■BASKETBALL
Durant leads Sophomores
Kevin Durant set the scoring record for the National Basketball Association’s All-Star Rookie Challenge Friday, pouring in 46 points to lead the Sophomores to victory over their first-year foes. Durant scored 30 of his points in the second half as the second-year players held off the Rookies 122-116. Durant, of the Oklahoma City Thunder, shot 17-of-25 from the field, including four-of-eight from three-point range as the Sophomores won the contest for the seventh straight time. Durant, who has averaged 25.5 points this season, owns the fourth-highest average for someone who did not make the main All-Star contest.
■BASKETBALL
Toronto, Miami start trading
Toronto and Miami launched the National Basketball Association trade season on Friday with an agreement to send Raptors forward Jermaine O’Neal to the Heat in exchange for forward Shawn Marion, the Raptors confirmed. The deal sends O’Neal and Jamario Moon to Miami in exchange for Marion and point guard Marcus Banks. The Heat will also receive a conditional first-round pick from Toronto next year unless the Raptors are in the draft lottery. In that case, the first-round selection could come between 2011 and 2015.
■BASEBALL
Santana to sit out Classic
New York Mets ace Johan Santana will not pitch for Venezuela in the World Baseball Classic next month. The two-time Major League Baseball pitcher of the year will miss the tournament, the Venezuelan Baseball Federation announced on Friday. Federation president Edwin Zerpa said organizers of the tournament, World Baseball Classic Inc, were not willing to pay the high insurance premium required for the Mets to clear Santana after he underwent arthroscopic surgery on his left knee. “It puts him in a high-risk category,” Zerpa said. Venezuela’s first game is on March 7 against Italy in Toronto. Venezuela was eliminated in the second round of the inaugural Classic in 2006.
■WEIGHTLIFTING
Taichung to host tourney
Taichung City has won a bid to host next year’s World University Weightlifting Championship, officials said yesterday. The bid was approved a day earlier by the International University Sports Federation during an executive committee meeting held in Harbin, China, prior to the Winter Universiade, said officials from National Taiwan Sport University, which was representing the Taichung bid. The event, which is expected to draw some 500 athletes from more than 50 countries, will mark the first time an international weightlifting championship has been held in Taiwan, they said. In preparation for the competition, the university will form an organizing committee in conjunction with the Chinese Taipei University Sports Federation and the Chinese Taipei Weightlifting Association, the officials said, adding that the committee will report its progress to the federation during the organization’s next executive committee meeting scheduled for July in Serbia.
■SNOWBOARDING
Jacobellis beats Nobs
Lindsey Jacobellis of the US and Markus Schairer of Austria won World Cup snowboardcross events at Cypress Mountain, Canada, on Friday. Mike Robertson of Canada was second behind Schairer, with Seth Westcott of the US taking third on the same course that will be used for the Winter Olympics a year from now. Olivia Nobs of Switzerland was second in the women’s race and Helene Olafsen of Norway was third.
Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and partner Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia yesterday advanced to the women’s doubles final at the Australian Open after defeating New Zealand’s Erin Routliffe and Gabriela Dabrowski of Canada 7-6 (7/3), 3-6, 6-3 in their semi-final. Hsieh has won nine Grand Slam doubles titles and has a shot at a 10th tomorrow, when the Latvian-Taiwanese duo are to play Taylor Townsend of the US and Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic in the championship match at the A$96.5 million (US$61 million) outdoor hard court tournament at Melbourne Park. Townsend and Siniakova eliminated Russian pair Diana Shnaider and Mirra Andreeva 6-7
Manchester City have reached do-or-die territory in the UEFA Champions League earlier than expected ahead of what Pep Guardiola has described as a “final” against Club Brugge today. City have disproved the suggestion a new format to Europe’s top club competition would remove any jeopardy for the top clubs as Guardiola stares down the barrel of failing to make the Champions League knockout stages for the first time in his career. The English champions have endured a torrid season both in their English Premier League title defense and on the continent. A run of one win in 13 games, which included Champions League
FINAL WEEK LOOMS: PSG rose to 22nd place to set up another tense challenge against 24th-placed Stuttgart, while Man City require victory against Club Brugge Manchester City are on the brink of a humiliating UEFA Champions League exit after a stunning loss to Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday, while Real Madrid is no longer at risk after routing Salzburg. Man City blew a two-goal lead in a high-stakes clash of super-wealthy underachievers that PSG won 4-2 in Paris, who could still be eliminated alongside the English champions after the final round of games next week. Only the top 24 in the 36-team standings are to advance. Man City, the 2023 champions, are in 25th place, but could squeeze into the knockout playoffs round by beating Club Brugge. “We will
Things are somewhat out of control at the Australian Open this year, and that has only a little to do with the results on the courts. Yes, there were some upsets, including Madison Keys eliminating No. 2 Iga Swiatek in the women’s singles semi-finals on Thursday. It also was the first time since 1990 that three teenagers beat top-10 men’s seeds at a Grand Slam tennis tournament. The loser of one of those matches, Daniil Medvedev, got fined US$76,000 for behaving badly. Last year’s women’s singles runner-up exited in the first round. However, the real fuss is happening elsewhere. The rowdy fans, for one
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