golf
Snedeker, Hahn share lead at 202
• Brandt Snedeker had his ninth consecutive round in the 60s as he ran off four consecutive birdies along the prettiest part of Pebble Beach and wound up tied for the lead with 31-year-old rookie James Hahn in the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am in Pebble Beach, Calif. They were at 12-under 202.
• South African duo Richard Sterne and Trevor Fisher Jr. each shot a 4-under 68 to move 5 shots ahead of the field at the Joburg Open in Johannesburg.
• Rocco Mediate shot an 11-under 61 to set a course record and build a 3-shot lead over Tom Pernice Jr. heading into the final round of the Allianz Championship in Boca Raton, Fla.
winter SPORTS
Svindal captures world downhill title
• Mastering a bumpy and icy course made more difficult by a light snowfall and low visibility, Aksel Lund Svindal won the downhill title at the alpine skiing world championships in Schladming, Austria, by a huge margin. Svindal clocked 2 minutes, 1.32 seconds to win by nearly half a second and secure his second world title.
• Olympic and world champion Armin Zoggeler earned his 55th title and led an Italian sweep of the men’s luge World Cup at Mount Van Hoevenberg in Lake Placid, N.Y.
• Peter Prevc soared 143 and 142 meters to lead Slovenia to victory at a ski jumping World Cup in Willingen, Germany.
• Emil Hegle Svendsen won gold in the 10-kilometer sprint for his second title at the biathlon world championships in Nove Mesto, Czech Republic, while Olena Pidhrushna of Ukraine won the 7.5K race.
• Olympic champion Ireen Wust of the Netherlands won the 1,500-meter race at a speedskating World Cup event in Inzell, Germany.
• Kevin Reynolds of Canada upstaged favorite Yuzuru Hanyu of Japan to win the Four Continents event in Osaka, Japan.
tennis
Lepchenko’s win gives U.S. 1-1 tie
• American Varvara Lepchenko won in her Fed Cup singles debut in Rimini, Italy, to lift the U.S. team to a 1-1 tie against Italy, after Sara Errani beat Jamie Hampton 6-2, 6-1. Lepchenko rallied past Roberta Vinci 2-6, 6-4, 7-5 after the Italian struggled with a leg cramp in the final set, which featured seven breaks of serve.
• Richard Gasquet will face Benoit Paire in an all-French final today at the Open Sud de France in Paris.
• Top-seeded Marin Cilic will face Jurgen Melzer in the Zagreb Indoors final today in Zagreb, Croatia.
other SPORTS
Jason Giambi signs deal with Indians
• The Indians signed first baseman-designated hitter Jason Giambi to a minor-league contract with an invitation to spring training. Giambi, 42, spent the past three-plus seasons filling a part-time role with the Rockies. Giambi could become the Indians’ designated hitter, a role filled by veterans Jim Thome and Travis Hafner in recent years.
• The New Orleans Saints hired Rob Ryan as defensive coordinator. Ryan, the brother of New York Jets coach Rex Ryan, spent the past two seasons as Dallas’ defensive coordinator. In 2010, Ryan was Cleveland’s defensive coordinator when the Browns beat the Saints 30-17.
• Christen Press scored two first-half goals to lead the U.S. women’s soccer team to a 4-1 win over Scotland in Jacksonville, Fla.
— From wire reports
