Charles Hamelin took another step toward the overall world championship title, but the bad luck goes on for Canadas relay team.

MONTREAL -- Charles Hamelin took another step toward the overall world championship title, but the bad luck goes on for Canadas relay team. Bernie Williams Jersey . Hamelin overcame a weak start to win bronze in the 500-metre race behind winner Wu Dajing of China and American J.R. Celski on Saturday at the world short track speed skating championship. The Ste-Julie, Que., skater cut to the outside in a desperate bid for the win and came close to catching Celski at the finish line with the large crowd at the Maruice Richard Arena in a frenzy. "The four guys in that final were the four best 500-metre skaters in the world, so it was tough," said Hamelin, who was coming off a win in the 1,500-metre event on Friday. "I made a little mistake at the beginning. "I got passed by the Russian (Victor An) and was back in fourth place. I had a lot of speed. I went outside. It was my last option. I tried my best and was almost second." The 29-year-old, who has twice been runner-up for the overall title but never won it, leads the standings heading into the final two individual events -- the 1,000 and 3,000 metres -- on Sunday. An, a five-time overall world champion formerly known as Ahn Hyun-Soo, finished fourth. Park Seung-Hi of South Korea won the womens 500-metres ahead of Elise Christie of Britain and Fan Kexin of China. Disaster struck for the Canadian team in the mens relay semifinals when veteran Olivier Jean got caught in traffic and missed an exchange with Hamelin with only eight laps to go. The mishap dropped Canada from second to last place among the four teams and they couldnt catch up. Only the top two, Russia and Britain, earned a spot in Sundays relay final. "We got passed by the Chinese guy on the corner where we exchanged and it got mixed up.," said Michael Gilday of Yellowknife. "We didnt get our exchange in until a lap later and the other teams had already launched away. "Olivier was supposed to exchange with Charles on the corner where he got pushed out. There were a bunch of skaters and they couldnt tag together. It was a mess." At the Sochi Olympics three weeks ago, Canadas favoured relay team was eliminated in the semifinals when Francois Hamelin stepped on a marker disc and fell. "Thats short track," said Gilday. "It sucks. Clearly we havent had the breaks this year." South Korea and the Netherlands will also contest the mens relay final. Canada will have a team in the womens final. Jean opted not to talk to the media. The Lachanie, Que. skater, who was celebrating his 30th birthday, had been eliminated in the 500-metre quarter-finals along with Charle Cournoyer of Boucherville, Que., the bronze medallist in the event in Sochi. Marianne St-Gelais of St. Felicien, Que., and Marie-Eve Drolet of Laterriere, Que., were both ousted in the womens semifinals. "Im pretty happy, actually, because its not my best distance," said Drolet, who will have a better shot at a medal in the 1,000-metre race. "Im not a great sprinter, so it was super-fun to see that I could be fast and do a good race." St-Gelais said she may have psyched herself out before her semifinal because of an outside starting position. "I think I got scared at the (starting) line," she said. "I was thinking I would be squished behind two girls. Usually I dont think about those kinds of things, but that idea crossed my mind just before the start. I knew my race was done at that point." It was a happier day for Christie, who was shut out of the medals in Sochi after being penalized three times. The Scottish skater shot out to the lead off the start, only to be passed on the next-to-last lap by Park. It looked like the two might collide, but Christie said she backed off of any contact. "I probably could have won, but in the back of my head I was thinking about the fact that I got penalties, so when Park came through I let her go," said Christie. "I didnt try to get past because I just didnt want to get another penalty, to be honest." Christie came to the world championship seeking to redeem the Sochi setback and now is looking forward to her best event, the 1,000-metres. "It is my beat distance, but again, Ill be racing quite withdrawn," she said. "Im trying to stay out of fights and stuff, so that could play to my disadvantage. But maybe now that Ive got a medal, I might just go for it." Park won bronze in the 1,500-metres on Friday. She was a gold medallist in the 1,000-metre and the womens relay and got bronze in the 500-metres in Sochi. The Olympic 500-metre champion, Li Jiarrou of China, is not competing at the world championship. Wade Boggs Jersey . Hamilton signed offensive linemen Mike Filer, Joel Reinders, Landon Rice and Carson Rockhill. Derek Jeter Jersey . Rudy Gay made the tying basket in regulation and a 3-pointer in overtime that gave Sacramento the lead