Digest

FIGURE SKATING

China clinches five spots for Beijing 2022

China booked five places for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics at the World Figure Skating Championships in Stockholm on Saturday.

Sui Wenjing and Han Cong, silver medalists in pairs at the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics, finished second in the Swedish capital to seal their 2022 spot.

Peng Cheng and Jin Yang finished fifth to qualify for the Beijing Games. China still has a chance to take one more spot in pairs at September's Nebelhorn Trophy in Oberstdorf, Germany.

Chen Hongyi finished 21st in the women's event, while Wang Shiyue and Liu Xinyu were 13th in ice dance for two more berths.

In the men's competition, veteran Yan Han took 13th to qualify for Beijing 2022, but two-time world bronze medalist Jin Boyang failed to clinch another spot, finishing 22nd.

The ten places available for the Olympic team competition will be determined during the 2021-22 Grand Prix Series.

BASKETBALL

Jiangsu's Wu out for season with knee injury

CBA club the Jiangsu Dragons announced on Sunday that center Wu Guanxi will miss the rest of the season due to a knee injury.

"Unfortunately, Wu was injured when battling for possession in Thursday's game against the Tianjin Pioneers. A post-game examination diagnosed it as knee cartilage lesions.

The club has contacted experts to formulate a treatment and rehabilitation plan for Wu, and he will be sidelined for the remaining matches of this season," read a Jiangsu statement posted on social media.

Wu has averaged 16.4 points, 9.5 rebounds, 1.4 assists, and 1.2 blocks this term, and his injury is the latest setback for Jiangsu in a disappointing season under the charge of former Chinese national team head coach Li Nan.

With an 8-38 record, the team sits second-last in the standings, just ahead of the other team from Jiangsu, the Nanjing Monkey Kings.

SOCCER

Honduras denies USA Tokyo Olympics berth

Honduras punched its ticket to the Tokyo Games on Sunday, denying the United States a place in the Olympic soccer tournament with a 2-1 semifinal victory in the CONCACAF qualifying tournament.

Juan Carlos Obregon scored in first-half injury time and Luis Palma added a second for Honduras in the 47th minute when American goalkeeper David Ochoa's attempt to clear the ball caromed off Palm and into the net.

Jackson Yueill pulled one back for the United States in the 52nd minute with a thunderbolt from outside the box.

But Honduras held on to qualify for its fifth Olympics and fourth in a row.

The United States, meanwhile, will miss its third straight Games, last qualifying in 2008.

It was the second straight time the US was denied by Honduras, which also derailed the Americans' bid for a 2016 Rio de Janeiro berth.

A US men's team hasn't played in a major international tournament since the 2014 World Cup.

Mexico, the 2012 gold-medal winner, earned the other berth from the region by defeating Canada 2-0 in the second game of the doubleheader.

ICE HOCKEY

Ovechkin, Caps stay hot with Rangers win

Tom Wilson had two goals, Alex Ovechkin scored the 724th of his career and the Washington Capitals held on to beat the New York Rangers 5-4 Sunday for their 10th victory in 11 games.

Ovechkin has 11 goals in those 11 games and leads the team with 18 this season. He's seven shy of tying Marcel Dionne for fifth on the NHL career goal-scoring list.

The Capitals led 4-0 early in the third period on a goal by Evgeny Kuznetsov before a Rangers scoring flurry made things interesting. TJ Oshie's deflection goal with 8:14 left that gave him a three-point game proved crucial as it stood up as the game-winner.

Colin Blackwell scored twice on his 28th birthday, No 1 pick Alexis Lafreniere scored the fifth goal of his rookie season and Chris Kreider scored on the power play, cutting New York's deficit to one with 3:52 left. Ilya Samsonov made a few final saves to give him 16 in his second consecutive victory.

Kuznetsov has 12 goals in his past 10 games and Wilson four in four since returning from a seven-game suspension. Oshie assisted on Ovechkin's goal and one by Wilson, and Jakub Vrana picked up his first point in five games.

GOLF

Park wins wire-to-wire at LPGA's Kia Classic

Park In-bee opened her LPGA Tour season with a wire-to-wire victory Sunday in the Kia Classic in California on the eve of the first major championship of the season.

The Hall of Famer finally put it all together at Aviara Golf Club, winning her 21st LPGA Tour title after finishing second on the scenic course in 2010, 2016 and 2019. She tied LPGA founder Marilynn Smith for 25th place on the victory list and moved within four of matching Pak Se-ri for the South Korean mark.

"She's somebody that I always looked up to when I was growing up, and obviously she's always big in my heart," Park said about Pak."Trying to follow in her footsteps is always a great thing. Really happy that I'm getting close."

Park closed with a 2-under 70 for a five-stroke victory－the same margin she took into the day－over Lexi Thompson and Amy Olson. Park finished at 14-under 274, opening with rounds of 66, 69 and 69.

The 32-year-old Park, ranked fourth in the world, now heads to the desert for the ANA Inspiration in Rancho Mirage, California.

Xinhua - Agencies