The Auckland Blues yesterday ruined Ardie Savea’s centenary celebrations for the Hurricanes in Wellington, New Zealand, with a storming second half to open their Super Rugby Aotearoa season with a 31-16 victory. Jodie Barrett’s booming boot had the Hurricanes ahead 11-7 at halftime, only for the Blues to strike back with three second-half tries. Savea, marking his 100th game in Hurricanes colors and his first as captain, had a powerful game with essential turnovers, crushing tackles and powerful running with the ball. However, the All Blacks loose forward and one-man tank could not do it on his own and as much as he put in a sterling effort, the Hurricanes were unable to hold back a powerful Blues pack stacked with a raft of Test players. “In the second half, we still struggled with our set piece, but we did well to reorganize and focus on the basics, and get some good go-forward [ball] and score some tries,” Blues captain Paddy Tuipulotu said. However, there were multiple penalties and two yellow cards, and Tuipulotu said that discipline would be a key element in the competition. “The refs are going to be harder on the off-side, and there’ll be a lot more penalties,” Tuipulotu said. “But in saying that, it’s for the good of the game and for us as players that we’ve got to adhere to those [rules], and try and keep pushing the boundaries — but not too much.” There was a try apiece in the opening six minutes — to Dalton Papali’i and Asafo Aumua — before Barrett made his mark in the closing three minutes of the first half. He banged over two penalties from near the sideline and close to halfway when the Hurricanes were down a man with James Blackwell in the sin bin. It had the Hurricanes five points ahead going into the
A late sprint on the final bend on Friday earned Norway’s Jarl Magnus Riiber the gold medal in the Nordic combined event as he edged out Ilkka Herola of Finland by four-tenths of a second at the FIS Ski World Championships in Oberstdorf, Germany. Japan’s Ryota Yamamoto recorded the longest ski jump of the competition to top the standings heading in to the 10km cross-country ski race, but he was soon left behind as the stronger skiers engaged in a tough battle at the front of the field. On the final lap, reigning champion and world cup leader Riiber was perfectly positioned behind Herola, with Norway’s Jens Luraas Oftebro in third and Japan’s Akito Watabe in fourth, but Watabe was dropped as the front three crested the final hill and the race for the line began. Herola looked to be in the pole position as they swept down the final hill, but Riiber, who won Olympic silver in Pyeongchang in 2018, shifted outside and powered around the last bend to claim the gold medal, raising his arms as he crossed the line just ahead of Herola, with Oftebro a half-second behind the Finn. In the women’s team event, Austria pipped Slovenia for the gold medal by an extremely slim margin of 1.4 points, with Norway taking the bronze medal a further 15.8 points behind. With the Slovenians leading going into the final round, Ema Klinec, 22, who won gold in Thursday’s normal hill event, came up just short on the last jump of the competition to finish just behind the Austrians. EXTREME SKIING AP, YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK, California Two skiers on Sunday last week navigated a thin layer of snow with no margin for error down the precipitous shoulder of Half Dome in Yosemite National Park, and alternately skied and rappelled back to the valley floor in an
Ireland’s Sam Bennett on Friday won the penultimate stage six of cycling’s United Arab Emirates (UAE) Tour, confirming his early season form to claim his second victory at Dubai’s Jumeirah Road finish with ease. After Thursday’s possibly decisive 20km uphill finish, overall race leader Tadej Pogacar was able to take it easy on the run around Dubai, leaving the glory to the sprint specialists, while he maintained his advantage finishing with the main pack. Bennett beat Italian ace Elia Viviani into second and Team Bora-Hansgrohe rider Pascal Ackermann of Germany came third. The smiley Irishman, who cried after his first Tour de France stage win last season, had the opportunity to bag a hat-trick of wins yesterday on the seventh and final stage, which also seemed perfect for his strengths. The 30-year-old said that he would certainly go for it. “We’re pretty much nailing it at the minute,” Bennett said. “I really want stage seven.” Slovenia’s Pogacar goes into stage seven with a 45 second lead on last year’s champion Adam Yates, with Portuguese rookie Joao Almeida in third place at 1 minute, 12 seconds. “That’s another day gone by,” the Team UAE leader Pogacar said. “It was quite hectic with the wind in the middle of the race, but we managed to stay all together. I hope tomorrow is a similar day.” On Friday, the 130-strong peloton headed into strong winds, with temperatures hovering around 25°C for the 165km exploration of Dubai. Four-time Tour de France winner Chris Froome failed to finish with the main pack and crossed the line 2 minutes, 27 seconds down on the day. “I feel stronger every day,” Froome said on Thursday of his bid to get up to speed after coming to Dubai straight from rehab in California. The 35-year-old insists that he was not there to win, but to start his preparations for
