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HONG KONG -- John Moonlight scored a pair of tries as Canada defeated Portugal 35-7 Friday in its opening match at the Hong Kong Sevens rugby tournament. The Canadian men improved their career record against Portugal to 15-9-0. Canada, which is currently ninth in the series standings, is coming off three impressive performances in the U.S., New Zealand and Japan, where it qualified for the quarter-finals of the elite Cup competition each time. Nanyak Dala, Conor Trainor and Sean White also scored tries Friday for Canada, which will face No. 8 Argentina and No. 4 England on Saturday. Captain Nathan Hirayama, who missed the final day of action in Tokyo last time out due to injury, converted all five Canadian tries. Pedro Bettencourt had the lone try for No. 14 Portugal. Moonlight opened the scoring with a try just 39 seconds into the match. Hirayama then converted tries from Dala and Trainor to put Canada up 21-0 by the 7:20 mark of the first half. Bettencourt got Portugal on the board late, cutting Canadas lead to 21-7 at the break. Moonlight struck quickly to open the second half with a try 50 seconds in. That was all the scoring until Whites try in extra time. In other games, Fiji opened its title defence by blowing away Wales 42-7. In a pool matchup of last years finalists, Fiji ran in six tries to one to put a smile on the face of coach Ben Ryan. "Lets not get carried away. We havent qualified for anything as yet," Ryan said. "We have a far way to go before we can think of defending our title." Fiji, the most successful side at the mecca of sevens rugby, is bidding for a third successive title to go along with hat tricks in 1990-92 and 1997-99. England was the last team to win three in a row, 10 years ago. The Pacific Islanders, coming off victory in Tokyo last weekend, led the charge of all the big guns on the opening night. World series leader South Africa defeated France 31-7, and New Zealand brushed aside Scotland 33-0. Of the top four seeds, England had the hardest time having to ward off a feisty challenge from Argentina, 19-12. In qualifying for core team status in next seasons series, Japan was the most impressive in romps over Uruguay and Trinidad and Tobago, thanks to wingers Yoshikazu Fujita and Kenki Fukuoka, who were released by 15s coach Eddie Jones. Host Hong Kong, Zimbabwe, Italy and Russia also emerged unbeaten in the 12-team second-tier competition. The winner of that tournament will join the core teams in the first-tier series next year. Also Friday, the Canadian women defeated France 24-0 to win their second consecutive Hong Kong Invitational Sevens title. The event was a tuneup for the Womens Sevens World Series tournament next week in Guangzhou, China. Canada is currently third in the womens series with 48 points. Australia and New Zealand each have 56. With files from The Associated Press <a href="http://www.authenticlakingspro.com/Dion-phaneuf-kings-jersey/">Dion Phaneuf Jersey</a>. - The Toronto Blue Jays have optioned pitchers Kyle Drabek, Chad Jenkins and Sean Nolin to triple-A Buffalo. <a href="http://www.authenticlakingspro.com/Nate-thompson-kings-jersey/">Nate Thompson Jersey</a>. The Brazilian heads into Saturday afternoons race coming off a close runner-up finish to Ryan Hunter-Reay in the Indianapolis 500. http://www.authenticlakingspro.com/Dave-taylor-kings-jersey/. After deputy commissioner Bill Daly said the league would consider pulling out of Sochi if something "significant" happens before players arrive, those set to participate are trying not to worry about that scenario. <a href="http://www.authenticlakingspro.com/Luc-robitaille-kings-jersey/">Luc Robitaille Jersey</a>. A rainy day saw the former champion Djokovic handle 14th-seeded Frenchman Jo- Wilfried Tsonga 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (7-5) under the roof on the famed Centre Court. <a href="http://www.authenticlakingspro.com/Oscar-fantenberg-kings-jersey/">Oscar Fantenberg Jersey</a>. PETERSBURG, Fla.PARIS -- Nothing came easily for Maria Sharapova in the French Open final. Serves hit by her surgically repaired shoulder often missed the mark, resulting in 12 double-faults. Shots that would be winners against most opponents were retrieved by Simona Halep and sent right back. Leads that usually hold up vanished in a blink. On a muggy afternoon, with the temperature in the high 70s (20s