National Sports

BARNSLEY, England — Canadian Jeff Smith, who won his way back to the pro darts tour last month, made it to the final in his first event. The 44-year-old from Saint John, N.B.

MONTPELLIER, France — Vancouver's Vasek Pospisil upset Belgium's David Goffin 6-3, 1-6, 7-5 to advance to the final of the Open Sud de France on Saturday. Pospisil entered the match ranked 132nd on the ATP Tour, while Goffin was No. 10.

Carlo Ancelotti’s priority upon taking over at Everton just before Christmas was to get the team out of relegation danger in the English Premier League. Job done.

SALFORD, England — Dan Sarginson and Niall Evalds scored late tries as Salford Red Devils survived a Toronto rally Saturday to down the Wolfpack 24-16 in Betfred Super League play.

TORONTO — It appears Toronto FC put Pablo Piatti through a medical ringer, turning to the Maple Leafs and Raptors to help check out the Argentine's surgically repaired right knee.

BIEL, Switzerland — Leylah Annie Fernandez's stunning two-set upset of world No. 5 Belinda Bencic was a highlight for Canada despite losing to Switzerland 3-1 on Saturday in the qualifying tie for the Fed Cup Finals. Fernandez, from Laval, Que.

TORONTO — It was a script Maple Leafs fans have seen before. Earlier this week, in fact.

Friday's Games NHL Buffalo 3, N.Y.

CARSON, Calif. — Canada qualified for the Tokyo Olympics with a hard-fought 1-0 win over Costa Rica on Friday, thanks to a 72nd-minute goal by teenager Jordyn Huitema in the semifinals of the CONCACAF Women's Olympic Qualifying Championship.

INDIANAPOLIS — Toronto coach Nick Nurse keeps imploring the defending NBA champions to fix their flaws. The bigger challenge, right now, might be identifying those errors.