SPORTS TUESDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2013 Photo of the day Russian torchbearer dies after carrying flame in relay

MOSCOW: A torchbearer died of a heart attack after carrying Russia’s four-month, 65,000-km (40,000 mile) torch relay the Olympic flame as part of Russia’s torch relay leading up to has been clouded by mishaps. The flame has gone out dozens the Sochi 2014 Winter Games in February, an official said yes- of times since President Vladimir Putin handed it off in Red terday. Vadim Gorbenko, 73, a sports school director and Square on Oct. 6, and last month a torchbearer’s jacket caught Greco-Roman wrestling coach, felt ill after walking 150 metres fire as he carried the flame though another Siberian city. (500 feet) with the torch in his home city of Kurgan in western Cosmonauts took an unlit torch on a spacewalk last month. Siberia, said Roman Osin, spokesman for the Sochi 2014 torch The Olympic flame has been to the north pole and Lake Baikal relay. on a journey that will end at the opening ceremony in Sochi “He returned to the gathering place and was pho- on Feb 7. Putin appears eager to improve Russia’s image and tographed, then he said he was not feeling well and was taken build his own legacy by hosting the country’s first post-Soviet to hospital, but the doctors were unable to save him,” Osin, Olympics, but he has faced criticism over legislation seen in who travels with the relay, said by telephone. the West as anti-gay and some world leaders are staying away “We express our deepest condolences to his loved ones.” from the Games. Osin said Gorbenko, who had trained top Russian wrestlers The 14,000 torchbearers in the Sochi 2014 relay are not and won state honours, had suffered two heart attacks in the asked to sign releases but are warned that it involves some past. He was conscious when he was taken to hospital and physical exertion and their health is their own responsibility, had spoken to his son at his bedside before his death. Osin said. — Reuters Suns win 5th straight, top Warriors 106-102 Daniel Mueller performs in Steinsoultz, France on October 19, 2013. — www.redbullcontentpool.com

PHOENIX: Eric Bledsoe scored seven of his 24 points in field, including 4 of 8 from outside the arc as Minnesota the fourth quarter and the Phoenix Suns won their fifth converted 12 of 26 from long range. Minnesota had made straight game, holding off Stephen Curry and the Golden 11 3-pointers six times this season, including in Friday India busts 467 drug State Warriors 106-102 Sunday night. night’s loss at San Antonio. Nikola Pekovic scored 19 Bledsoe added eight rebounds and eight assists, Goran points, while reserve J.J. Barea had 15. Ricky Rubio finished Dragic scored 21 points, and Channing Frye added 20 for with 12 points. Mike Conley led the Grizzlies with 28 points cheats since 2009 the Suns. Curry scored 30 points, including 20 in the sec- before leaving with just under 4 minutes left with a bruised ond half, and Klay Thompson added 19 for the Warriors, left thigh. Zach Randolph had 20 points and 12 rebounds. who have lost three of four. David Lee added 18 points and 13 rebounds for his fifth straight double-double. Thunder 101, Magic 98 NEW DELHI: Some 467 Indian sportsmen and women and educational programmes were conducted to raise Golden State trailed by as many as nine in the third Kevin Durant had 28 points, nine rebounds and five have been prosecuted for failing drugs tests since 2009, awareness of the issue. quarter, but pulled to within 76-75 on Curry’s 3-pointer assists as Oklahoma City held off Orlando to win its 12th with track and field athletes and weightlifters leading The most recent high-profile cases of doping in that capped a 10-2 Golden State run. Maurice Speights straight home game to open the season. Russell the pack, according to the country’s anti-doping Indian sports involved six female athletes, including brought the Warriors even for the first time since 3:41 of Westbrook added 20 points, 12 rebounds and six assists for agency. Ashwini Akkunji, who won gold medals in the 400m the first quarter, sinking a 3-pointer with 1:15 left in the Oklahoma City, which has won six straight overall and 14 The National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) posted the hurdles and the 4x400m relay at the 2010 Asian Games. third to knot the score at 81-all. of its last 15. The Thunder have beaten the Magic in five list on its website which showed that 110 athletes and Akkunji, along with team mates Mandeep Kaur, Sini But Golden State, which surrendered the lead