French Minister of Sports Roxana Maracineanu threatened to withdraw France’s authorization to play in the Six Nations if the French Rugby Federation (FFR) does not properly investigate the origin of a COVID-19 outbreak within the squad. France’s match against Scotland was postponed after 11 players, as well as staff, including head coach Fabien Galthie, tested positive for COVID-19 over the past week, prompting Maracineanu to ask for an investigation. FFR president Bernard Laporte said that “to my knowledge, nobody’s at fault,” but Maracineanu appeared to disagree. “We asked an investigation from the FFR and from president Bernard Laporte, who himself came to see us before the tournament to present us the protocol and tell us that everything was going to go well, that the bubble was going to be strictly respected with controlled entries and exits,” Maracineanu told L’Equipe TV. “Now that we can see that this is not the case, I am waiting for him to come and explain to us what has happened,” Maracineanu said. “If nothing happens, if we don’t look into this chain of contaminations and they don’t explain to us how it could happen, then the authorization that has been given [to play in the Six Nations] can be withdrawn,” she added. France were scheduled to play against Scotland at the Stade de France today, but the Six Nations announced on Thursday that the match was postponed, as it looks for another date. Last month, France banned travel to and from non-EU countries, but the French Ministry of Sports gave the team a special authorization to take part in the Six Nations. France, who won their first two matches, are set to travel to England on Wednesday next week. “I don’t think it was written in the protocol that the players could go out to eat waffles,” Maracineanu said, following reports that France players
FIERCE CONDITIONS: Toyota driver Kalle Rovanpera said that due to the hard surface, any driver that could manage their tires well could end up with a fast stage
Ott Tanak of Estonia won the first two stages of the Arctic Rally on Friday, to end the opening day 16.2 seconds ahead of Hyundai teammate Craig Breen. Tanak had already set the fastest time in the shakedown, and was quickest in the snow in the two tire-punishing stages run after nightfall. Ireland’s Breen was second in the opening stage and third in the second one. Kalle Rovanpera of Finland drove his Toyota into a snowbank on the first stage, but still finished third and went one better in the closing stage to end the day in third place, 20.4 seconds back. Tanak said that the surface was demanding. “I tried to be very nice to the tires at the beginning and after 10km, I thought: ‘The tires are finished,’ but I knew there was still 20km to go,” he said. “I tried to be as nice as possible, but it was difficult. It’s just such a hard surface.” Rovanpera agreed. “The stage is in really bad condition with a lot of gravel, so my front tires are completely gone and I lost a lot of time at the end. If somebody can manage their tires really good, they will be really quick,” Rovanpera said. Reigning world champion Sebastien Ogier, who won the season opening Monte-Carlo Rally in his native France, was ninth in both stages and finished the day ninth overall, nearly 50 seconds behind Tanak. “I did what I could, but it was quite difficult,” the Toyota driver said. “We’ll see what we can do tomorrow, but it looks like we will be quite far away already.” Yesterday, six stages were on the program over 144km through the snow-covered forests of Lapland. The Arctic Rally replaces Rally Sweden, which was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Nyck de Vries of the Netherlands on Friday stormed to a lights-to-flag victory in the season-opening race of the Formula E championship, piloting his all-electric car under the stars in oil-rich Saudi Arabia. De Vries, in a Mercedes, finished ahead of Switzerland’s Edoardo Mortara of Venturi and New Zealand’s Mitch Evans in a Jaguar in the floodlit Diriyah E-Prix. Mercedes, multiple champions in Formula One, are in their second season of the Formula E series. They finished the campaign last year with a victory helping them to third place in the constructor championship and second in the driver category with Stoffel Vandoorne of Belgium. De Vries, 26, was Formula Two world champion in 2019 and made the podium in Formula E last season with a second place run in Berlin in June. However, he was reluctant to predict an era of Mercedes Formula E dominance to rival the company’s stranglehold on F1. “There is too much going on in Formula E,” said De Vries, who led from start to finish after also dominating both free practice sessions. “Today, everything went well. It’s encouraging, but we must remain humble. Tomorrow is another day.” A second race was to be held at the same circuit yesterday. FORMULA ONE Reuters, LONDON Formula One’s revenue took an US$877 million hit last year, falling 43 percent as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, owners Liberty Media reported on Friday. Revenue totaled US$1.145 billion from US$2.022 billion in 2019. This season featured 17 races, mostly without spectators, and had highlight events such as Monaco and Singapore canceled. The 2019 season had 21 races, while 22 were planned for last year with 23 scheduled for next year. The sport reported an annual operating loss of US$386 million from a profit of US$17 million in 2019, and the 10 teams shared US$711 million — US$301 million less than in 2019, or
