Reuters Sports News Summary
Following is a summary of current sports news briefs.
Canada's Masse pips Seebohm to win 100 meter backstroke title
Canada's Kylie Masse ended the reign of Australia's Emily Seebohm in the women's 100m backstroke at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games on Saturday and continued their exciting rivalry heading into the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Masse clocked a Commonwealth Games record 58.63 seconds to pip Seebohm by 0.03 seconds in the lunge for the wall at the Gold Coast Aquatics center. Canada's Taylor Ruck finished third.
Emotional Campbell gets gold as Australia continue medal rush in pool
Cate Campbell fought back tears at the Commonwealth Games on Saturday after winning her first individual medal since ending a self-imposed exile from swimming. The 25-year-old Australian took off the whole of 2017 to deal with the disappointment of a Rio Olympics campaign in which she was the favorite to clinch both freestyle sprint titles but failed in both.
Woods and Mickelson off to rough start at rainy Masters
Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson were among the early third-round starters who set out at rainy Augusta National on Saturday looking to conjure up something special and work their way into contention at the U.S. Masters. With wet weather expected throughout most of the day, the scoring conditions at the year's first major may ease up as the rain should soften the notoriously fast Augusta National greens.
Basketball: James, Curry headline U.S. national team pool
NBA stars LeBron James and Stephen Curry headline a pool of 35 players selected for the 2018-20 U.S. national team, USA Basketball announced on Friday. The U.S. 2019 World Cup and 2020 Tokyo Olympics teams are expected to be chosen from the group with a national team mini camp scheduled for July 25-27 in Las Vegas.
Ferrari's Raikkonen tops the timesheets in final Bahrain GP practice
Kimi Raikkonen set a scorching pace in Saturday’s final practice session to keep Ferrari at the top of the timesheets in the build-up to qualifying for Sunday's Bahrain Formula One Grand Prix. The Finn, who also ended opening day of practice quickest, lapped the 5.4-km Sakhir race track in a time of one minute 29.868 seconds, not far off his Friday benchmark.
Michigan revokes Nassar's medical license, issues record fine
A Michigan regulatory agency said on Friday it had permanently revoked the medical license of Larry Nassar, the former team USA gymnastics doctor who pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting girls in his care, and fined him a record $1 million. The fine levied by the Michigan's Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs amounts to $250,000 for each of four violations of the state's public health code.
Motor racing-Vettel takes Bahrain GP pole in Ferrari one-two
Formula One championship leader Sebastian Vettel took pole position for Sunday's Bahrain Grand Prix with Ferrari team mate Kimi Raikkonen qualifying alongside on the front row. In a dominant session for the Italian team under the Sakhir circuit floodlights, Vettel claimed the 51st pole of his career ahead of what will be the four-times world champions' 200th start.
MMA fighter McGregor freed on bail after Brooklyn melee
Mixed martial arts fighter Conor McGregor was freed by a New York judge on $50,000 bail on Friday after being charged with assault for his part in a melee at a media event to publicize a series of UFC fights at a Brooklyn arena. The sport's best-known athlete and an international star, McGregor, 29, appeared before a judge at the Kings County Criminal Court, dressed in a blue, long-sleeved shirt that hid his trademark tattoos. He is charged with three counts of assault and one count of criminal mischief.
New Zealand's Webster defends sprint gold
Four years after felling English giant Jason Kenny in Glasgow, New Zealand's Sam Webster conquered the Commonwealth again to defend his sprint gold in style at the Gold Coast Games on Saturday. Auckland ace Webster took three sprints to stun Mancunian maestro Kenny in the nerve-shredding 2014 final but needed only two to despatch Jack Carlin, the Scottish world silver medalist, at the Anna Meares Velodrome.
World champion Glaetzer eliminated after 'nightmare' blunder
World champion Matthew Glaetzer, favorite to win the men's sprint gold at the Commonwealth Games, crashed out of the preliminary rounds on Saturday after an "embarrassing" tactical blunder against Malaysian rank outsider Muhammad Sahrom. Sahrom had qualified last of the final 16 riders and Glaetzer was completely caught off guard when the Malaysian attacked and roared away for a stunning upset at the Anna Meares Velodrome.