Celsius), points were lung-searing struggles. Sharapova was up to the task. In an entertaining and undulating championship match -- the first womens final at Roland Garros in 13 years to go three sets -- Sharapova showed that shes as tough as they come, particularly on the red clay that used to flummox her. She edged Halep 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-4 Saturday to win a second French Open title in three years. "This is the toughest Grand Slam final Ive ever played," Sharapova said. It is her fifth major trophy in all. Remarkably, Sharapova owns twice as many from Paris as the one each she won at Wimbledon in 2004, the U.S. Open in 2006, and the Australian Open in 2008. "If somebody had told me ... at some stage in my career, that Id have more Roland Garros titles than any other Grand Slam, Id probably go get drunk," Sharapova said with a chuckle. "Or tell them to get drunk. One or the other." The 3-hour, 2-minute tangle featured too many momentum swings to count, filled with lengthy baseline exchanges, and terrific defence and shotmaking by both women. Not bad for someone who once famously described herself as feeling like a "cow on ice" when it came to playing on clay, a slow, demanding surface that requires excellent footwork. Now Sharapova knows how to move on clay, and can stretch points when needed. Since the start of 2012, Sharapova is 54-4 with seven titles on clay. Shes also won 20 consecutive clay three-setters, including four in a row this week. "It says that shes very fit. It says that shes very determined," said Sven Groenefeld, Sharapovas coach. "And it says that she never gives up." Sharapova broke into a huge smile while hoisting the trophy overhead, then shaking it with both hands and scanning a stadium that, improbably, has become hers. This was her third final in a row in Paris: She won the 2012 title to complete a career Grand Slam, then lost last year to Serena Williams, who bowed out in the second round this time. Sharapova is 20-1 the last thhree years at Roland Garros -- which is nothing compared to Rafael Nadals 65-1 career French Open mark heading into Sundays final Sunday against Novak Djokovic, but certainly quite impressive.dddddddddddd "Youre not just born being a natural clay-court player. OK, maybe if youre Nadal. But certainly not me," Sharapova said. "I didnt grow up on it; didnt play on it. I just took it upon myself to make myself better on it." Plus, Sharapova had an operation on her right shoulder, the one she uses to swing her racket, in October 2008. That joint troubled the Russian again in 2013, when she played one match from July to December. She now travels with a physiotherapist, Jerome Bianchi, and told him during the post-match ceremony, "Thank you for keeping me healthy." This was the ninth Grand Slam final for the No. 7-seeded Sharapova, and the first for Halep, a 22-year-old Romanian seeded fourth. Supported by a dozen folks in her guest box wearing red T-shirts saying "Allez Simona," and fans that chanted her first name, Halep acquitted herself well, showing off the scrambling baseline style that carried her to six straight-set wins until Saturday. "I will not forget this match," said Halep, who wiped away tears afterward. Each time it appeared Sharapova was ready to pull away, she was forced to do extra work. At 4-3 in the second set, Sharapova held two break points, but Halep saved both with gutsy groundstrokes. In the tiebreaker, Sharapova got within two points of victory at 5-3, but Halep took the next four to claim the set. Thats when Sharapova left for the locker room, taking an 8-minute break during which she changed out of her sweat-soaked outfit -- and let Halep stew for a bit. Sharapova went ahead 4-2, but Halep broke back to 4-all. It turned out that was her last stand, though. Sharapova wouldnt lose another point, gritting her teeth and shaking her fists after breaking at love for 5-4 with a backhand winner, then holding at love by forcing a backhand error from Halep on match point. When it ended, Sharapova dropped to her knees, caking her shins with clay, and folded her body forward, burying her face in her hands. "I had good tactics today. I opened the angles. Also, I was hitting the ball strong," Halep said. But Sharapova, Halep continued, "was moving really well." Cow on ice? More like Queen of Clay. <a href="http://www.chinawholesalejerseysnfl.com/">Wholesale Jerseys</a> ' ' '