March 2006 in Sports - March 12, 2006 (Sunday)

March 12, 2006 (Sunday)

• Dogsled racing: musher Jeff King is the first to reach Unalakleet in the Iditarod XXXIV, and wins the Gold Coast Award. The Inuit town of Unalakleet is the first checkpoint on the Norton Sound of the Bering Sea.
• World Baseball Classic, Second round:
  • Pool 1:
    • USA defeats Japan, 4–3.
    • Korea defeats Mexico, 2–1.
  • Pool 2:
    • Cuba defeats Venezuela, 7–2.
    • Puerto Rico defeats Dominican Republic, 7–1.
• Auto racing:
  • Formula One: Defending champion Fernando Alonso defeats seven-time F1 champion Michael Schumacher to win the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix.
  • A1 Grand Prix: France wins the World Cup of Motorsport by finishing second in the sprint race in Laguna Seca, California.
  • NASCAR: NEXTEL Cup: Matt Kenseth led the most laps, but Jimmie Johnson passed him in the last 300 yards under the green-white-checkers to win the UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
• Cricket – one-day international: Australian cricket team in South Africa in 2005-06:
  • South Africa defeats Australia by one wicket in Johannesburg.
  • Australia compiled a world-record score of 434–4 from 50 overs, Ricky Ponting top-scoring with 164 off 105 balls. South Africa responded with 438–9, breaking Australia's record to win the match with one ball to spare. Herschelle Gibbs top-scored for South Africa with 175 off 111 balls, while Australian fast-bowler Mick Lewis (113–0 from 10 overs) became the first bowler to concede over 100 runs in a ten-over bowling spell. The match has been named as one of the all time great one day game. Scorecard
    • See full article Australia in South Africa, 5th ODI, 2006.
• Rugby union: 2006 Six Nations Championship:
  • France 31 – 6 England
  • France trounce a hapless England side, and have the championship in their sights. (BBC)
• College basketball:
  • Conference championship games (winners, in bold, advance to the NCAA tournament):
    • ACC: (3) Duke 78, (11) Boston College 76
    • SEC: (16) Florida 49, South Carolina 47
    • Southland: Northwestern State 95, Sam Houston State 87
    • Big 12: (17) Kansas 80, (8) Texas 68
    • Big Ten: (20) Iowa 67, (7) Ohio State 60
  • Duke, UConn, Memphis and Villanova were named the top seeds for the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament. The play-in game will be played by Hampton and Monmouth on Tuesday, March 14.
• Biathlon:
  • Russia's second team of Anna Bogaliy-Titovets, Sergey Tchepikov, Irina Malgina and Nikolay Krouglov won the second World Championships in mixed relay at Pokljuka, Slovenia in strong winds. The four Russians were nearly a minute ahead of silver medalist team Norway, while bronze medalists France were a further minute adrift. (SI.com)
• Snowboard:
  • Swedish Olympic competitor Jonatan Johansson suffers a fatal accident during training for a FIS World Cup boarder cross race at Lake Placid, New York. (SI.com)