Stars are short of some sparkle in play-off race

DUNDEE STARS slipped three points behind Manchester Storm in ice hockey’s Elite League play-off race last night after a disappointing 4-2 defeat at the Dundee Ice Arena.

Stars have 50 points from 53 games and Storm, who occupy the final play-off position, climb to 53 points from 54 starts.

Rick Pinkston claimed a sudden-death overtime game-winner as Fife Flyers edged play-off rivals Sheffield Steelers 5-4 at the Fife Ice Arena. AUTO: Italian Andrea Dovizioso fended off Honda’s MotoGP champ Marc Marquez at the last corner to win a dramatic season-opening Qatar Grand Prix for Ducati.

Dovizioso, also last year’s winner under the Losail circuit floodlights in another desert duel that went down to the line, beat his Spanish rival by a mere 0.023 seconds at the flag.

Britain’s Cal Crutchlow finished third for LCR Honda, an improvement on last year’s fourth, after Suzuki’s Alex Rins made a late mistake and opened the door to the podium. SKI-ING: Austria’s Marcel Hirscher extended his dominance of Alpine ski-ing as he won a remarkable eighth successive overall World Cup title.

The 30-year-old finished third in the slalom at Kranjska Gora in Slovenia to take an unassailable 509 point lead at the top of the standings with four races to go. Hirscher has also won the slalom and giant slalom titles for the season. CURLING: Scotland won silver after a hard-fought final against reigning Paralympic champs China at the World Wheelchair Curling Championships.

Skip Aileen Neilson and her team-mates suffered a 5-2 defeat to the Chinese at The Peak in Stirling.