■FOOTBALL
Boldin to miss game
Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Anquan Boldin had surgery to repair a sinus fracture on Thursday and will miss at least one NFL contest, the team said on Friday. Boldin, who turned 28 on Thursday, suffered the injury as a result of the hits he received from New York Jets safeties Kerry Rhodes and Eric Smith late in last Sunday’s game. Smith was suspended one game for what the league termed a flagrant violation of player safety rules. His helmet-to-helmet hit with 27 seconds remaining in the Jets’ 56-35 victory knocked Boldin cold.
■COLLEGE FOOTBALL
BYU extends winning streak
Max Hall threw for 303 yards and two touchdowns as No. 8-ranked Brigham Young University extended its winning streak to 15 games by beating Utah State 34-14 in college football on Friday. The Cougars converted three turnovers into 17 points while pulling ahead 24-0 in the first quarter, and held on for their ninth straight victory over the Aggies. Utah State became the first team to score against BYU in nearly a month with two touchdowns in the fourth quarter, but the Aggies were down 34-0 at the end of the third quarter. Hall threw two interceptions and was sacked for the first time this season in the final quarter.
■BASEBALL
Yankee to have surgery
Yankees closer Mariano Rivera will have surgery on Tuesday on his sore right shoulder. New York Mets medical director David Altchek will operate at the Hospital for Special Surgery. Altchek operated on catcher Jorge Posada’s shoulder last summer. Altchek will shave down calcification of the A.C. joint on the top of Rivera’s shoulder. Rivera is expected to be ready for the start of spring training in mid-February. The 38-year-old Rivera had 39 saves this year, and his 1.40 ERA was his best since 2005.
■BASKETBALL
Parker wins WNBA MVP
Candace Parker received the WNBA’s Most Valuable Player award on Friday, becoming the first player to win it and Rookie of the Year honors in the same season. The Los Angeles Sparks star was unanimously selected rookie of the year. The awards capped a big run for Parker, who was college player of the year last season for national champion Tennessee. Parker also was a member of the gold-medal winning US team at the Beijing Olympics. Parker edged Connecticut’s Lindsay Whalen and Seattle’s Sue Bird in the MVP race. Parker, the top overall draft pick this year, averaged 18.5 points and 9.5 rebounds. She had a high of 40 points and grabbed 10 or more rebounds in 17 games. She led the league in double-doubles with 17, led the league in rebounding and led rookies in scoring, blocks and minutes.
■BASKETBALL
Shock leads in WNBA finals
Katie Smith scored 22 points and the Detroit Shock built a big lead in the first quarter, then hung on to defeat the San Antonio Silver Stars 69-61 on Friday and take a 2-0 lead in the WNBA finals. Game 3 in the best-of-five series is today, when Detroit will try to wrap up its second title in the last three years. Deanna Nolan and Kara Braxton added 12 points each for the Shock, who led 19-2 less than 6 minutes into the game. Becky Hammon finished with 24 points for San Antonio, including 11 of 12 from the free-throw line.
■SOCCER
Wuhan fans in street protest
Tens of thousands of soccer fans marched in Wuhan, China, blocked traffic and some charged a police blockade in protest against an eight-game suspension of a star player, a Hong Kong newspaper said. The Chinese Football Association suspended defender Li Weifeng and fined him 8,000 yuan (US$1,169) on Tuesday for a scuffle with a player from an opposing team who was given the same punishment. The Sept. 28 game ended in a 1-1 draw. Li, 30, is a former captain of China’s national team who played in the Olympic squad in August. Li’s Wuhan Guanggu club later announced its withdrawal from the Chinese Super League in protest, saying it would sue the Football Association, which fueled the outrage of Wuhan’s fans. Tens of thousands hit the streets on Thursday, shouting slogans like “Dissolve the Football Association” and “the Super League is finished,” and staged a sit-in to block traffic, Hong Kong’s Ming Pao newspaper reported yesterday. Wuhan’s deputy mayor went to the scene to try to calm the fans and about an hour later they left peacefully, the newspaper said.
