Ian Poulter rallies, wins in China

Ian Poulter won the HSBC Champions on Sunday for his first victory of the season, overcoming a four-stroke deficit with a seven-under-par 65 at Shenzen, China.

The English Ryder Cup star finished at 21-under 267 on Mission Hills’ Olazabal Course for a two-stroke victory. The victory was his second in World Golf Championship play, following the 2010 Accenture Match Play Championship.

Phil Mickelson (68), Jason Dufner (64), Scott Piercy (65) and Ernie Els (67) tied for second.

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Tom Lehman won the Charles Schwab Cup Championship to become the first Champions Tour player to win the season points title two straight years.

After shooting 68-63-62 to take a one-stroke lead into the final round, Lehman birdied four of the last five holes for a five-under 65 and a six-stroke victory at Scottsdale, Ariz.

Lehman finished at 22-under 258 to break the Champions Tour record for the lowest numerical score in a 72-hole event.

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Stacy Lewis rallied to win the Mizuno Classic for her LPGA Tour-leading fourth title of the year, birdieing the final three holes for an eight-under 64 and a one-stroke victory at Shima, Japan.

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Guan Tianlang won the Asia-Pacific Championship at Bangkok, Thailand, making the 14-year-old Chinese star the youngest player to qualify for the Masters.

Guan closed with a one-under 71, needing a par on the 18th hole to beat Taiwan’s Pan Cheng-tsung.

ETC.

NHL, players resume talks

A glimmer of hope appeared Sunday in the dispute between the NHL and the NHL Players’ Assn. when the two executives who spent most of Saturday discussing their differences issued statements saying they plan to resume talks this week. The NHL locked players out after the previous collective bargaining agreement expired Sept. 15 and has canceled games through Nov. 30 as well as the Jan 1 Winter Classic.

Bill Daly, deputy commissioner of the NHL, and Steve Fehr, special counsel to the NHLPA, met several times Saturday at an undisclosed location and broke up about 10 p.m. Pacific time. As a follow-up, the NHLPA’s negotiating committee held a conference call Sunday and will conduct a conference call with its executive board Monday, according to Aaron Ward of TSN.

—Helene Elliott

Kimi Raikkonen won a crash-filled Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in the United Arab Emirates for his first victory since returning to Formula One this year, a result that throws open the drivers’ championship with two races remaining.

Raikkonen held off Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso, who finished second. Two-time defending F1 champion Sebastian Vettel clawed back from last to finish third, his lead over Alonso cut to 10 points.

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David Ferrer ended the amazing run of Polish qualifier Jerzy Janowicz, 6-4, 6-3, at the Paris Masters, clinching his first Masters title and winning a tour-leading seventh trophy of the season. … Nadia Petrova stunned top-seeded Caroline Wozniacki, 6-2, 6-1, to win the Tournament of Champions at Sofia, Bulgaria, clinching her third WTA title of the year. … The Czech Republic won its second straight Fed Cup when Lucie Safarova routed Jelena Jankovic of Serbia, 6-1, 6-1, at Prague, prompting a burst of on-court dancing by the Czech players. … Serena Williams delivered on her promise to avenge an earlier loss to her sister Venus, beating her, 6-3, 6-4 in Johannesburg, South Africa, for only her fourth win in 13 exhibition matches between the sisters.