Kyle Busch wins Sprint Cup race at Richmond

Kyle Busch denied teammate Denny Hamlin a weekend sweep at his home track Saturday night by stretching his final tank of gas 107 laps to win at Richmond International Raceway in Virginia.

Busch won the spring race at Richmond for the third consecutive year, needing only to make it to the checkered flag before his gas tank ran dry. Lurking behind him was Hamlin, ready to pounce for a victory that might have snapped his early season slump.

Hamlin had already won his charity race, held Thursday at the track, and followed it with Friday’s win in the Nationwide Series race. But Busch’s car was just a tick better in the Sprint Cup Series race, and Busch led the Joe Gibbs Racing sweep.

Kasey Kahne, fresh off surgery to repair a torn ligament in his knee, finished a season-best third to give Toyota the top three spots.

Will Power of Australia won his fourth consecutive IndyCar pole position and the 200th for Team Penske at the Sao Paulo 300.

American driver Ryan Hunter-Reay of Andretti Autosport will start second and Scott Dixon of New Zealand qualified third.

FIGURE SKATING

U.S. ice dancers win gold at world championships

Miki Ando of Japan won the women’s title in the world figure skating championships at Moscow after overcoming Olympic gold medalist Kim Yuna in a duel of exceptional elegance. The victory by the Japanese skater, who also won at the 2007 worlds, took place in a competition that was originally scheduled in her homeland before it was hit by an earthquake and tsunami in March.

In ice dance, Americans Meryl Davis and Charlie White won the first world gold for their country in the discipline, outpointing 2010 champions Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir of Canada. The American sister-brother team of Maia and Alex Shibutani won bronze.

GOLF

Watson, Simpson share Zurich Classic lead

Bubba Watson made a four-foot birdie putt on the par-five 18th hole for a two-under 70 and a share of third-round lead with Webb Simpson on Saturday in the Zurich Classic at Avondale, La.

Simpson had five straight birdies in a 67 to match Watson, who has had at least a share of the lead after all three rounds, at 12-under 204 at TPC Louisiana.

John Rollins (69) was third at 11 under, and 2002 winner K.J. Choi (67) was 10 under along with Steve Stricker (68), George McNeill (65), Charles Howell III (66), Tommy Gainey (68) and Matt Jones (69).

Alexis Thompson has a shot at becoming the youngest winner in LPGA Tour history. The 16-year-old Floridian shot a five-under 67 in breezy conditions Saturday to take a share of the third-round lead with Song-Hee Kim in the Avnet LPGA Classic at Mobile, Ala. Kim had a 70 to match Thompson at seven-under 209. Amy Yang was a stroke back after a 72.

Thompson will be 16 years, 2 months, 21 days Sunday. The youngest winner, Marlene Hagge was 18 years, 14 days when she won the 1952 Sarasota Open, which was an 18-hole event. Paula Creamer is the youngest winner of a multiround event, winning the 2005 Sybase Classic at 18 years, 9 months, 17 days.

Thompson tied for second in the Evian Masters last year in France, a stroke behind then-No. 1 Jiyai Shin.

Sweden’s Alexander Noren shot a five-under 67 on Sunday for a share of the lead after the suspended third round of the Ballantine’s Championship at Seoul.

Wales’ Rhys Davies had a 68 and Spain’s Miguel Angel Jimenez shot a 69 to match Noren at 10-under 206. Australia’s Brett Rumford was a stroke back after a 73 and top-ranked Lee Westwood was seven under after a 69.

HOCKEY

U.S. opens with win at world championship

Chris Kreider started the scoring and the United States cruised to a 5-1 victory over Austria in its opening game at the world ice hockey championship at Kosice, Slovakia.

Kreider sped past Austrian captain Gerhard Unterluggauer and scored the Americans’ first goal of the tournament 14:42 into the game. Blake Wheeler added a goal 2:33 later, scoring with an angled shot after Derek Stepan’s quick pass caught Austria’s goalie flat-footed.

Austria replied with Marco Pewal’s shot over goalie Al Montoya’s shoulder, but Yan Stastny restored the two-goal advantage later in the second period. Kevin Shattenkirk and Craig Smith each scored in the third for the young American team, which outshot Austria, 32-13.

The U.S. next plays Norway on Monday.

New York Islanders defenseman Radek Martinek was hospitalized with an injury to his spine and a concussion after a hit to the head during the Czech Republic’s 4-2 win over Latvia at Bratislava, Slovakia. Martinek was carried off on a stretcher after he was struck by Latvia defenseman Arturs Kulda at 14:40 of the first period.

ETC.

Final Four vet Hewitt to coach George Mason

After losing a Final Four coach to the Atlantic Coast Conference, George Mason got one in return. The Patriots hired Paul Hewitt to be their men’s basketball coach. He replaces Jim Larranaga, who left this month for the University of Miami.

Hewitt was fired by Georgia Tech last month. He took the Yellow Jackets to the Final Four in 2004, but that was the only season he had a winning record in ACC play. He went 190-162 over 11 years at the school and was 72-104 in the conference.

Anabel Medina Garrigues of Spain defeated Kristina Barrois of Germany, 6-1, 6-2, in the rain-delayed women’s final in the Estoril Open at Oeiras, Portugal, and Juan Martin del Potro continued his comeback from a wrist injury by reaching the men’s final with a 6-2, 7-6 (6) win over Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay. Del Dotro will face Spain’s Fernando Verdasco, who advanced when Milos Raonic of Canada withdrew because of a back injury just after the start of the second set.

Nikolay Davydenko of Russia advanced to the final of the BMW Open at Munich when his semifinal opponent, Radek Stepanek, retired because of a hamstring injury. The seventh-seeded Davydenko led, 6-3, 4-0, when the Czech quit. In the final, Davydenko will play fifth-seeded Florian Mayer, who beat fellow German Philipp Petzschner, 6-3, 6-4.

Novak Djokovic advanced to the Serbia Open final at Belgrade after Janko Tipsarevic withdrew from the all-Serb semifinal because of a thigh injury. The Australian Open champion will play Feliciano Lopez of Spain on Sunday. Lopez defeated Filippo Volandri of Italy, 7-6 (3), 6-2.

Roberta Vinci of Italy won her second Barcelona Open title in three years, defeating Lucie Hradecka of the Czech Republic, 4-6, 6-2, 6-2.

The annual USC-UCLA track and field dual meet will be held Sunday at USC’s Loker Stadium starting at 11 a.m.

USC has swept the last two dual meets between the schools, and the Trojans women have defeated the Bruins three consecutive years.

USC’s women’s team is ranked fourth nationally, the men sixth. UCLA’s women are unranked, the men are No. 24.

USC’s women’s team features sprinters Nia Ali, Aareon Payne and Jessica Davis, hurdler Dalilah Muhammad and thrower Marissa Minderler. The men are led by 400-meter runner Joey Hughes and hurdlers Oscar Spurlock, Brendan Ames and Reggie Wyatt.

Hurdler Turquoise Thompson and pole vaulters Tori Anthony and Allison Koressel are among UCLA’s top women. Triple-jumper Jonathan Clark, 800-meter runner Cory Primm and pole vaulter Greg Woepse are among the top Bruins men.

The hammer throw competition was held Saturday at Mt. San Antonio College.

— Gary Klein

Emilio “Millito” Navarro, believed to be the oldest living professional baseball player, at 105 years old, has died in Ponce, Puerto Rico. He suffered a heart attack on Thursday. The infielder was the first Puerto Rican to play in the Negro Leagues.