Garcia gets major lift with Sawgrass triumph

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Florid: Sergio Garcia, arguably the best current player yet to win a major, enhanced his status with a playoff victory at the prestigious Players Championship on Sunday.

Phantom goal helps Finland overcome US

HALIFAX, Canada: Finland rallied to a 3-2 win over the US with the help of a phantom goal at the World Championships on Sunday to set up a showdown with Canada.

Penguins top Flyers to take 2-0 series lead

PITTSBURGH, Pennsylvania: Maxime Talbot, back after missing three games because of injury, snapped a tie in the third period Sunday as the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Philadelphia Flyers 4-2 in the National Hockey League playoffs.

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MVP Bryant lifts Lakers over Jazz

NEW YORK: Kobe Bryant accepted his Most Valuable Player trophy on Wednesday, then poured in 34 points to lead the Los Angeles Lakers to a 120-110 victory over Utah in the National Basketball Association playoffs.

Real crushes Barca, continues to celebrate

MADRID: Real Madrid celebrated its league title triumph in style by crushing arch-rival Barcelona 4-1 at the Bernabeu on Wednesday and helping deprive the Catalans of an automatic place in the Champions League.

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Celtics edge Cavs in series opener

BOSTON, Massachusetts: In a game where some of the top scorers in the National Basketball Association struggled to find the mark, the Boston Celtics proved they could defeat Cleveland even on a bad night.

Lakers' Bryant finally handed MVP award

LOS ANGELES: Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant was named the NBA's Most Valuable Player on Tuesday, the first time the prolific backcourt ace has received the honor after 12 seasons in the league.

Ghei gears up for a blast at Beijing Open

Indian star Gaurav Ghei hopes to battle his way through the strong Japanese field for a successful title defense at the Pine Valley Beijing Open which tees off today.