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Home , Ashley Wagner, Benn Harradine, Elena Radionova, Elizaveta Tuktamysheva, Evgenia Medvedeva, Fabrice Lapierre

MONDAY, APRIL 4, 2016 SPORTS

Barnhart, Reds beat Pirates as Pittsburgh opens season

INDIANAPOLIS: Tucker Barnhart got tures are predicted for the Pirates’ open- some balls and get some hits it’s a good He had been very sharp his first two TRAINER’S ROOM three hits and the Cincinnati Reds took er. “The weather was interesting and thing,” Barnhart said. “But especially games. I don’t think today was any indi- Reds: C Devin Mesoraco was a late advantage of the windy conditions to challenging,” Hurdle said. “We didn’t being home in front of my family being cation of how prepared he is actually for scratch from the starting lineup because beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 13-6 want to challenge anyone too much on able to see it is really pretty special.” the season.” Price said he was pleased of hip soreness. He appeared in just 23 Saturday in a spring training wrapup. a day like this, but today may get us that Simon was able to face 19 batters games for the Reds last season after hav- With periods of snow flurries, light ready for tomorrow because I hear we STARTING TIME and throw more than 80 pitches. ing season-ending surgery on June 29 to rain and gusts estimated at 40 mph, could have conditions like this in Reds: Simon was not nearly as sharp Pirates: RHP Wilfredo Boscan strug- repair and impingement in his left hip. Pittsburgh made five errors. The Pirates Pittsburgh.” as he was in his other two spring out- gled with his control and was responsi- open the 2016 major league season Barnhart, who played high school ings, but Reds manager Bryan Price said ble for the eight runs Cincinnnati scored UP NEXT Sunday afternoon, hosting St. Louis. baseball in nearby Brownsburg, had a a lot of that had to do with the blustery in the first three innings, though only Reds: RHP Raisel Iglesias will get the Reds starter Alfredo Simon gave up four wind-aided bloop double and two sin- conditions. five were earned. runs in four innings. David Freese and gles. He singled during a seven-run burst “Just like their pitchers and our relief Hurdle said prior to the game that all opening day start for Cincinnati on Max Moroff homered for the Pirates. in the third inning that included two sin- guys, I think he was affected by the of the pitchers he used Saturday were Monday against the Phillies. Pirates: LHP Pittsburgh manager Clint Hurdle said gles by Joey Votto. weather,” Price said. “It was hard to field players who would start the season in Francisco Liriano will get the opening playing in adverse weather conditions “Whenever you’re anywhere and the ball, hands were cold and it was not the minor leagues. Five pitchers saw day start for Pittsburgh on Sunday may come in handy as colder tempera- you’re able to put some good swings on a great environment in which to pitch. action for the Pirates. against the St. Louis Cardinals. — AP Pearson, Lapierre head ’s team for Rio

SYDNEY: Defending hurdles champion the younger athletes that will be invalu- and long jumper Fabrice able.” Lapierre spearhead Australia’s medals chal- Twenty-eight new athletes were lenge for the Rio Olympics in the Australian announced at a dinner in following team named yesterday. the end of the Australian championships.By Pearson, 29, who won gold in the 100- mid-July the athletics section of the metres hurdles in in 2012, is about Australian team could be 50-strong the to resume competition for the first time largest of any sport wearing the green and since her compound fracture on the track gold in Rio. nearly 10 months ago. “The athletes named so far are a fantas- Australia’s top athlete broke two bones tic mix of youth and experience, making us and dislocated her wrist in a tumble during well placed for Rio and for beyond to the Rome meet in June ,” Hilliard said. last year. “There have been a lot of young athletes Pearson also won a silver medal in the that have stepped up in the Olympic year event at the 2008 Olympics and was such as Damien Birkinhead, Brooke world champion at the 2011 World Stratton, Ella Nelson, Alexander Hartmann, Championships. Morgan Mitchell, Josh Clarke and Cedric “We have experienced campaigners like Dubler to name a few.” ready to add an Olympic Commonwealth high jump champion medal to his world championships achieve- Eleanor Patterson at 19 is the youngest ments, and you can’t forget defending team member and 3000m steeplechaser Olympic champion Sally Pearson,” said Victoria Mitchell is the eldest of four 33- head coach Craig year-olds.Four of the team — , Hilliard. , Pearson and Dani Samuels “Sally is worth her weight in gold. She’s are off to their third Olympics. been there and knows what it takes to win The marathon athletes are scheduled to a silver and then step up to the top of the be nominated to the Australian Olympic podium. Committee from Athletics Australia later “She will give guidance and advice to this month. — AFP : World Championships gold medalist , center, of , silver medalist , left, of the , and bronze medalist , of Russia, display their medals during ceremonies following the free skate program, Chiefs beat Brumbies to Saturday in Boston. — AP go top in Super Rugby Medvedeva, 16, wins world title

