Biles fights through kidney stone at worlds
DOHA, QATAR >> Simone Biles spent a portion of the night before her return to world championships in the emergency room. The sensation she chalked up to the usual premeet stress evolved into searing agony that at times left her crawling on the floor.
When a CT scan revealed a kidney stone — one she nicknamed “the Doha Pearl” — the reigning Olympic gymnastics champion grabbed her stuff and discharged herself from the hospital, telling the staff she’ll deal with the pain later.
“I heard rollercoasters might help kidney stones,” Biles said. “And I’m like ‘Well, I’m basically like my own little rollercoaster out there.’”
One that turns each performance into a thrill ride of its own. Smiling through each twist, flip and turn, the 21-year-old Biles was nearly flawless during qualifying on Saturday, posting the highest scores on balance beam, floor exercise and vault on her way to a total of 60.965 on a day when the Americans put up a team score of 174.429, a staggering 12 points clear of second-place Japan through six of 11 qualifying groups.
Stephens rallies to reach final
SINGAPORE >> Sloane Stephens overcame a terrible start against Karolina Pliskova to win 0-6, 6-4, 6-1 at the WTA Finals, setting up a championship match against Elina Svitolina.
Both Svitolina and Stephens posted 3-0 round-robin records before winning their semifinals.
Svitolina became the first woman from her country to reach the season-ending final after beating Kiki Bertens 7-5, 6-7 (5), 6-4.
Federer beats Medvedev
BASEL, SWITZERLAND >> Roger Federer advanced to the 14th Swiss Indoors final of his career by beating seventh-seeded Daniil Medvedev 6-1, 6-4 on Saturday.
Seeking a ninth title at his hometown event, and a 99th overall, Federer will play
93th-ranked Marius Copil on Sunday. Copil upset expectations of a Federer final against Alexander Zverev in a 6-3, 6-7
(6), 6-4 win over the fifth-ranked German in the earlier semifinal.
Finau keeps 3-shot lead in HSBC
SHANGHAI >> Tony Finau closed with three straight birdies for a 2-under 70 and kept his three-shot lead because of a late collapse by Justin Rose, who played the final two holes in five more shots than Finau required.
Finau was at 13-under 203 and led by three over Rose, Masters champion Patrick Reed and Xander Schauffele.
Korda shoots 69 to share lead
TAOYUAN CITY, TAIWAN >> Nelly Korda shot a 3-under 69 to share the lead with Wei-Ling Hsu after three rounds of the LPGA Taiwan Championship. Playing in front of a home crowd, Hsu finished with an even-72 after shooting 68 and 67 in the first two rounds.
Champ shoots 64, up by 4
JACKSON, MISS. >> Cameron Champ shot an 8-under 64 to open a four-stroke lead in the Sanderson Farms Championship.
Champ has held at least a share of the lead all three days at Country Club of Jackson, opening with a 65 and shooting a 70 on Friday. Corey Conners was second, matching Champ with a 64 to get to 13 under.
Kyle Busch on pole
MARTINSVILLE, VA. >> Kyle Busch’s road to the championship round was made a little bit easier when he won the pole at Martinsville Speedway. Busch turned a lap at 96.254 mph to earn the top starting spot in Sunday’s race.
Ricciardo beats Verstappen to pole
MEXICO CITY >> Daniel RicciardoRicciardo snatched the pole position from Max Verstappen at the end of a sizzling round of qualifying at the Mexican Grand Prix, setting up a Red Bull fight from the front row as both drivers duel for the team’s third win of the season.
Worley wins season-opener
SOELDEN, AUSTRIA >> Tessa Worley won the season-opening women’s World Cup giant slalom in difficult weather conditions.
Worley beat first-run leader Federica Brignone of Italy by 0.35, while Olympic champion Mikaela Shiffrin finished 0.94 behind in third.