. World Cup spots: JR Celski won the 1,000 meters and skated to an easy victory in the 1,500 for a sweep of the men’s races at the U.S. Single Distance Short Track Speedskating Championships in Kearns, Utah.

Celski and Jessica Smith, who remains part of the U.S. National Racing Program, also clinched a spot on the World Cup team.

Zenyatta honored with statue at Santa Anita

Horse Racing: Retired superstar Zenyatta was honored with a life-sized bronze statue, capturing her trademark prancing pose, unveiled at Santa Anita.

• Game On Dude wins Awesome Again: Game On Dude returned to the winner’s circle under new jockey Rafael Bejarano, taking the Awesome Again Stakes at Santa Anita in Arcadia, Calif.

• Flat Out wins Jockey Club Gold Cup: Flat Out made his first win of the year a big one, edging Stay Thirsty in the final strides to take the $1 million Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont Park in New York.