for the straight meetings. An 11-1 run near the end of the first half 85 weightlifters have been slapped with sanctions over Jose, Jauna Murmu, Tiana Mary and Priyanka Panwar, final time five minutes into the game, could not pull ahead gave Oklahoma City control until Orlando rallied within the past five years. Kabaddi, body-building, power-lift- tested positive for banned steroids such as stanozolol despite Curry’s best efforts. Phoenix opened the fourth two points in the final minute. Durant hit a free throw and ing, wrestling, boxing and judo were some of the other and methandienone in June, 2011. quarter leading 81-80 and stretched the lead to six on Serge Ibaka blocked a shot by Nikola Vucevic to preserve sports that thew up drug cheats, the list indicated. The women, who were banned for two years, blamed Bledsoe’s jumper with 9:20 to go. Curry made it 92-91 on a the win. Arron Afflalo scored 25 points and Vucevic had 13 Indian Sports Minister Jitendra Singh told parliament contaminated food supplements supplied by their for- 3-pointer with 7:49 left, but Marcus Morris hit a jump shot points and 16 rebounds for Orlando, which has lost 11 of in August that the government had a zero tolerance mer Ukrainian coach Yuri Ogorodnik for the positive and added a free throw to stretch the lead to 95-91. its 13 road games this season. — Agencies policy towards drugs in sports and several workshops results. — AFP Thompson made two free throws with 5:21 left to cut the Suns’ lead to one and had a chance to give Golden State the lead but his 3-point attempt bounced off the back iron. Bledsoe and Frye hit consecutive 3-pointers to NBA results/standings put the Suns ahead 102-95 with 3:19 left, but Curry answered with a long 3-pointer from the top of the key to Sacramento 106, Houston 91; Minnesota 101, Memphis make it 102-100 with 1:37 left. 93; Portland 111, Detroit 109 (OT); Oklahoma City 101, Curry missed a forced 15-footer with the shot clock run- Orlando 98; Denver 102, New Orleans 93; Phoenix 106, ning down and Bledsoe made two free throws to secure Golden State 102. the win. P.J. Tucker hit his only 3-pointer and Gerald Green added four points as the Suns closed the first quarter on a Eastern Conference 10-4 run to take a 33-27 lead. Phoenix extended its lead to Atlantic Division 59-46 with 1:27 left in the first half, but Curry scored five W L PCT GB points to lead a 7-0 run that brought the Warriors back to Boston 11 14 .440 - 59-53 at halftime. Toronto 9 13 .409 0.5 Brooklyn 8 15 .348 2 Sacramento 106, Houston 91 NY Knicks 7 16 .304 3 Rudy Gay scored 26 points in his first home game since Philadelphia 7 18 .280 4 coming over in a trade from Toronto, leading the Central Division Sacramento Kings past the Houston Rockets 106-91 Indiana 20 3 .870 - Sunday night. Gay added five rebounds and four assists. He Detroit 11 14 .440 10 finished 10-for-20 shooting in a dazzling home debut for Chicago 9 13 .409 10.5 the Kings, who had lost eight of their past 10 games. Cleveland 9 14 .391 11 DeMarcus Cousins had 21 points and 10 rebounds, and Milwaukee 5 19 .208 15.5 Isaiah Thomas added 19 points and eight assists to help Southeast Division Sacramento hold on to the lead for most of the final three Miami 17 6 .739 - quarters. James Harden twisted his left ankle early in the Atlanta 12 12 .500 5.5 third quarter but finished with 25 points, and Charlotte 10 14 .417 7.5 Dwight Howard had 13 points and 10 rebounds while Washington 9 13 .409 7.5 battling foul trouble in a disappointing end to Houston’s Orlando 7 17 .292 10.5 cramped three-game road trip. The Rockets lost at Portland on Thursday and won at Golden State on Friday. Western Conference Northwest Division Trail Blazers 111, Pistons 109, OT Portland 21 4 .840 - Damian Lillard hit a spinning fadeaway with one-tenth Oklahoma City 19 4 .826 1 of a second left in overtime to lift Portland over Detroit. Denver 14 9 .609 6 Lillard was guarded well by Rodney Stuckey as he tried to LAKE PLACID: United States’ athletes stand on the podium after winning the top three positions in the two- Minnesota 12 12 .500 8.5 drive to the basket, but he was able to hit a tough fade- Utah 6 20 .231 15.5 man bobsled World Cup event on Saturday, in Lake Placid, NY. From left are Nick Cunningham and Johnny away from about 8 feet. Detroit couldn’t get off a shot Pacific Division Quinn who finished second; and Christopher Vogt who won the event; and Cory Butner and before the buzzer. LA Clippers 16 9 .640 - Charles Berkeley who finished in third. — AP LaMarcus Aldridge scored 27 points for Portland, which Phoenix 