sport world

After a dogfight in the first half, the No. 2-seeded Sparks pulled away from the fifth-seeded Phoenix Mercury, and the defending WNBA champions won their playoff opener and the first game of their semifinal series Tuesday. The Sparks defense helped them stifle Phoenix in the second half of a 79-66 victory. “It went just like I thought it would, you’ve got champions over there,” said Sparks coach B...

Rancho Dominguez Prep looked ready to redeem itself from a loss to Legacy early last season in its season opener on Thursday. But that was not the case as the Lobos fell to the Tigers 35-28. The Lobos (0-1) took an early 7-0 lead when senior Tumac Summerville intercepted a pass by Legacy’s quarterback and took it all the way back for a 41-yard touchdown with 8:24 remaining in the first quarter. Bu...

NEW YORK >> The question was rather simple after Angelique Kerber became only the second defending U.S. Open champion in the professional era to lose in the first round. The surprisingly lopsided 6-3, 6-1 loss to 45th-ranked Naomi Osaka of Japan under the closed roof in Arthur Ashe Stadium at a rainy Flushing Meadows on Tuesday was former No. 1 Kerber’s latest in a long list of disappointing...

Ranked No. 4 in the CIF Southe Section’s Division 4 poll, the Downey High football team expected a better start to the season than what it got against Santa Margarita. The Vikings were totally overmatched against a Trinity League opponent in a 56-0 loss last Friday night. Particularly uncharacteristic for the Vikings was an offensive line that struggled to slow down the Eagles’ pass rushers. “Th...

Ranking the top 10 sports events Aug. 28 to Sept. 3 you won’t want to miss: NO. 1: COLLEGE FOOTBALL SEASON OPENERS USC vs. WESTERN MICHIGAN Details/TV: At the Coliseum, Saturday at 2:15 p.m., Pac-12 Network UCLA vs. TEXAS A&M Details/TV: At the Rose Bowl, Sunday at 4:30 p.m., Chael 11 Admire Sam Daold while he’s still in got some Coliseum eligibility and a Heisman campaign. Also keep in mi...

LONG BEACH >> A 73rd-minute penalty kick and a shot cleared off of the line in the last seconds of overtime helped the Long Beach State women’s soccer team avoid a season-opening upset to Cal State Northridge on Friday night at George Allen Field. LBSU dominated possession and outshot the visiting Matadors, but the Big West Conference foes finished tied 1-1 in the nonconference match. The game will not count toward the conference standings, but will help both teams’ RPI in the long run. The 49ers (0-0-1) will visit CSUN (0-0-1) on Oct. 26 for the conference regular-season finale. LBSU be...

Pat Gudauskas competes in quarterfinals match against Tomas Hermes during the US Open of Surfing at Huntington Beach Pier in Huntington Beach on Sunday, August 6, 2017.(Photo by Kyusung Gong, Orange County Register/SCNG) Kanoa Igarashi competes in the quarterfinals match against Richardo Chri...

EAST MEADOW, N.Y. >> Ryan Lochte set a meet record with a time of 1:59.24 in the finals of the men’s 200 meter individual medley Sunday at the U.S. Open. Lochte bested the previous mark of 1:59.26 set by Michael Phelps on Nov. 30, 2006. Xavier Mohammed finished second in 2:00.47, and Sam Stewa...

Huntington Beach >> Kanoa Igarashi had a plan going into the finals of the U.S. Open of Surfing: Use his local knowledge, surf his heart out and give it his all. That’s just what the 19-year-old Huntington Beach surfer did in the finals against Brazilian Tomas Hermes, a win that eaed him a $...

LOS ANGELES >> Linebacker Cameron Smith is considered one of the best players at USC. But he will not play the first half of the season-opener against Weste Michigan because he was ejected from last season’s Rose Bowl. The linebackers were a mostly unfamiliar group with Smith. Without him, e...

Huntington Beach >> There was no way around it – one of the San Clemente surfers in the water was going to be sent packing. Would it be one of the Gudauskas brothers, Taer or Pat, who are no strangers to the competitive circuit, grinding for the past decade alongside the world’s best surfers...

The concrete in the skate bowl has dried, the city on the sand is nearly complete, and a hurricane might bring better-than-decent waves to the Vans U.S. Open of Surfing. The action sports event, which kicks off on July 29, aually draws some of the world’s best surfers, skaters and BMX competitors,...

SOUTHPORT, England >> During one of Jordan Spieth’s many low points Sunday in the British Open, his caddie reminded him of a photo from a Mexico beach holiday two weeks ago that showed him in All-Star company that included Michael Phelps and Michael Jordan. The message: “You belong in that gro...

The biggest badminton competition in North or South America kicks off today in Anaheim. The U.S. Open Badminton Championships will bring more than 230 of the top players from around the world to the Anaheim Convention Center for matches through Sunday. Play starts with first-round men’s singles matc...

CARSON >> The love and admiration for Manchester United ran throughout StubHub Center Saturday. The majority of the 25,667 in attendance came dressed in the shirt of their favorite Manchester United player, both past and present, and erupted in cheers at every run and move by players like Paul...

INGLEWOOD >> Finesse beat fire three times at The Forum Saturday night, even though it was hot finesse. You realized how hot when you saw people try to shake hands with Miguel Berchelt, the main event wier. He politely declined. His fist was aching from the many times it coected with the f...

BEDMINSTER, N.J. >> Shanshan Feng increased her lead in the U.S. Women’s Open and lost the spotlight. It happens when the president of the United States shows up. Retuing from a short trip to France, President Donald Trump pulled into his Trump National Golf Club on Friday in middle of the s...

BEDMINSTER, N.J. >> The U.S. Women’s Open has not had a repeat wier since Karrie Webb in 2001 and the chances of Brittany Lang doing it this year don’t seem good. The 31-year-old Lang has finished no better than 13th in 14 events on the LPGA Tour, and she missed the cut in the KPMG Women’s P...

LONDON — Venus Williams won her first teis match since being sued by the estate of a Florida man who died after a car crash police say she caused. The 10th-seeded Williams beat Elise Mertens 7-6 (7), 6-4 Monday in the first round at Wimbledon, a touament the American has won five times. Last wee...

CARSON >> The kids continue to be all right for the Galaxy and Coach Curt Onalfo. Ariel Lassiter (22 years old) and Bradford Jamieson IV (20 years old) provided the Galaxy with all the offense Wednesday, scoring a goal apiece in the second half to lift the club to a 2-0 victory over Sacramento...