COLLEGES

Four athletes from North Carolina’s Atlantic Coast Conference schools have written a letter urging state lawmakers to repeal a law that limits the protections for LGBT people.

The letter was signed by North Carolina fencer Ezra Baeli-Wang, Duke football player Chris Taylor, North Carolina State diver Gabi McDermott and Wake Forest men’s golfer Tanner Owen. They’re members of the ACC’s student-athlete advisory committee.

North Carolina lost 17 NCAA and ACC events during the current academic year because of the law. Scott Dupree, executive director of the Greater Raleigh Sports Alliance, has said the state could miss out on hosting NCAA championships until 2022 without a repeal.

HOCKEY

NHL: Pittsburgh Penguins forward Bryan Rust’s upper-body injury may be worse than the team initially feared.

Coach Mike Sullivan classified Rust’s injury as “longer term.” Rust left during the second period of a 4-1 win over Colorado last Thursday after crashing into the net. Rust has 12 goals and 13 assists in 50 games.

• Jim Vesey broke a tie game by scoring with 6:32 left in the third period as the visiting New York Rangers beat the Columbus Blue Jackets, 3-2.

TENNIS

WORLD TENNIS: Former champion Tomas Berdych beat Romanian qualifier Marius Copil 7-6 (3), 6-4 to reach the second round at Rotterdam, Netherlands.

Both players had 11 aces in a closely contested match where Berdych saved three break points. The fourth-seeded Czech broke the Romanian qualifier’s serve once.

In other first-round matches, Pierre-Hugues Herbert beat Feliciano Lopez 7-6 (5), 7-6 (5); Dutchman Robin Haase downed Germany’s Florian Mayer 7-5, 7-6 (3), and Russian qualifier Evgeny Donskoy won against Spaniard Marcel Granollers 6-4, 6-4.

SKIING

WORLD SKI CHAMPIONSHIPS: In a total turnaround, Luca Aerni won the combined event at St. Moritz, Switzerland, after being 30th fastest in downhill.

The Swiss skier was first on the slalom course and used it to finish 0.01 seconds ahead of defending champion Marcel Hirscher of Austria.

Hirscher, the best slalom skier in the lineup who started two racers after Aerni, looked stunned after seeing his time at the finish area.

SOCCER

CHINA: Brazil forward Cristiane, 31, is heading to China, the latest big-name player to move to the country as it tries to increase its profile in world soccer. Chinese media reported that the club said Cristiane would become the highest paid female soccer player in the world.

ENGLAND: Visiting Manchester City overcame Gabriel Jesus’ early departure because of injury to beat Bournemouth 2-0 and climb to second place in the Premier League, eight points behind Chelsea.

BRAZIL: Rio de Janeiro club Botafogo confirmed the death of a fan who was shot outside its stadium, the same venue used for athletics at the Olympics.

The club and police identified the dead man as 28-year-old Diego Silva dos Santos, who was shot on Sunday as rival fans clashed before the match between Botafogo and Rio rival Flamengo. Many police in Rio are going unpaid or being paid late, with reports of crime soaring in a deeply divided city.