14 9 .609 1 rallied from a 13-point deficit in the fourth quarter. Lillard Golden State 13 12 .520 3 finished with 23 points. Josh Smith scored 31 points, his LA Lakers 11 12 .478 4 most since signing with the Pistons as a free agent in the Sacramento 7 15 .318 7.5 Holcomb stays perfect offseason. Southwest Division San Antonio 19 4 .826 - Timberwolves 101, Grizzlies 93 Houston 16 9 .640 4 in World Cup season Kevin Love had 30 points and nine rebounds as Dallas 14 10 .583 5.5 Minnesota hit a season-high 12 3-pointers in beating New Orleans 11 11 .500 7.5 Memphis. The victory snapped Minnesota’s 11-game los- Memphis 10 13 .435 9 LAKE PLACID: A year ago, Steven Holcomb won six and took third, 0.25 sec- ing streak to the Grizzlies and also gave the Timberwolves medals on the World Cup circuit, which would represent onds behind Holcomb. their third win in the last four. Love was 11 of 21 from the a strong year for just about any bobsled driver. So far Holcomb’s gold capped a big weekend for American this season, he’s won seven. All gold, too. And to think, athletes in Lake Placid, plus put the finishing touches on the season isn’t even half over yet. a dominating swing through North America for the US Holcomb drove USA-1 to victory Sunday to cap off bobsled and teams. Holcomb’s medal was the another huge weekend for American bobsledders and 11th won by US sliders in Lake Placid. The rest of the skeleton athletes on the World Cup circuit, teaming world, combined, won 10. with Curt Tomasevicz, Steve Langton and Chris Fogt to “These guys are dominating,” said longtime US finish two runs at Mount Van Hoevenberg in 1 minute, women’s bobsled pilot Bree Schaaf, who worked as a 50.15 seconds. Holcomb is 7-for-7 this season, building television commentator this weekend. For the season, big leads already in the 2-man, 4-man and combined after stops in , Park City and now Lake Placid, the overall points standings. US Bobsled and Skeleton Federation possesses 25 of “If you’d have said I would win seven in a row in my the 54 medals awarded so far on the World Cup tour. It’s career, ever, I’d have thought you were crazy,” said always trickier for Americans to succeed on the tracks in Holcomb, who drove USA-1 to gold in the 4-man com- Europe, where the circuit will resume after Christmas, petition at the Olympics. “I don’t even know but then again they’ve never headed over to that side what to think right now. It’s kind of overwhelming.” of the tour with this much momentum. Holcomb, Tomasevicz, Langton and Fogt had the “You can’t just point to one thing,” said USBSF CEO fastest pushes in both heats, and with the way snow Darrin Steele, whose team had at least one medalist in was piling up on Sunday, they needed that extra all seven races contested on their home ice this week- oomph. Holcomb was the final driver down the track in end. “We’ve got really strong pushes, our pilots are the second heat, meaning he, in theory, was getting the improving, starts are improving and our equipment is slowest ice. And his time was 0.21 seconds slower in doing great. Everything’s building toward the Olympic that second run, but still enough to hold off the British Games.” Cory Butner and the team of Adam Clark, sled piloted by John James Jackson. Andreas Drbal and Chris Langton were 15th for the US. “We’re really firing on all cylinders,” Langton said. The other American sled of Nick Cunningham, Justin “Holcomb’s driving well and even when he makes mis- Olsen, Abraham Morlu and Dallas Robinson placed takes it’s better than other peoples’ best.” The British 17th. ’s failed to qualify for the sec- team of Jackson, Stuart Benson, Bruce Tasker and Joel ond run, though may have had the most spectacular Fearon finished in 1:50.22. It was a huge result for trip of anyone down the track. One of Rush’s brakemen Jackson, who tore his Achilles’ last summer and still slipped at the start and was unable to jump into the walks with a pronounced limp. sled, was skidding along the ice and then got pulled He still came plenty close to Holcomb, even with the into his spot by another push athlete. American on home ice. “This is Steve Holcomb’s track,” Rush managed to keep the sled upright, though his Jackson said. “Put Steve on any track, and he’s quick.” finish time was good enough for only 21st place, one PHOENIX: Golden State Warriors forward Harrison Barnes (40) drives on Phoenix Suns guard Gerald Green in the The German team of Thomas Florschuetz, Ronny Listner, spot too low to reach the second heat. — AP first quarter of an NBA basketball game on Sunday, in Phoenix. — AP