WELLINGTON: Coach Dave Rennie says fit- also typical of the Chiefs’ recent perform- ness has played a crucial role in the form ances in that they scored the majority of with record free skate score which has carried the Hamilton-based their points in the second half as their Chiefs top the Super Rugby table after the opponents tired. They led 20-13 at halftime, weekend’s sixth round. The Chiefs beat the then ran in four more tries after halftime as BOSTON: Sixteen-year-old Evgenia Medvedeva ACT Brumbies 48-23 on Saturday - scoring the Brumbies weakened, showing the started giggling when she learned her free skate six tries to two and taking a bonus point - effects of their recent return from South score at the world championships had set a record. to take top spot, two points clear of compa- Africa. The Brumbies tried to dominate the Then she summed it up in English: “Wow.” triots the Highlanders and six points above match through the strength of their set The Russian teen capped a dominant debut sea- ’s Stormers, who had a sixth piece, the effectiveness of Wallabies David son Saturday with a world title, earning 150.10 round bye. Pocock and Scott Fardy at the breakdown points to break ’s record from the 2010 Seven time champions the Crusaders and through the reliability of their defense. Olympics. Medvedeva moved up from third after moved up to share the same rung of the They had the best defensive record in the the short program to add to her Grand Prix Final ladder as the Stormers after winning back- tournament coming into Saturday’s match and European titles. to-back matches in South Africa, beating but the Chiefs blew that away with flyhalf American Ashley Wagner skated last and sent the Lions 43-37 on Friday. Aaron Cruden, fullback Damian McKenzie the home crowd into a frenzy with a personal best But the Chiefs have now set the bench- and center Charlie Ngatai unpicking the score that moved her from fourth to second, the mark in the tournament, racking up points defense. first U.S. woman in a decade to win a medal at on the field and air points elsewhere. The scale of the Brumbies defeat was worlds. Another Russian teen, Anna Pogorilaya, Saturday’s win at Canberra was their fourth made greater when Pocock, their key play- took bronze. American , who led after in succession, after a second round loss to er, was cited after the match for grabbing a the short program, fell on her opening triple-triple the Lions, and they have now won matches Chiefs player around the neck. After top- combination to drop to fourth. in South Africa, Argentina, New Zealand ping the table with three wins in their first Medvedeva looked a bit hesitant during and Australia in successive weeks, traveling three matches, the Brumbies have now lost Thursday’s short program in her first senior worlds. more than 30,000 kilometers. two of their last three to drop back to fifth, But she was captivating from the start Saturday. They beat the Kings 58-24 in South though they retain the lead in the She landed seven triple jumps with never a hint of Africa in round three, the Jaguares 30-26 in Australian conference. trouble, throwing an arm above her head on many Argentina in round four, the Western Force All four New Zealand teams in action at of them. “I won’t realize quickly I won today 53-10 in Hamilton in round five and inflict- the weekend were winners. The because one year ago I was still skating juniors,” she BOSTON: and , center, of Canada, Wenjing Sui and Cong Han, ed the heaviest-ever home defeat on the Highlanders briefly moved to the top of the said through a translator. left, of , and Aliona Savchenko and , right, of , stand during the Brumbies on Saturday. That comes to 189 table when they beat the Western Force 32- It was a performance both youthful and mature awards ceremony for the pairs in the World Figure Skating Championships, Saturday, in points in their last four matches at an aver- 20 in Dunedin on Friday. at the same time. The program opens with Boston. — AP age of 47 points per match. The Highlanders struggled to take con- Medvedeva peering out into the crowd with a look my career say this has been given to me; I don’t do that.” Pogorilaya, 17, was the least accomplished The feature of their win in Canberra was trol of the match and needed a 76th of wide-eyed wonder. deserve this,” she said. of the three Russians coming in, finishing third once again the quality of their attacking minute try to Jason Emery to make the When it was over, she thrust both fists into the “The fact that I have a world silver medal behind Medvedeva and at both play, their ability to execute at pace and the game safe. The Blues beat the Jaguares 24- air in triumph. “Actually I don’t really have any emo- because of something I did, not because of some- the national championships and European constant and willing support play which 16 in another scrappy match in which they tions right now - I left everything on the ice,” she thing everybody else didn’t do,” Wagner added, Championships. But she skated two clean pro- allows them to string together long and struggled to overcome handling errors and said afterward. Sitting in the kiss-and-cry area, the “that is so sweet.” grams in Boston to again finish third - this time complex try-scoring movements. indiscipline. The Tana Umaga-coached teenager came back out. She bopped her head to Skating after Gold, Wagner could tell from the against a much deeper field. She received 139.71 “I think our support play and