BIATHLON

Bailey an impressive third at World Cup in Finland

Lowell Bailey placed third Saturday in the men’s 10-kilometer sprint race at the World Cup Biathlon in Kontiolahti, Finland. It was the best finish of Bailey’s career in World Cup competition and it follows his strong performance at last month’s Winter Olympics in Sochi.

Bailey, 32, of Lake Placid, N.Y., and the son of Elizabeth Bailey, a Southern Maine Community College faculty member in Brunswick, finished eighth in the 20k competition in Sochi for the best-ever finish by an American in that event.

BOXING

WBC/WBA: Danny Garcia successfully defended his two 140-pound titles late Saturday night in a 12-round slugfest with Mauricio Herrera in Bayamon, Puerto Rico.

Garcia’s improved to 28-0 in the fifth defense of his World Boxing Council light welterweight crown and fourth of his World Boxing Association belt.

TENNIS

BNP PARIBAS OPEN: Novak Djokovic beat Roger Federer 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (3) to win at Indian Wells, Calif., for the third time.

Federer still leads the series 17-16, having beaten Djokovic in three sets in the semifinals at Dubai two weeks ago. Djokovic will remain No. 2 in the world, while Federer will rise three spots to No. 5 on Monday.

• On the women’s side, Flavia Pennetta routed Agnieszka Radwanska, 6-2, 6-1, who played despite an injured knee.

AUTO RACING

FORMULA ONE: Daniil Kvyat became the youngest driver to score a championship point while Kevin Magnussen finished on the podium on debut as the season-opening Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne became a showcase for Formula One’s new generation.

At 19 years, 10 months and 18 days, Toro Rosso driver Kvyat set the record as the youngest-ever driver in the points, eclipsing the mark set by Sebastian Vettel at the U.S. Grand Prix in 2007.

HOCKEY

SPHL: Shannon Szabados, the goalie for Canada’s gold medalist women’s Olympic hockey team, made her debut in the men’s Southern Professional Hockey League, stopping 27 shots although her Columbus Cottonmouths lost 4-3 to the Knoxville Ice Bears in Ohio.

SKIING

WORLD CUP: The powerful Austria team justified its reputation Sunday with Austrian prodigies Marcel Hirscher and Anna Fenninger sweeping the last races and titles, in slalom and giant slalom, respectively, in Lenzerheide, Switzerland.

The childhood training partners fulfilled expectations from 20 years ago, when the ski-obsessed nation spotted their potential to win the overall World Cup title.

• Mikael Kingsbury beat Canadian teammate Alex Bilodeau in a dual moguls event to close in on the freestyle in Helsinki.

Bradley Wilson of the United States was third.

Kingsbury leads the overall standings with 810 points, ahead of Bilodeau with 779 and Patrick Deneen of the United States with 414 ahead of the World Cup finals.

Hannah Kearney won the women’s event, with Canada’s Justine Dufour-Lapointe second.

SOCCER

PREMIER LEAGUE: Liverpool and Arsenal capitalized on a rare slip by league leader Chelsea by winning on the road to tighten an intriguing four-team race for the title.

Liverpool routed soon-to-be-deposed champion Manchester United in a 3-0 victory at Old Trafford while Tomas Rosicky’s goal after 72 seconds sent Arsenal to a 1-0 win at Tottenham.

CYCLING

PARIS-NICE: Carlos Betancur became the first Colombian rider to win the cycling race while Arthur Vichot of France finished first on the last stage.

RUNNING

NYC HALF: Kenya’s Geoffrey Mutai completed the 13.1-mile course in 1:00:50 to go with his titles in the last two New York City Marathons.

Double Olympic track champion Mo Farah tripped and fell between the fifth and sixth mile and finished in 1:01:07.

– From staff and news services

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