National Sports

PALOS VERDES ESTATES, Calif. (AP) — Minjee Lee shot an 8-under 63 on Thursday to take a one-stroke lead over top-ranked Jin Young Ko after the first round of the Palos Verdes Championship.

PUERTO VALLARTA, Mexico (AP) — Jon Rahm is the biggest star in the Mexico Open and he lived up to his billing Thursday, chipping in for birdie and making a late eagle putt for a 7-under 64 and a six-way share of the lead in the first round.

SAN CRISTÓBAL, Dominican Republic — Renee Watson's goal early in the second half helped Canada win its opening-round group at the CONCACAF Women's U-17 Championship with a 1-1 draw with Jamaica on Thursday.

TORONTO — Raptors all-star guard Fred VanVleet sat out Thursday's do-or-die Game 6 of Toronto's opening-round playoff series against the Philadelphia 76ers.

ESTORIL, Portugal — Montreal's Felix Auger-Aliassime advanced to the quarterfinals of the Estoril Open tennis tournament with a 1-6, 6-2, 6-2 win over Spain's Carols Tabener on Thursday.

SAINTE-THÉRÈSE, Que. — Mike Bossy was a fighter who wanted to beat the cancer that eventually killed him, Quebec Premier François Legault said Thursday before attending the Hockey Hall of Famer's funeral service north of Montreal.

The Canadian women's rugby sevens team returns to action on home soil this weekend, almost a year to the day that coach John Tait stepped down in the wake of an independent review into a complaint from current and former players.

GENEVA — Canada's Jocelyn Peterman and Brett Gallant won their final preliminary matches Thursday at the world mixed doubles curling championship to finish second in their group and set up a playoff showdown with Norway.

Football Canada president Jim Mullin is "cautiously optimistic" the amateur game in Canada has weathered the COVID-19 storm. The global pandemic shut down much of the sport in this country the last two years, especially tackle football.

KAUFBEUREN, Germany — Joakim Kemell scored in overtime to complete a hat trick, and Finland came back to beat Canada 6-5 in quarterfinal action Thursday at the world men's under-18 hockey championship.