Sports round-up

Giro d’Italia: American team Garmin won the fourth stage of the Giro d’Italia, a time trial held over 33.2 km around Verona, to take control of the race yesterday. Garmin rider Ramunas Navardauskas took possession of the pink jersey from American Taylor Phinney, of BMC, who had led the race since winning the opening stage time trial in Herning, Denmark. BMC, one of several teams to flirt with disaster along the course, finished 10th at 31sec behind Garmin.

Basket, NBA: Denver Nuggets staved off elimination yesterday by surviving a fourth-quarter surge to beat Los Angeles Lakers 102-99 in game five of their Western Conference NBA first-round play-off series. Andre Miller scored 17 of his 24 points in the second half for Denver who were fired up after Lakers centre Andrew Bynum had earlier predicted that Los Angeles would have little trouble disposing of the Nuggets.

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Rugby: Barry Maddocks (picture), the former Malta backs coach, has taken charge of the England women’s rugby sevens. Maddocks had been appointed backs coach for the Malta squad by Damian Neill, the national coach. The Malta Rugby Football Union said Maddocks played a key role in developing the fast handling and free, wide-running style Malta have adopted in recent years. The MRFU thanked Maddocks for his contribution and wished him success in his new challenge.

Horse Racing: Britain’s Jockey Club, the owner of race courses including Aintree and Epsom, plans to increase prize money this year to £16.7 million to help offset a decline in funding from the betting industry. Founded in 1750 and initially the sport’s governing body, the Jockey Club has evolved into the largest commercial group in British horse racing and reinvests its profits in the sport. Its 14 race courses also include Cheltenham and Newmarket

Paralympics: North Korea will make its debut in the Paralympics, which will be held following the 2012 Olympics in London. Chosun Sinbo, a Japan-based paper which reflects Pyongyang’s thinking, said the North was stepping up preparations for the Paralympics which will take place from Aug. 29 to Sept. 9. Athletes and coaches left for Beijing on May 3 to take part in joint training with Chinese counterparts.