for good, and Fredette scored a career-high 24 points to help the Kings beat the Knicks 106-101 on Wednesday night. http://www.authenticmlbshopyankees.com/Didi-Gregorius-Jersey/ . - Bryan Price sat down in the cushy chair.SAN ANTONIO -- Faced with the possibility of having a second straight season end with a Game 7 loss, the San Antonio Spurs played with emotion and let Tony Parker have some fun. Parker scored 32 points and the San Antonio led by as many as 31 on its way to a 119-96 victory over the Dallas Mavericks, closing out a stressful first-round series Sunday in seven games. The finale featured Tim Duncan diving into Dallas bench to save a ball and the Spurs reserves continually on their feet to celebrate baskets. But no one had as much fun or hit the floor more than Parker. The All-Star point guard was 11 for 19 from the field and 10 for 13 on free throws as Dallas was unable to keep him from attacking the lane, despite a series of hard fouls. "I just knew that I had to be aggressive if we wanted to have a chance to win the game because of the strategy that the Mavericks chose," Parker said. "They just dared me to score." Manu Ginobili scored 20 points, Danny Green added 16 points and Tim Duncan and Kawhi Leonard had 15 points apiece for San Antonio. Dirk Nowitzki had 22 points and nine rebounds to lead Dallas. Last season ended for the Spurs with a Game 7 loss in the NBA Finals against the Miami Heat. Facing a much earlier end, San Antonio rode a raucous home crowd and overwhelmed Dallas. San Antonio advances to face the fifth-seeded Portland Trail Blazers, who upset the Houston Rockets in a six-game series. The series opens Tuesday in San Antonio. The Spurs got off to a quick start as they had done at home all series, but the Mavericks were unable to respond as they did in winning Game 2 on the road. Leonards 16-foot jumper gave San Antonio an 18-7 lead 6 minutes into the game and the lead swelled to 29 with 2 minutes remaining in the first half. "We gave ourselves a chance but today we got hit by a tidal wave early," Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said. "They had their best game today and we just werent able to do quite enough to stay in it early. "Its hard when you get hit with an onslaught early the way the guys did." Nowitzki struggled through much of the series, but the Mavericks pushed the Spurs to the brink of elimination behind strong post-season performances from Monta Ellis, Vince Carter, Devin Harris and DeJuan Blaiir. Alex Rodriguez Jersey. "On the court what confounded us was that theyve got shooters all the way around," San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich said. "Dirk Nowitzki gets a crowd, if you double him you, you leave a lot of other open shooters. So we played him pretty much one-on-one, so we could stay at home a little bit better. That and the ability to shoot it; spread the floor, run the sets that Rick does and the speed of Harris and Ellis was tough for us to handle." Dallas also played a physical series. There were two technical fouls and two flagrant fouls in Game 7 and two more flagrants reversed upon review. Parker was assessed a technical with 31.6 second left in the first quarter after making a layup on and jawing with former teammate Blair as the two ran down the court. The two had been talking to each other all series and Parker was clearly frustrated at times with the hard fouls committed by Blair on his drives earlier in the series. But Parker said it was all in good fun. "I was just laughing with DeJuan," Parker said of the technical. "Thats why it was so funny to get a technical for that, because I was not even cursing at him. DeJuan played four years (for the Spurs). He lived for a year at my house. I love DeJuan." Blair was later assessed a flagrant foul for elbowing Ginobili in the face on a drive. After the foul, Blair stared down Popovich, who was screaming at officials over the severity of the foul. The flagrant foul energized the Spurs, who went on a 14-2 run to take a 51-27 lead with 8 minutes remaining in the first half. "Everybody was active and kind of focused," Duncan said. "We had very little mistakes." San Antonio never led by less than 14 points in the second half. NOTES: The Spurs were 7-0 in games decided by three points or less during the regular season but were 0-2 against Dallas in such games in their first-round series. . Sundays game between Dallas and San Antonio was the 50th post-season game this season. It was also the fifth Game 7 of the first round. "I think its great for basketball and for the fans," Popovich said. "It drives all the coaches crazy. (But) for the game and everybody, its been a wonderful thing. " ... Blair was booed heavily each time he entered the game or committed a foul. Cheap Jerseys Wholesale Discount NFL Jerseys Stitched Jerseys White NFL Jerseys Cheap Nike NFL Jerseys China Wholesale Nike NFL Jerseys NFL Jerseys Outlet ' ' '