SKIING

World Cup slalom champ wins a race in Austria

Henrik Kristoffersen won a men’s World Cup night slalom to regain his dominance in the discipline on Tuesday at Schladming, Austria, two days after failing to finish the classic Hahnenkamm race in Kitzbuehel.

The World Cup slalom champion from Norway used a strong finish to his final run to beat five-time overall champion Marcel Hirscher of Austria by 0.09 seconds.

Alexander Khoroshilov of Russia was 0.63 behind in third. The rest of the field was more than 1.5 seconds off.

WOMEN’S WORLD CUP: Taking advantage of a home course, Italian skiers Federica Brignone and Marta Bassino finished first and third in a World Cup giant slalom at San Vigilio di Marebbe, Italy.

After leading in the opening run, Brignone finished a comfortable 0.55 seconds ahead of French standout Tessa Worley – who won three GS races this season – and 0.57 ahead of Bassino.

Defending overall champion Lara Gut finished fourth, and current overall leader Mikaela Shiffrin of the United States came in fifth.

Shiffrin maintained a 130-point lead over Gut.

BASKETBALL

D-LEAGUE: Forward Ryan Kelly returned to the Maine Red Claws, which held the rights to his contract.

Kelly, who is expected to be in uniform for Wednesday’s game at Canton, was an affiliate player for the Red Claws at the start of the season, but earned a call-up to the Atlanta Hawks before the start of training camp.

He played in nine games for the Hawks before being waived on Jan. 6.

FOOTBALL

COLLEGES: Clemson hired two defensive assistants to take over for losing tackles coach Dan Brooks to retirement and ends coach Marion Hobby to the NFL off its national championship staff.

Tigers Coach Dabo Swinney said Todd Bates will be the defensive line coach while Mickey Conn will coach safeties.

• Michigan signed contracts to pay Jim Harbaugh’s top two assistants, defensive coordinator Don Brown and offensive coordinator Tim Drevno, more than $10 million combined over the next five years.

GOLF

PGA: Rory McIlroy is targeting the Mexico Championship in March as his return to tournament action from injury.

McIlroy aggravated a rib stress fracture while finishing runner-up at the SA Open in Gauteng two weekends ago.

AUTO RACING

FORMULA ONE: Formula One’s new owners plan to add a street race in the United States in an attempt to improve a sport which they feel stagnated under Bernie Ecclestone’s control.

OLYMPICS

WATER POLO: U.S. water polo coaches Adam Krikorian and Dejan Udovicic are staying on for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Krikorian directed the women’s team to a dominant performance last summer in Rio de Janeiro, rolling to its second straight gold medal.

GOLF: The course that will host the 2020 Olympic golf tournament says it is open to changing its membership policy to include women.

The Kasumigaseki Country Club came under scrutiny recently when the International Olympic Committee inquired about the club’s membership practice. The issue surfaced in mid-January when Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike urged Kasumigaseki to admit women as full members.

– Staff and news service report

Copy the Story Link