Sports News Roundup: French ice federation boss steps down; Monfils reached Montpellier final and more

Following is a summary of current sports news briefs.

Mickelson hits 'number two' best bunker shot ever, one back at Pebble

Phil Mickelson has made a career out of a sublime short game, so when he describes a bunker shot as the second-best of his life it is worthy of attention. Mickelson holed a relatively routine 45-foot sand shot at the 13th hole during the third round at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am in California on Saturday, a feat that had the gallery cheering wildly.

French ice federation boss steps down amid sexual abuse scandal

French ice sports federation president Didier Gailhaguet resigned from his position on Saturday amid the sexual abuse scandal in figure skating. French sports minister Roxana Maracineanu on Monday asked Gailhaguet to resign after several figure skaters claimed they were raped or sexually assaulted when they were minors by former coaches.

NTSB says Bryant helicopter engines showed no signs of catastrophic internal failure

The engines of the Sikorsky S-76 helicopter that crashed into a steep hillside killing basketball superstar Kobe Bryant and 8 others near Calabasas, California on Jan. 26 showed no evidence of a "catastrophic internal failure," the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said Friday. The NTSB investigative update said, "viewable sections of the engines showed no evidence of an uncontained or catastrophic internal failure."

Switzerland, Spain, and Russia through to Fed Cup Finals

Canadian teenager Leylah Annie Fernandez caused a huge shock in the Fed Cup qualifiers on Saturday when she beat Swiss world number five Belinda Bencic in Biel but it proved in vain as Switzerland progressed to April's finals. Spain, Belgium, Slovakia, Germany, Russia, and Belarus also moved through to the inaugural 12-nation showdown in Budapest.

Brazier builds on World Championship momentum with Millrose Games win

A blistering 800 meters for Donavan Brazier punctuated a handful of season's bests, as six-time Olympic gold medalist Allyson Felix finished sixth in the 60-meters at the NYRR Millrose Games in New York City on Saturday. The 1:44.22 win for the 22-year-old Brazier set a roaring start to the World Champion's bid to make the U.S. Olympic roster, as Olympic gold medalist Ryan Crouser beat World Champion Joe Kovacs to a season's best in the shot put and Great Britain's Chris O'Hare won the men's mile in another season's best.

NBA roundup: Beal hits last-second winner for Wizards

Bradley Beal's layup with 0.2 seconds left lifted the Washington Wizards to a 119-118 win over the visiting Dallas Mavericks on Friday night. Beal took the inbounds to pass from Troy Brown Jr. near the foul line with 1.8 seconds left and drove for the layup. The Mavericks' alley-oop attempt at the buzzer failed.

ATP roundup: Monfils reaches Montpellier final

Top-seeded Frenchman Gael Monfils reached the championship match of the Open Sud de France with a 7-6 (4), 6-2 victory over Serbia's Filip Krajinovic on Saturday at Montpellier. Monfils delivered 12 aces in the 84-minute semifinal match and will be looking for his third title at the event when he faces Canada's, Vasek Pospisil. Monfils is 5-0 lifetime versus Pospisil.

Olympic gold medalist Schoeman blames contamination for the positive test

South African Olympic swimming gold medalist Roland Schoeman says he still has the ambition to compete at the Tokyo 2020 Games despite serving a one-year suspension after testing positive for a banned substance. Governing body FINA said Schoeman tested positive for the prohibited substance GW501516, a hormone, and metabolic modulator, at an out-of-competition control on May 18 last year.

Sweden's Duplantis soars 6.17m to break pole vault world record

World silver medalist Mondo Duplantis realized a lifetime dream when he broke the pole vault world record on Saturday by soaring 6.17 meters on his second attempt at a World Athletics Indoor Tour meeting in Torun in Poland. American-born Swede Duplantis broke Frenchman Renaud Lavillenie's record of 6.16m set in February 2014 in Donetsk, Ukraine.

The U.S., Canada women secure 2020 Olympics berths with wins

Sam Mewis scored a pair of goals to help lead the dominant United States to a 4-0 rout over Mexico, clinching a spot in the 2020 Olympics on Friday.FIFA's No. 1 ranked women's team, the U.S. played up to their lofty status as they blasted Mexico in the semi-finals of the CONCACAF women's Olympic qualifying championship. The U.S. advanced to Sunday's final against Canada, also Tokyo-bound after defeating Costa Rica 1-0 in a tight match earlier in the day. The Americans had no such challenge in their home tilt at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California.

(With inputs from agencies.)