SOCCER
Lazio take Serie A lead
Juventus lost their grip on first place in Serie A to SS Lazio on Saturday and the eight-time defending champions have to wait more than a week — possibly even longer — to try and get it back because five games scheduled for this weekend — including Juventus’ match against third-place Inter — were postponed in an attempt to contain the spread of the COVID-19 outbreak in Italy. The fixtures were due to be played without fans, but the decision to call them off was made on Saturday by the league as part of “urgent measures for the containment and management” of the disease. However, with the coronavirus outbreak worst in northern Italy, Lazio were permitted to play their match against Bologna in Rome and won 2-0 with its fans in attendance. Elsewhere, SSC Napoli beat Torino 2-1.
SOCCER
Valencia end winless streak
Valencia ended their five-game winless streak by beating Real Betis Balompie 2-1 in La Liga on Saturday in the first match since the club canceled its players’ media availability because of COVID-19. Valencia on Friday prevented players and coaches from speaking in news conferences before or after games, because a journalist who covers the club was found to have the virus. Players also could not talk to reporters in mixed zones after the matches. Elsewhere, Sociedad Deportiva Eibar won 3-0 over Levante UD, CD Leganes drew 1-1 with Deportivo Alaves, while Granada and RC Celta de Vigo drew 0-0.
SOCCER
PSG maintain 13-point lead
Kylian Mbappe scored two goals and created another as Paris Saint-Germain kept their 13-point lead at the top of Ligue 1 intact with a 4-0 win over Dijon FCO on Saturday. In other games, Montpellier HSC beat RC Strasbourg Alsace 3-0, Metz beat Amiens 1-0, Angers beat Stade Brestios 29 1-0, Stade Rennais defeated Toulouse 2-0 and AS Monaco drew 1-1 with Stade de Reims.
TENNIS
Djokovic wins in Dubai
Novak Djokovic was scarcely troubled as he beat Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-3, 6-4 on Saturday to win the Dubai Championships for the fifth time. Djokovic dropped his serve once, but converted all three break points against the 21-year-old Greek to move 3-2 ahead in their career meetings. “I’m trying to embrace the moment and appreciate where I am,” Djokovic said. “This has been one of the best starts of all the seasons I had in my career. I feel great on the court. I’ve been playing great tennis on the hard courts. That is my most successful and preferred surface.”
GOLF
Kennedy wins NZ Open
Brad Kennedy carded a remarkable eight-under-par final-round 63 to come from behind to win the New Zealand Open by two strokes yesterday. Kennedy, who won the tournament in 2011, started the day two shots behind fellow Australian Lucas Herbert, but stormed to victory at the Millbrook Resort course in Queenstown, finishing on 21-under 264. “To do this again after nine years is just unbelievable,” Kennedy said. “I actually posted a number in my head last night, 21 was the number, and I didn’t think I’d reach it, but I just knew that this course was out there to be had.
Taiwan’s men’s A team last night defeated their counterpart B team 82-77 in their first showdown in the William Jones Cup at New Taipei City’s Sinjhuang Gymnasium. With four wins under their belt, Taiwan’s A squad — also known as the blue team, consisting of the national team’s main roster — lead the tournament, while Malaysia and the Philippines Strong Group-Pilipinas, who were not scheduled to play last night, are both undefeated with three wins each. Taiwanese-American teenager Robert Hinton, playing in his first William Jones Cup, led the scoring early in the first quarter, putting up nine points for the A
A chance encounter during a drunken night out was the unlikely catalyst for breaker Sunny Choi’s journey to the Paris Olympic Games. The 35-year-old American is to showcase her skills before a global audience in Paris when breaking makes its debut on the Olympic stage. Choi is the beneficiary of efforts to attract younger fans to the Olympics, a move that led to breaking’s inclusion for the first time. However, as Choi says, the Olympics was the last thing on her mind when she took up the sport. A freshman student at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business, Choi stumbled into breaking
Teenage gymnast Shoko Miyata has been pulled from Japan’s team for the Paris Olympics after being caught smoking and drinking, officials said yesterday. The 19-year-old, a world bronze medalist and captain of Japan’s women’s gymnastics team for the Games, was sent home from their training camp in Monaco and admitted she had violated the squad’s code of conduct. “With her confirmation and after discussions on all sides, it has been decided that she will withdraw from the Olympics,” Japan Gymnastics Association (JGA) secretary-general Kenji Nishimura told reporters in Tokyo. Nishimura said the association had been told that Miyata was seen smoking in a
Former NFL receiver Jacoby Jones, whose 108-yard kickoff return in 2013 remains the longest touchdown in Super Bowl history, has died at the age of 40. The Houston Texans, Jones’ team for the first five seasons of his career, announced his death on Sunday. In a statement released by the NFL Players Association, his family said he died at his home in New Orleans. A cause of death was not given. Jones played from 2007 to 2015 for the Texans, Baltimore Ravens, San Diego Chargers and Pittsburgh Steelers, and he made several huge plays for the Ravens during their most recent Super