COLLEGES
Sydney Dubois scored 51 seconds into overtime to cap Plymouth State’s comeback from a 7-3 deficit as the third-seeded Panthers (7-2) advanced to the Little East Conference women’s lacrosse final with an 8-7 win Thursday over No. 2 Southern Maine (6-3), in Gorham.
Alex Farley recorded four goals for USM, which took its largest lead on a goal by Megan Violette with 15:59 remaining in regulation.
GOLF
PGA: Keegan Bradley shot a 7-under 64 to take a two-shot lead on a day of low scoring at the Valspar Championship in Palm Harbor, Florida.
Bradley ran off four birdies over his last five holes, finishing with a 20-foot birdie putt.
Max Homa made eight birdies and was in a large group at 66 that included Emiliano Grillo and Ryan Moore.
LPGA: Inbee Park birdied two of her final three holes in a bogey-free round for an 8-under 64 and a one-stroke lead at the HSBC Women’s World Championship in Singapore.
Hee Young Park holed out from the fairway for an eagle to start her back nine and birdied three of her final five holes, leaving her a stroke behind her world compatriot, who is ranked No. 2 in the world. Five players were three strokes behind, including Women’s British Open champion Sophia Popov.
EUROPEAN TOUR: Denmark’s Thorbjorn Olesen set a course record with a 9-under 62 to take a one-shot lead after the first round of the Tenerife Open in Tenerife, Spain.
American John Catlin, the winner at the Austrian Open two weeks ago, had a chance for an even lower score after making 10 birdies on his first 13 holes. But he finished with three pars and two bogeys and settled for a 63. He was tied for second with three other players, including Garrick Higgo of South Africa, the winner at the Gran Canaria Open last week.
SOCCER
SOCIAL MEDIA BOYCOTT: English soccer’s boycott of social media is spreading after FIFA and UEFA said they will join the players, clubs and organizations in a four-day protest against online abuse.
The boycott will also be joined by English cricket and rugby clubs and the British Lawn Tennis Association, highlighting concerns that Twitter and Facebook, which also owns Instagram, aren’t doing enough to combat racist abuse on their platforms.
“FIFA supports the initiative from English football to call out discriminatory and other offensive abuse on social media,” world football’s governing body said in a statement. “This has no place in football or society more generally and we strongly condemn it.
“We believe that authorities and social media companies should take real and effective steps to put an end to these abhorrent practices because it’s getting worse all the time and something needs to be done — and done quickly — to put a stop to it.
The social media silence will be from Friday afternoon until late Monday evening. Much of the racist abuse is sent to players from anonymous accounts. Twitter and Facebook would only provide comments from unnamed spokespeople when asked for interviews to discuss the boycott.
Broadcasters are also taking part in the boycott, including Comcast-owned Sky Sports and BT Sport, which televise Premier League games in Britain and would usually show goal clips on social media. The protest means UEFA won’t be posting about the Women’s Champions League semifinals on Sunday.
EUROPA LEAGUE: Manchester United handed Roma a heavy beating at Old Trafford, winning 6-2 thanks to two goals apiece from Edinson Cavani and Bruno Fernandes in the first leg of the semifinals.
Cavani scored two of United’s five second-half goals, with Fernandes adding a penalty to his brilliantly taken first-half opener before Paul Pogba and substitute Mason Greenwood also scored.
• Unai Emery won the first battle against his former club as Villarreal defeated visiting Arsenal, 2-1, in the first leg of their semifinal.
Manu Trigueros and Raul Albiol scored first-half goals to give the Spanish club the edge going into next week’s second leg in London. The English side scored on a penalty kick by Nicolas Pepe in the 73rd minute.
HOCKEY
AHL: The American Hockey League will not crown a Calder Cup champion for a second consecutive season amid pandemic scheduling concerns. The trophy had been awarded every year from 1937 to 2019. The AHL allowed each of its five divisions created for this season to decide a playoff format. Only the Pacific Division will have a postseason tournament.
“While we are disappointed that we will not be able to award the Calder Cup this spring, we are grateful to have been able to provide a safe and competitive environment for more than 1,000 players to play AHL hockey and continue their development,” said Scott Howson, the league’s president and CEO.
The AHL, the top developmental hockey league for the NHL, said it plans to start next season on Oct. 15.
TENNIS
MUNICH OPEN: Fifth-seeded Nikoloz Basilashvili reached the quarterfinals by beating Daniel Elahi Galan, 6-4, 6-2.
Basilashvili, who won his fourth ATP title in Qatar last month, continued his bid for a fifth by saving five of the six break points he faced and converting four of his seven opportunities.
MADRID OPEN: Garbiñe Muguruza pulled out of the tournament after failing to recover from a leg injury. The Spaniard was scheduled to face Sloane Stephens in the first round.
OLYMPICS
BASEBALL QUALIFYING: The United States will open its second chance to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics when it faces Nicaragua on May 31 at Port St. Lucie, Florida, in a Baseball Americas Qualifier.
The Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Canada, Colombia, Cuba and Venezuela are also in the eight-team tournament. The winner qualifies for the Olympics, and the second- and third-place teams advance to a final qualifier in June in Taiwan, which will include Australia, China, the Netherlands and Taiwan.
A yet-to-be-announced roster of minor leaguers and released players will represent the U.S. Only players not on 26-man major league rosters and injured lists will be eligible.
SOUTH KOREA VACCINES: South Korea began administering fast-track COVID-19 vaccines on Thursday to athletes, coaches and others expected to attend the Tokyo Olympics.
The Korean Sport and Olympic Committee said the first group of about 100 people received the first doses at a state-run hospital in Seoul at the start of the country’s prioritized vaccination program for its Olympic delegation. They will be given second shots in the coming weeks.
A total of 930 athletes, coaches, officials and other support staff will be vaccinated ahead of the Tokyo Games, which is set to open on July 23. Athletes can receive the vaccines if they have already qualified for the Olympics or are in qualifying tournaments, so some may get vaccinated but not attend the games.
JUDO
IRAN SUSPENDED: Iran was suspended by judo’s world governing body as punishment for refusing to let its athletes face opponents from Israel. The International Judo Federation imposed a four-year ban after the Court of Arbitration for Sport ordered a disciplinary review last month which said a previous indefinite ban was not allowed.
The CAS judges had been tough on Iranian officials from the national Olympic and judo bodies and government sports ministry, saying the case “clearly reveals an institutionalized scheme” to prevent athletes facing Israelis.
The case began when former world champion Saeid Mollaei left the Iranian team in 2019, claiming he was ordered to lose world championships matches to avoid facing Israelis. The ban – backdated to start in 2019 and run into September 2023 – is provisional and can be lifted if the Iranian judo federation respects its rules on discrimination and accepts to compete with Israel.
The IJF said it “continues to defend the fundamental human values and rights of all its members, with a special emphasis on the rights of athletes and reiterates its commitment to fight against any form of discrimination in the sport of judo.”
Until the Iranian policy toward Israel changes, its judokas cannot compete at IJF events, including world championships, and officials cannot take part in the world governing body’s work. The ban does not affect Iranian judokas going to the Tokyo Olympics because that team is sent by the national Olympic body and not the national judo federation.
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