Sports / In brief

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This article was published 07/04/2025 (213 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Grondin golden at snowboard World Cup

BEAUPRÉ, Que. — Canada’s Eliot Grondin struck World Cup gold in men’s snowboard cross to wrap up the season at Mont-Sainte-Anne on Sunday.

France’s Aidan Chollet and Loan Bozzolo grabbed silver and bronze, respectively.

Grondin, from Sainte-Marie, Que., won silver in Saturday’s final to clinch his second consecutive Crystal Globe, the overall season title.

He needed a top-three finish in Saturday’s final to secure the Crystal Globe.

Grondin won three gold, three silver and a bronze in World Cup events this season.

The 23-year-old also won world championship gold on March 28 in Switzerland.

Brooks finishes ninth at Surf  City Pro

LA LIBERTAD, El Salvador — Canadian Erin Brooks finished ninth at the Surf City El Salvador Pro on Saturday after being edged out by American Bella Kenworthy in a tight round-of-16 battle.

It was a back-and-forth heat, with both surfers looking to put together the highest-scoring pair of waves. A 7.00 moved Brooks ahead with a combined 11.77 score but Kenworthy answered with a 5.83 that, combined with an earlier score of 6.33, put her in the lead at 12.16.

Brooks then ran out of time to catch her. Kenworthy moved on to face American Gabriela Bryan in quarterfinal action.

The event is the fourth stop of the season on the Championship Tour.

Sagstrom triumphant at T-Mobile Match Play

NORTH LAS VEGAS, Nev. — Madelene Sagstrom ended more than a five-year LPGA Tour victory drought, overcoming the loss of a four-hole lead at difficult Shadow Creek in a 1-up victory over Lauren Coughlin on Sunday in the T-Mobile Match Play final.

Sagstrom took the lead for good with a par at the par-5 16th hole. Coughlin made a double bogey on the hole.

The final match reached the 18th green for the first time in the five-year-old event.

Sagstrom had a four-hole lead after just six holes when Coughlin bogeyed No. 2 and the Swede rolled off three consecutive birdies beginning at No. 4. But then the match changed, with a suddenly shaky Sagstrom missing off the tee and failing to navigate the lightning-quick greens that took even well-struck approach shots into the rough.

Coughlin claimed five of the next six holes to take the lead. Then Coughlin bogeyed the par-3 13th, and Sagstrom made par to pull back even, which is where the match stood until the 16th.

Both players failed to stay out of the rough, with Coughlin even twice chipping from about the same spot after the ball rolled back on her. Coughlin finally conceded the hole after her 30-foot putt went well past and the double bogey put Sagstrom back in the lead.

Harman takes on wind, wins Texas Open

SAN ANTONIO — Brian Harman handled the wind and the chill Sunday with a pair of key birdies on the back nine Sunday in the Valero Texas Open, closing with a 3-over 75 for a three-shot victory, his first title since the 2023 British Open.

Harman began the final round with a three-shot lead and it soon became a tight battle with Andrew Novak, who was going for his first PGA Tour victory and a spot in the Masters.

Harman never lost the lead, though it dropped to one shot until birdies on the 12th and 14th holes. He followed that with a pair of bogeys, but left the mistakes at the end to Novak.

Ryan Gerard had a 69 — one of only seven rounds under par — to finish runner-up. Novak’s bogey-bogey finish for a 76 dropped him into a tie for third with Maverick McNealy (72).

Verstappen ‘perfection’ at Japanese Grand Prix

SUZUKA, Japan — Max Verstappen won Sunday’s Japanese Grand Prix for his first victory of the young season and just the third in 17 races but needed a drive that his Red Bull team engineer called “perfection” to get it done.

It was Verstappen’s fourth straight victory on the Suzuka circuit in central Japan and breaks the momentum of the McLarens of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, who won the season’s first two races in Australia and China.

The four-time defending Formula 1 champion, Verstappen started from pole position after setting a course-record time in qualifying, which he called “insane.”

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc finished fourth followed by George Russell of Mercedes and teammate Kimi Antonelli in sixth. Japanese driver Yuki Tsunoda finished 12th in his first drive with Red Bull’s top team.

Norris leads the driver’s standings after three of 24 races with 62 points to 61 for Verstappen.

— from the news services