Sports round-up

Swimming: Olympic star Missy Franklin, who opted not to turn pro in order to pursue a US college swimming career, has plumped for the University of California at Berkeley. “Committed to swim at Cal Berkeley! I am officially a baby Golden Bear??????” the bubbly teenager said on Twitter. California coach Teri McKeever was the head coach for the US women’s swimming team at the London Olympics. Franklin won the 100m and 200m backstrokes and two relay gold medals in London, along with a relay bronze.

Boxing: Unbeaten Danny Garcia stopped Erik Morales with a powerful left hook in the fourth round on Saturday to retain the World Boxing Association and World Boxing Council light welterweight titles. Garcia’s punishing left hand spun Morales and sent him falling onto the bottom rope of the ring on his back. When a Morales corner-man climbed into the ring, referee Benji Esteves stopped the fight 83 seconds into the fourth round. Garcia improved to 25-0 with his 16th early stoppage, dropping Morales to 52-9, and thanked his mum for the winning punch. “I get that from my mom,” he said. “All my family is left-handed.”

Challenge swim: Some 1,800 swimmers braved Hong Kong’s choppy waters yesterday to compete in the challenging annual harbour race across one of the world’s most famous and busiest waterways. Swimming enthusiasts from the ages of 12 to 78 took part in the 1.5 kilometre Victoria Harbour race which returned last year after a 33-year suspension. Swimmers dashed between the eastern points of the Kowloon peninsula and Hong Kong Island against a stunning backdrop of towering skyscrapers. The winner of last year’s event, 19-year-old Ling Tin-yu, repeated his success with a winning time of 16 minutes and 57 seconds.

Triathlon: Britain’s Jonathan Brownlee capped a remarkable year for his family when he claimed the world men’s triathlon crown after finishing second to Spain’s Javier Gomez in the world series grand final yesterday. Brownlee’s overall victory comes after his brother Alistair’s gold-medal winning performance at the London Olympics to give the Brownlee family the two major titles in the sport. Alistair Brownlee, the defending world champion, was forced to miss races earlier this year through injury.

Cycling: Christophe Bassons, a champion of the fight against doping following his experiences with the Festina team, has been banned for a year after missing a doping control, the French Cycling Federation (FFC) said. The former professional rider failed to attend a post-race doping control after the French marathon mountain bike championships at Langon, western France, held on September 1.

Motorcycling: German KTM rider Sandro Cortese won the Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix at Sepang yesterday to be crowned the inaugural Moto3 world champion. Cortese raced to the chequered flag in 40 minutes 54.123 seconds over the 18-lap race. He beat Zulfahmi Khairuddin, who started on pole, on a KTM bike by only 0.028 seconds. The win gave Cortese a 73-point lead over his nearest challenger, Luis Salom, of Spain, and with only two races remaining offering a maximum of 50 points Cortese lifted the first Moto3 world title.