Sports Digest: Kate Hall-Harnden sixth in long jump return to competition

For her first competition in nearly two years, Kate Hall-Harnden finished sixth in the long jump at the New Balance Grand Prix on Sunday in New York.

Hall-Harnden, a Buxton resident and Casco native, had a best jump of 20 feet, 4 1/2 inches. Lorraine Ugen won with a jump of 22-0 1/4.

Hall-Harnden has been out of competition since tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in her left knee on January 28, 2021.

Quanesha Burks was second on Sunday with a 21-10 jump, while Kendall Williams was third at 21-3 1/4.

BASKETBALL

NBA G-LEAGUE: Nik Stauskas scored 30 points and Grand Rapids Gold beat the Maine Celtics 111-97 at Expo in Portland.

Marcus Burk added 18 points for Grand Rapids, which also beat Maine Friday night, 116-108.

The Celtics rallied to tie the game at 76-76 on two foul shots from Chris Clemons with 11:07 left in the fourth quarter, before Burk hit two straight runs to help the Gold pull away.

Sam Hauser scored 30 points for Maine, while Denzel Valentine had nine points, 12 rebounds and six assists.

GOLF

ASIAN TOUR: Harold Varner III hit a 90-foot putt for the Eagle on the final hole in King Abdullah Economic City, Saudi Arabia to go from a late shot to a stunning win in the Saudi international.

Varner finished with a 1 under 69 at Royal Greens Golf and Country Club for his second world victory. It was an Asian tour event; and Varner has already won the PGA of Australia.

Varner faced a tough task to even make two birdie putts and force a playoff with Bubba Watson. He did better, a putt that went from one end of the 18th green to the other. Varner threw his putter to the ground and pumped his arms in celebration.

Varner finished 13-under 267. He won $1 million from the $5 million fund, as well as appearance money he received from Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund which drew 21 of the 50 best players in the world.

FOOTBALL

FA CUT: Teenager Harvey Elliott returned after five months from injury and scored his first Liverpool goal in a 3-1 win over Cardiff in the FA Cup.

Elliott produced a brilliant 76th-minute pivoted finish past the Kop for Liverpool’s third goal, capping the 18-year-old midfielder’s recovery from a dislocated left ankle.

• Nottingham Forest will enter the fifth round having ousted Leicester 4-1, having knocked out 14-time winners Arsenal.

It’s an incredible cup run for second-tier Forest, rekindling memories of their prowess in the last century before being relegated from the Premier League in 1999.

Forest stunned Leicester by scoring twice in 90 seconds through Philip Zinckernagel and Brennan Johnson to take a 2-0 lead in the 24th minute.

Bundesliga: Injured Erling Haaland saw his Borussia Dortmund team-mates outplayed and outclassed in a humiliating 5-2 home loss to Bayer Leverkusen in the Bundesliga.

• Wolfsburg ended their 11-game winless streak in all competitions with a 4-1 win over last-placed Greuther Fürth.

SPANISH LEAGUE: Barcelona have shown why he shouldn’t be dismissed as a threat in Spanish football just yet.

With quality and passion, the Catalan club beat Atlético Madrid 4-2 in the Spanish league to end a five-game winless streak against Diego Simeone’s side and return to the League qualifying places. champions for the first time since the third round.

• Valencia’s league winless streak reached five consecutive matches after being held to a 0-0 draw by Real Sociedad.

TENNIS

RETIREMENT: Juan Martín del Potro, who won the 2009 US Open, says he is likely to retire from professional tennis after playing tournaments in Buenos Aires this week and then Rio de Janeiro.

Del Potro’s career has been marred by injuries and he has been out of the circuit since 2019. He will face fellow Argentine Federico Delbonis on Tuesday in the Argentine capital.

Once ranked No. 3 in the world, del Potro said with tears in his eyes on Saturday that he was going through a tough time and knew people expected him to return to tennis.

OPEN SOUTH OF FRANCE: Alexander Bublik upset the odds by beating third-seeded Alexander Zverev 6-4, 6-3 in the final in Montpellier, France for his first career title.

In doing so, the 24-year-old Kazakh prevented 2020 US Open finalist Zverev from winning his 20th career title.

Bublik had lost his previous four finals but proved too strong.

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