HOCKEY

WORLD JUNIORS: Jack Eichel and Chase De Leo scored in a shootout to help the United States beat defending champion Finland 2-1 in their round-robin opener at the World Junior Championship in Montreal.

Eichel is a freshman at Boston University.

Boston College’s Thatcher Demko tended the U.S. goal, stopping 28 shots.

SOCCER

ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE: Chelsea and Manchester City enjoyed commanding victories while Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool also won on a successful day for the top teams.

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John Terry and Diego Costa scored for Chelsea, which beat West Ham 2-0 to retain its three-point lead over City. City scored all of its goals in the first half in a 3-1 victory at West Bromwich Albion played in a snowstorm.

For United, Wayne Rooney scored twice in a 3-1 win over Newcastle that tightened the 20-time champions’ grip on third place – seven points behind City.

SKIING

WORLD CUP: German skier Josef Ferstl posted the fastest time in the first training session for a downhill at Santa Caterina, Italy, the final men’s race of 2014.

Ferstl, whose sole career top-10 finish came two seasons ago by placing ninth in a downhill in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, was the first starter following a half-hour break for course maintenance after 30 skiers completed their run.

Ferstl came down the 3.275-kilometer Deborah Compagnoni course in 1 minute, 53.28 seconds to lead Brice Roger of France by 0.09 seconds.

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BASKETBALL

HARLEM GLOBETROTTERS: Robert “Showboat” Hall, who spent nearly three decades with the team, died Wednesday in his hometown of Detroit.

A cause of death and his age were not available.

Hall joined the Globetrotters in 1949, and in 1955 succeeded Reece “Goose” Tatum as primary showman. Hall became player-coach in 1968.

SAILING

SYDNEY TO HOBART: Seven-time champion Wild Oats XI and American super maxi Comanche continued their duel on Saturday, 24 hours into the annual ocean race to the island state of Tasmania.

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Comanche, which was launched in October and is being tested in race conditions for the first time, led defending champion Wild Oats XI for much of the race since its start Friday in Sydney Harbour.

But by early afternoon Saturday, Wild Oats opened up a three-nautical-mile lead over the American boat, with both yachts completing about 250 nautical miles of the 628-nautical-mile race.

HORSE RACING

MALIBU STAKES: Shared Belief won the $300,000 race for 3-year-olds by a neck Friday on opening day of Santa Anita’s winter meet in Arcadia, California.

Ridden by Hall of Famer Mike Smith, Shared Belief ran seven furlongs in 1:20.69 and paid $3, $2.40 and $2.10 for co-owner and sports talk host Jim Rome.

– From news service reports


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