■SOCCER
Moggi charged with fraud
Former Juventus executive Luciano Moggi, a leading figure in a match-fixing scandal that shook Italian soccer, was ordered by a court on Friday to stand trial on charges of sports fraud and criminal association. The trial will open on Jan. 20 in Naples, his lawyer Paolo Trofino said. The ANSA news agency said another 23 people, including club officials and referees, were also indicted by judge Eduardo De Gregorio on charges of conspiring to commit sports fraud. Former Italian soccer federation president Franco Carraro and federation secretary Francesco Ghirelli were cleared. Moggi was banned from soccer for five years by a sports court in 2006 on charges of influencing the outcome of matches. He denies any wrongdoing.
■RUGBY UNION
Wilkinson undergoes surgery
England fly-half Jonny Wilkinson underwent surgery on Friday on his injured left knee, with his Newcastle club reporting no complications, although he is still unlikely to play again before Christmas. England’s 2003 World Cup final match-winner suffered his latest injury in Tuesday’s Premiership match against Gloucester, a setback that has ruled him out of the fall Tests against the Pacific Islanders, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand. The 29-year-old Wilkinson’s career has been blighted by repeated injury setbacks since the World Cup almost four years ago. His latest setback came just four games into his return from summer shoulder surgery that meant he missed England’s two-Test New Zealand tour. Newcastle rugby director Steve Bates said: “Jonny has had his operation and the reports are that it went well. They are optimistic about it and we will have to see how it progresses.”
■TENNIS
Williams out of Kremlin Cup
Serena Williams has blamed a knee injury for her decision to pull out of this week’s US$2.4 million Kremlin Cup. “I was experiencing knee problems since the US Open and now I need a break to regain my top form,” the US star told organizers of the joint ATP and WTA event on Friday. She added: “I played a lot of events this year and now I need a break to recover. My aim this year is to regain the world’s top ranking. I played in the final here last year and will now lose a lot of points. But for now my only wish is to have some rest to recover and to be in my top form at Doha.”
SIBLING RIVALRY: Marc Marquez was locked in a duel with his little brother, falling behind at one point before recovering for his first season-opening victory since 2014 Six-time world champion Marc Marquez yesterday won the MotoGP season-opening Thailand Grand Prix to complete a dominant debut weekend at his new Ducati Lenovo Team, having also romped to Saturday’s sprint. The Spanish great took the 26-lap grand prix by 1.732 seconds for his 63rd MotoGP victory from younger brother Alex Marquez, who is still seeking a first checkered flag, with Francesco Bagnaia third to complete an all-Ducati podium. It completed a perfect weekend for Marc Marquez, who took pole position, the sprint victory and the grand prix win for a maximum 37 points to open the 22-leg 2025 campaign. He led from
Team Taiwan avoided missing the World Baseball Classic (WBC) for the first time by defeating Spain 6-3 in a do-or-die game in Taipei last night. After narrowly escaping a mercy-rule loss to Spain in the WBC Qualifiers opener on Friday last week, the home team — winner of last year's WBSC Premier12 title three months ago — got their revenge against the 2023 European champions at Taipei Dome. "It felt quite different from when we won the Premier12," Taiwan captain Chen Chieh-hsien (陳傑憲) said after the game, recalling the ups and downs the team has experienced over the past few days. Unlike in
LONG TIME COMING: With the addition of Marcus Smart, the Washington Wizards finally held a team to under 100 points, the last team this season to do so The Detroit Pistons on Monday won their seventh straight game in the NBA with in-form Cade Cunningham making 32 points and grabbing nine rebounds in a 106-97 win over the Los Angeles Clippers. The Pistons, who are in the playoff position, moved to 32-26, their best record at this stage of a season for 17 years. It was an all-round effort from Detroit with Tobias Harris adding 20 points and Jalen Duren making 19 rebounds along with his 12 points. It was a tight contest until Detroit pulled away late in the third quarter to tie their longest winning streak since the 2014-2015
AC Milan’s slender hopes of reaching next season’s UEFA Champions League took another hit on Thursday with a 2-1 defeat at Bologna which left them eight points from Serie A’s top four. Sergio Conceicao’s team sit eighth, some way behind fourth-placed Juventus after losing an entertaining contest at the Stadio Renato Dall’Ara, a match which was rescheduled from October last year due to torrential rain and flooding. Swathes of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy, much of which is fertile agricultural land, had been left under water following a massive autumn downpour. Dan Ndoye prodded home the decisive goal in the 82nd minute
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