Digest

WINTER SPORTS

Chinese boarders dominate in Chongli

China bagged three gold medals at the FIS Snowboard Parallel Asian Cup meet which concluded at Taiwoo Ski Resort in Chongli, Hebei province, on Saturday.

Olympian Gong Naiying defeated her Chinese teammate Zang Ruxin to claim the women's parallel slalom title, while Kan Binbin overcame Yu Yunhan for bronze as the host completed a sweep of the podium places.

Chinese boarders also dominated the men's parallel slalom, with Sun Huan defeating defending champion Bi Ye in the final, and Zhang Xuan coming out on top in the third-place contest.

In Friday's women's parallel giant slalom event, the 25-year-old Zang, who competed at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, held off Jeong Hae-rim of South Korea to grab gold. China's Dong Xue defeated countrywoman Xu Xiaoxiao to take bronze.

The only event the host failed to win was the men's parallel giant slalom, with South Korean Lee Sang-ho overcoming China's Sun Huan for gold. Bronze went to Bi after he out-dueled South Korea's Choi Bo-gun.

Dressen stuns rivals in downhill comeback

In a stunning return from serious injury, Thomas Dressen won a World Cup downhill race in his comeback meet at Lake Louise, Alberta, Canada on Saturday.

Dressen returned to action exactly one year to the day after he blew out his right knee and dislocated a shoulder crashing at Beaver Creek, Colorado.

The German was just 0.02 seconds faster than Dominik Paris of Italy, who looked sure to extend his World Cup downhill winning streak to four, stretching back to January.

"It is just crazy," said Dressen, adding he still feels pain walking up and down stairs. "Even top 10, top 15 would have been great for me, a great result."

Paris had earlier denied what shaped as a fairytale win for the Switzerland team, finishing 0.24 faster than Beat Feuz and Carlo Janka. They tied for the early lead and shared third place.

SPORT CLIMBING

China's Song secures Tokyo 2020 ticket

China's Song Yiling narrowly missed out on a place in the women's final at the International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC) Combined Qualifier in Tournefeuille, France, but still secured a ticket to next year's Tokyo Olympics.

Japan's Ai Mori led the overall standings, advancing to the eightwoman final along with compatriot Futaba Ito, who finished fifth.

But the Japanese duo automatically qualify for the 2020 Games as part of the host's team, while second-place Slovenian Lucka Rakovec had earlier sealed his Tokyo ticket at the world championships.

Therefore, as a ninth-place finisher, Song was among the five additional climbers to qualify for Tokyo at the French meet. Russia's Iuliaa Kaplina topped the women's speed qualification, clocking 7.370 seconds, with Song second at 7.421.

BASKETBALL

CBA victories for Shenzhen, Zhejiang

Lester Hudson contributed a game-high 34 points and 12 assists as the Shandong Heroes thrashed the visiting Shanghai Sharks 119-85 on Saturday to snap their two-game CBA skid.

The host led 36-15 in the first quarter before Hudson and Li Jingyu combined for 27 points to put Shandong up 55-41 at halftime.

Six Shandong players registered double-digit tallies, with the Heroes totaling 13 3-pointers compared to Shanghai's five. Lithuanian Donatas Motiejunas registered a team-high 19 points and 11 rebounds for the Sharks.

Elsewhere, the Shenzhen Aviators cruised past the Zhejiang Lions 113-97 thanks to a game-high 26 points from Gu Quan. Shandong was 12-of-28 from the 3-point line.

SOCCER

China's FIFA ranking slides after Syria loss

Team China has dropped six places to 75th in the latest FIFA rankings, which were released on Thursday.

China, whose Italian head coach Marcello Lippi resigned following a 2-1 World Cup qualifying defeat to Syria in Dubai last month, remains the ninth-ranked team in Asia-Oceania.

Japan (28) leapfrogged Iran (33) to become the top-ranked Asia-Oceania team. South Korea is third (41) in the region, followed by Australia (42), Qatar (55) and Saudi Arabia (67).

The top five positions remain unchanged, with Belgium holding onto top spot, followed by France and Brazil. England is fourth, one place ahead of Uruguay.

Southgate: Croatia will not fear Wembley trip

England manager Gareth Southgate scoffed at suggestions Croatia will be afraid of playing his team at Wembley in their opening game at Euro 2020 after they were drawn together in the same group on Saturday.

England and Croatia will face off at Wembley on June 14 in Group D, which will also include the Czech Republic and a playoff winner.

Croatia beat England 2-1 in last year's World Cup semifinal before the Three Lions beat the Balkan side 2-1 at home in the Nations League and drew 0-0 away.

After being told Croatia coach Zlatko Dalic had said he feared opening his side's campaign in London, Southgate responded: "I think he's been tactically economical with the truth there.

"We have had three really good games, really tight games with them, with very little between the teams all three times."