our ability Blues seem to lack the edge to be a serious the music as she waited for her scores, squeezing crowd’s reaction that a mistake had occurred. She points for 213.69 total. Even after her fall, Gold still to keep the ball alive has been massive and threat in the tournament this season. her eyes shut and clutching a stuffed animal tight realized there was an opening for a medal but had a chance to pass Pogorilaya and secure a a lot of that comes down to our condition- The Crusaders’ win over the Lions in as the marks were about to be announced. quickly banished the thought from her mind. medal. But she also did a double lutz instead of ing as well,” Rennis said. “I think Phil Johannesburg showed they remain a seri- She finished with a total of 223.86 points, fol- There’s a picture on a wall at TD Garden of the planned triple and lost potential points because of Heatley, our trainer, and his team have ous title threat with four-straight wins since lowing in the footsteps of , who podium from the 2014 U.S. Championships - the edge on her triple flip takeoff. She earned done an amazing job. their first-round loss to the Chiefs. won the Olympic gold medal at age 17 in 2014, Wagner is cropped out of it. Now she’ll forever be 134.86 points for 211.29 total. “I feel really ashamed “We are a very fit side. We have been The Bulls beat the Cheetahs 23-18 in and , who won last year’s in all the photos from the 2016 worlds, a feat she of how I skated and I want to apologize to my pretty clinical in those last parts to storm Pretoria while the Kings posted their first world title at 18. achieved at the age of 24, when many skaters have country and to the crowd here - there’s really no home. We’re really happy with the attitude win of the season, beating ’s No American woman had finished on the podi- retired. “It definitely gets harder. I see this one over excuse for it,” a dismayed Gold said later. “It just and the work ethic.” Saturday’s match was Sunwolves 33-28 in Port Elizabeth. — AP um at worlds since took gold and here,” she said, motioning to Medvedeva, “do long shows that I’m not up there with the rest of the bronze in 2006. Even with Gold’s mis- program run-throughs with triple-triples on the world. ... I still have hopes for the 2018 Olympics, takes, her score guaranteed that the drought end of every combination, and I just think, ‘Oh, to but we’ll have to step back and re-evaluate what’s would end - it was just a question of whether it be 16 again.’ Then I remember that at 16 I couldn’t realistic for my future skating.” —AP would be Gold or Wagner. Wagner had the crowd shrieking from the moment she landed her triple flip-triple toe loop combination, and the powerhouse program to the “Moulin Rouge” soundtrack earned her a big score Kenya’s Kotut wins for choreography and expression despite two under-rotated jumps. She received 142.23 points for 215.39 total. Paris marathon As the music ended, her jaw dropped in exhila- ration, an ending that couldn’t have been more dif- PARIS: Kenya’s Cyprian Kotut won yesterday’s know the course layout. I simply planned to ferent from the “horrific experience” the last time 40th edition of the Paris marathon, adding to beat my own personal record,” said Kotut, she competed in Boston. At nationals in 2014, she his victory in the half-marathon here less than competing in just his second marathon. came in as the two-time defending champion then a month ago. “There were still some really strong guys, I did- fell twice in her free skate to finish a distant fourth. Kotut, 24, finished in an official time of 2hr n’t expect to be as far ahead.” With Wagner still haunted by those memories earli- 07min 11sec, well short of Kenenisa Bekele’s Visiline Jepkesho, also of Kenya, claimed er this week, best friend - who went course record from two years ago, but com- the women’s title in 2hr 25min 53sec, ahead of on to finish sixth in the men’s competition Friday - fortably clear of his previous personal from his Ethiopian pair Gulume Chala and Dinknesh reminded her that in 2014, she was out of shape, debut in last year. Kotut was one of Tefera. Jepkesho actually ran a slower time overweight and under-trained. eight runners in contention after 35 kilome- than when she finished third in last year’s race tres, before Ethiopia’s Gebretsadik Abraha and was almost five minutes behind the NOT ANYMORE upped the pace heading into the final 4km. course mark set by Boru Tadese of Ethiopia in “Because of 2014, I’m sitting here today,” Kotut then pulled clear shortly afterwards and 2013. Security was on high alert in the French Wagner said. She was still selected for the 2014 held off his rivals as he cruised across the line capital following terrorist attacks in Paris and : Clermont’s Patricio Fernandez (R) vies for the ball with RC Toulon’s New Olympic team because of her previous successes, unchallenged, with fellow Kenyans Laban Brussels, but Sunday’s race, which according Zealand centre Ma’a Nonu (L) during the French Top 14 rugby union match between but the debate about whether she deserved the Korir and Stephen Chemlany joining him on to organisers featured just over 46,000 run- RC Toulon and ASM Clemont-Auvergne at the Velodrome stadium yesterday in berth in Sochi stung. the podium. “I wasn’t too sure if I needed to ners, took place without incident in sunny Marseille, southern France. — AFP “I have so many people that for so many parts of speed up or not because I still don’t really conditions. —AFP