■ BASEBALL
Rodriquez to switch sides
Alex Rodriguez will switch sides to play for the Dominican Republic at next year’s World Baseball Classic. Rodriguez made the announcement on Saturday while playing at a charity golf tournament hosted by friend David Ortiz of the Boston Red Sox at Punta Cana. “I am 100 percent sure that I will play for the Dominican Republic team,” he said. “This time, there will be no doubts and it is a dream of my mom’s that I intend to fulfill.” Rodriguez played for the US in the 2006 inaugural Classic and was largely criticized by fans in the Dominican Republic and across Latin America.
■NORDIC SKIING
Moan wins World Cup
Norway’s Magnus Moan won a World Cup Nordic Combined competition on his home trails on Saturday, edging runner-up Jason Lamy Chappuis of France by 0.7 seconds in the 10km cross-country ski race. “What a wonderful day,” Moan said. “It’s great to win on my home track. This is the race where I feel the most pressure. I had really good skis today and when I’m among the leaders on the final straightaway I know that I have one of the best finishing kicks.” He proved it again after one of the tightest finishes in years. Only 4.2 seconds separated the top six racers. Anssi Koivuranta, the overall leader from Finland, was 1.5 seconds back in third.
■BOXING
Khan beats Fagan in two
Amir Khan overwhelmed Oisin Fagan in two rounds to capture the WBA international lightweight title on Saturday and suggest that his first-round loss in his previous fight was a minor setback. Knocked out in 54 seconds by Breidis Prescott of Colombia in September, the big-hitting Khan put US-based Irishman Fagan down twice in the opening round with big right hands at London’s ExCel Arena. He knocked down Fagan again with another fast combination in the second and referee Mickey Vann stopped the fight at 1 minute, 37 seconds of the round.
■BOBSLED
Lange wins 40th World Cup
Andre Lange of Germany won his 40th World Cup bobsled race in Saturday’s two-man competition. The two-time world and Olympic champion and his partner Kevin Kuske finished the course in 1 minute, 52.60 seconds over two runs for their first victory this season. The American pair of Steven Holcomb and Justin Olsen finished second, 0.25 seconds back. Beat Hefti and Thomas Lamparter of Switzerland, who won the first race of the season, took third. Lange took the lead in the World Cup two-man bobsled standings with 435 points, 10 ahead of Hefti. The German pair of Sandra Kiriasis and Berit Wiacker won the women’s race in a time of 1:55.71.
■RALLYING
Spectators killed in crash
Two spectators were killed and three others injured, including an eight-year-old girl, after a car smashed into the crowd watching a rally in Prague, Czech Republic, on Saturday, police said. A Peugeot 307 WRC, driven by the Polish-British pairing of Leszek Kuzaj and Craig Parry, came off the course in Reporyje, in the south-west suburbs of the Czech capital. In rainy conditions, the car skidded on a bend, bounced off an electricity pylon before hurtling into the watching crowd. A 26-year-old Pole, believed to be a close friend of Kuzaj, died at the scene while the second spectator died later in the day.
BUMRAH WATCH: Captain Jasprit Bumrah left the SCG for scans for back spasms and although he returned to the ground, there was no word on if he would play Rishabh Pant’s blistering counterattack yesterday capped a chaotic second day of the fifth and final Test between Australia and India, with 15 wickets falling and the star bowler of the series leaving the Sydney Cricket Ground with an ambulance escort. Yet the Border-Gavaskar trophy still remains very much in the balance as India reached 141-6, holding a 145-run lead over Australia with three days remaining. “Low-scoring games like this, it just heightens the pressure within it, so long way still to go,” Australia coach Andrew McDonald said. “There’s gonna be plenty of cricket, so we’ll see what happens.” Australia were bowled out for
Elena Rybakina’s Kazakhstan yesterday dumped defending champions Germany out of the United Cup with world No. 2 Alexander Zverev sidelined by an arm injury barely a week away from the Australian Open. The upset in Perth sent the Kazakhs into the semi-finals of the 18-nation tournament. In Sydney, women’s world No. 2 Iga Swiatek led Poland into the last eight by winning a rematch of her 2023 French Open final against Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic. Britain also progressed to the quarter-finals with Katie Boulter’s dominant 6-2, 6-1 victory over Australia’s Olivia Gadecki enough to guarantee they won their group. The US and
HAT-TRICK PREP: World No. 1 Sabalenka clinched her first win of the season, as she aims to become the first woman in 20 years to win three Australian Opens in succession Coco Gauff, Jasmine Paolini and Taylor Fritz yesterday all clocked impressive wins as tennis powerhouses Italy and the US surged into the quarter-finals of the mixed-team United Cup. World No. 3 Gauff swept past Croatia’s Donna Vekic 6-4, 6-2 to avenge a loss at the Paris Olympics, while Fritz took care of Borna Coric 6-3, 6-2 in searing Perth heat. That was enough to put the Americans — last year’s winners — into a last-eight clash with China today, while Elena Rybakina’s Kazakhstan today are to meet defending champions Germany, led by Alexander Zverev, in the other Perth quarter-final. In Sydney, the in-form
Five-time Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek yesterday beat Elena Rybakina in straight sets to take Poland into the final of the mixed-teams United Cup with victory over Kazakhstan. Last year’s runners-up face the US today for the title in Sydney after they beat the Czech Republic in the other semi-final. “This win makes me really proud,” Swiatek said after seeing off Rybakina 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 to give Poland an unassailable 2-0 lead in the tie. It was a statement of intent from the world number two with the first major of the year to start on Jan. 12. “It is perfect preparation for the
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