HOCKEY
Todd Skirving scored early in the third period and the Newfoundland Growlers snapped the Maine Mariners’ two-game winning streak with a 3-1 victory in an ECHL game Friday at Cross Insurance Arena.
Maine took a 1-0 lead when Fedor Gordeev scored from Mitchell Fossier and Mathew Santos 16:39 into in the first period. Newfoundland tied it just over a minute later on a goal by Brett Budgell, assisted by Alex Rindell and Orrin Centazzo.
Skirving gave the Growlers the lead 4:53 into the third and Tyler Boland added an empty-net goal.
AUTO RACING
NASCAR CUP SERIES: Jimmie Johnson’s NASCAR retirement and IndyCar experiment lasted all of two seasons.
The seven-time NASCAR champion is returning in 2023 to the series that made him a global motorsports star as the part-owner of Petty GMS. He’ll also enter about five Cup races.
Johnson told The Associated Press that his first race will be the season-opening Daytona 500, where he’s a two-time winner.
TENNIS
PARIS MASTERS: Unseeded Holger Rune advanced to the semifinals in Paris when top-ranked Carlos Alvarez retired.
In a match pitting 19-year-old former junior doubles partners, Rune was leading 6-3, 6-6 and 3-1 in the tiebreaker when the U.S. Open champion Alcaraz retired, a few minutes after having treatment on an abdominal muscle at the changeover.
Runenext faces eighth-seeded Felix Auger-Aliassime, who beat No. 16 Frances Tiafoe 6-1, 6-4 to stay on track for a fourth straight title. The Canadian had eight aces and faced no break points.
Novak Djokovic, meanwhile, stayed on course for his seven Paris Masters title, beating Lorenzo Musetti 6-0, 6-3 in the quarterfinals. He will face Stefanos Tsitsipas in the semifinals, after Tsitsipas beat Tommy Paul, 6-2, 6-4.
WTA FINAL: Jessica Pegula finished winless in singles in the American’s WTA Finals debut, losing to Aryna Sabalenka 6-3, 7-5 in a round-robin finale in Fort Worth, Texas.
Sabalenka had to wait for the outcome of the late match between No. 2 Ons Jabeur and fifth-ranked Maria Sakkari to see if she advanced to the semifinals. Sakkari has already clinched a spot.
American Desirae Krawczyk and Demi Schuurs of the Netherlands advanced to the semifinals in doubles with a 7-6(2), 6-3 victory over China’s Xu Yifan and Yang Zhaoxuan.
GOLF
PGA: Russell Henley had another 8-under 63 and opened a three-shot lead in the World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico.
Henley was at 16-under 126, one short of his career best for the opening 36 holes on the PGA Tour. He leads over Will Gordon (67) and Sam Ryder (65), each looking for their first PGA Tour title.
CHAMPIONS: Miguel Angel Jimenez birdied his final four holes in Boca Raton, Florida for a 5-under 67, giving him a one-shot lead over Paul Goydos and Rod Pampling in the TimberTech Championship.
The PGA Tour Champions event is the second of three in the postseason, with the leading 36 players in points advancing to the season-ending Charles Schwab Cup Championship next week in Phoenix.
Jimenez is already locked in, a three-time winner this year who came into the second postseason event at No. 5 in the Schwab Cup standings.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
