The United States will play Mexico, Jamaica, and Haiti in Group A at the CONCACAF W Championship this summer, which will determine qualifiers for the 2023 Women’s World Cup. Canada, Costa Rica, Panama, and Trinidad and Tobago were drawn Tuesday into Group B of the North and Central American and Caribbean tournament, to be played from July 4-18 at Monterrey, Mexico. The top two teams in each group earn spots in the World Cup, to be played in Australia and New Zealand from July 20 to Aug. 20 next year. Additionally, the winner of the event will get an automatic berth for the 2024 Olympics in France. The two third-place finishers in each group advance to a 10-nation intercontinental playoff that will determine three World Cup berths. The top-ranked US won the 2019 World Cup and Canada won the gold medal at last year’s Tokyo Olympics. As the two highest-ranked teams in the region, both earned byes to the W Championship … Lautaro Martínez scored twice to send Inter Milan into the Italian Cup final with a 3-0 second-leg win over city rival AC Milan. Robin Gosens made sure of the team’s place in the final late on, with his first goal since his move from Atalanta in January. The Nerazzurri next face holder Juventus or Fiorentina, who meet on Wednesday with the Bianconeri leading 1-0 from the first leg. The final is scheduled for May 11 … Freiburg defeated former Bundesliga heavyweight Hamburger SV 3-1 away to reach the German Cup final for the first time. First-half goals from Nils Petersen, Nicolas Höfler, and Vincenzo Grifo put the visitors firmly in control before the break and Hamburg’s response through Robert Glatzel was much too late in the 88th minute.
TENNIS
Casper Ruud advances to Barcelona Open third round
Second-seeded Casper Ruud defeated American Brandon Nakashima 6-3, 6-2 to reach the third round of the Barcelona Open. Ruud, seeking his second title of the season after winning in Argentina in February, broke serve four times to comfortably get past his 81st-ranked opponent. Sixth-seeded Diego Schwartzman of Argentina defeated American Mackenzie McDonald 6-2, 6-2 to set up a rematch against Lorenzo Musetti, who advanced with a 6-4, 7-6 (8) win over 12th-seeded Daniel Evans. Fourth-seeded Cameron Norrie advanced by defeating qualifier Egor Gerasimov 5-7, 6-4, 6-4. American Sebastian Korda lost to Spanish qualifier Carlos Taberner 6-3, 6-0 … John Millman tainted Dominic Thiem’s return from injury by beating the Austrian 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 in the first round of the Serbia Open … Defending champion Sorana Cirstea won her opening match at the Istanbul Championship, beating Kamilla Rakhimova of Russia 6-4, 6-1. The second-seeded Cirstea next faces Dutch player Arantxa Rus at the clay-court competition … American Coco Gauff was knocked out in the first round of the Stuttgart Openafter a 6-4, 6-2 loss to Daria Kasatkina.
COLLEGES
Women’s sports violations land Ohio State on probation
Ohio State’s athletics department has been given four years probation and hit with other sanctions as a result of self-reported recruiting and policy violations in three women’s sports, including basketball. The other violations, as outlined in a report issued by the NCAA’s Division I Committee on Infractions, were in the women’s fencing and golf programs between 2015 and 2019. The university had self-reported the violations and in December 2020 imposed a postseason ban for all three sports in 2020-21. The violations in women’s basketball were related to former associate coach Patrick Klein, who in his August 2019 resignation letter admitted he had violated policies with players and recruits. “As part of his efforts to establish personal relationships with student-athletes, the associate head coach provided them with impermissible benefits, including paying for manicures, loaning money for rental cars, and purchasing textbooks for a student-athlete who was not on scholarship,” the report said. The basketball team will have 52 wins vacated and lose regular-season Big Ten titles in 2017 and 2018, as well as the 2018 conference tournament crown.
ISU’s Big 12 freshman of year enter
s transfer portal
Big 12 freshman of the year Tyrese Hunter of Iowa State has entered the transfer portal. Hunter announced his decision on Twitter , about three weeks after he finished helping the Cyclones complete the biggest turnaround in Big 12 history. Hunter averaged 11 points per game and set school freshman records with 172 assists and 71 steals … UCLA guard Jules Bernard has declared for the NBA draft, although the senior won’t hire an agent to preserve his eligibility. He averaged 12.8 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 1.7 assists playing in all 35 games last season.
MISCELLANY
Devlin Granberg propels Sea Dogs in walk-off win against Binghamton
Devlin Granberg collected three hits, an RBI, and scored two runs as the Portland Sea Dogs (5-5) won in walk-off fashion, 6-5, against the Binghamton Rumble Ponies (3-6) at Hadlock Field in Portland, Maine. Frank German (2-0) tossed 1.0 perfect inning with three strikeouts while picking up his second win of the campaign. Michel Otanez (0-1) pitched a third of an inning, surrendering one unearned run on one hit with one walk in his first loss of the year … Beth Paretta has made a deal to run three IndyCar races on this season’s schedule, and perhaps more, in lieu of the Indianapolis 500. Paretta, who ultimately wants to run a full-time IndyCar program, made the announcement at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the same venue she announced the formation of her all-female team and the same venue it became such a compelling story last May while working with series powerhouse Team Penske. Swiss driver Simona de Silvestro will again pilot the No. 16 Chevrolet but this time Paretta Autosport will be working with Ed Carpenter Racing on June 12 at Road America in Wisconsin, July 3 at Mid-Ohio, and Aug. 7 on the streets of Nashville, Tennessee. It comes with a cost — bypassing a chance to become the 33rd entry for the series’ biggest race next month. But skipping the 500 could make Paretta’s team more competitive in the long run. Last May, de Silvestro struggled during qualifying week and sweated out an anxious Bump Day to hold onto the final starting spot on the traditional 33-car grid. She finished 31st.
… Lautaro Martínez scored twice to send Inter Milan into the Italian Cup final with a 3-0 second-leg win over city rival AC Milan. Robin Gosens made sure of the team’s place in the final late on, with his first goal since his move from Atalanta in January. The Nerazzurri next face holder Juventus or Fiorentina, who meet on Wednesday with the Bianconeri leading 1-0 from the first leg. The final is scheduled for May 11 … Freiburg defeated former Bundesliga heavyweight Hamburger SV 3-1 away to reach the German Cup final for the first time. First-half goals from Nils Petersen, Nicolas Höfler, and Vincenzo Grifo put the visitors firmly in control before the break and Hamburg’s response through Robert Glatzel was much too late in the 88th minute.