Jimmy Butler scored a season-high 33 points as the Miami Heat beat the NBA-leading Utah Jazz 124-116 on Friday to extend their winning streak to five games. Butler also added 10 rebounds and eight assists to lead giant-killers Miami, who have toppled the NBA’s two most recent champions in the past week — the Toronto Raptors and defending champions the Los Angeles Lakers. “I don’t want to say that we’re good yet,” Butler said. “We’ve got so much more that we can be better at. Myself, anybody, I don’t want us to get complacent and think that we’re cool.” Goran Dragic scored 26 points, while center Bam Adebayo had 19 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists in the win. “We just tried to take away their easy shots — and we did,” Dragic said. Donovan Mitchell shot 11 of 26 from the field and finished with 30 points for the Jazz, who dropped to 26-7 overall, but still have the best record in the NBA. The Jazz also got 17 points from Bojan Bogdanovic, while Rudy Gobert racked up 15 points and 12 rebounds. They missed their last seven shots and were three for 16 from the floor in the final eight minutes. “We just made a lot of mistakes, had too many breakdowns on both ends,” Jazz coach Quin Snyder said. RAPTORS 122, ROCKETS 111 In Tampa, Kyle Lowry recorded a triple double as the Toronto Raptors beat the Houston Rockets 122-111, despite missing six members of their coaching staff, including head coach Nick Nurse. The Raptors announced just prior to the game that the six would be unavailable for the NBA contest because of COVID-19 health and safety protocols. Toronto forward Pascal Siakam also sat out the game due to the same protocols. The 53-year-old Nurse, who is the reigning league coach of the year, is in his third season
Jay Bruce made it to the New York Yankees, three-and-a-half years later than he first thought. Bruce had just reached a Philadelphia hotel room after a train ride that followed a hitless afternoon in a New York Mets loss to the Texas Rangers at Citi Field on Aug. 9, 2017. He was with his family and hearing talk that he was about to be dealt to the Yankees, but then that swap fell through and he was sent to Cleveland for minor league pitcher Ryder Ryan. “I wanted to go somewhere I had an opportunity to win a World Series,” he said. Two weeks later, the Indians started a winning streak that extended for 22 games, an American League record. “So I was extremely happy being in Cleveland. I would have been extremely happy being in New York,” Bruce said at spring training in Tampa, Florida, on Friday. “That’s why I absolutely picked the Yankees now, because I want to win the World Series.” This month, Bruce agreed to a minor league contract that would pay a US$1.35 million salary while in the major leagues and US$150,000 while in the minors. If he is not added to the 40-man roster by March 25, he would have the right to opt out. He is hoping to earn an outfield job at age 33 on a team that projects to start eight right-handed hitters most days along with switch-hitting center fielder Aaron Hicks. However, one fewer roster spot remains open after 37-year-old outfielder Brett Gardner finalized a US$5.15 million, two-year contract this week to return for a 14th season in the Bronx. “I’m not sure if it would have affected my decision at all,” Bruce said. “I’m excited to finally get to play with Brett. He’s someone that I came up with kind of playing against and we’ve been in
LeBron James responded to Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s criticism of his political activism with a promise that he would never just shut up and dribble. The Los Angeles Lakers superstar also pointed out that Ibrahimovic clearly did not feel the same way about spotlighting social injustices when the soccer great called out racism in his native Sweden just three years ago. On Thursday, the AC Milan striker and former LA Galaxy star criticized James and other socially conscious athletes in an interview with Discovery Plus. Ibrahimovic called it “a mistake” for James and other athletes to get involved in political causes, saying that they should “just do what you do best, because it doesn’t look good.” James responded forcefully to Ibrahimovic’s stance after the Lakers’ 102-93 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers on Friday night. “I would never shut up about things that are wrong,” said James, who had 28 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists. “I preach about my people and I preach about equality, social injustice, racism, systematic voter suppression, things that go on in our community,” James added. “I know what’s going on still, because I have a group of 300-plus kids at my school that’s going through the same thing, and they need a voice, and I’m their voice.” James funds the I Promise School in his native Akron, Ohio. The third-leading scorer in NBA history also backs numerous initiatives pursuing social justice, voting rights and other progressive causes. James also made it clear that he was aware of comments that Ibrahimovic, the Swedish-born son of a Bosnian father and a Croatian mother, made in 2018. “He’s the guy who said in Sweden, he was talking about the same things, because his last name wasn’t a [traditional Swedish] last name, he felt like there was some racism going on when he was out on the pitch,” James
Paul McBeth, the world’s top-ranked disc golfer, has become the richest athlete in the sport’s history after signing a record US$10 million endorsement contract with Discraft to represent the manufacturer through 2031. “It’s mind-blowing to me to think that the 17-year-old me — or even before that, the 14-year-old me — made the right move to put myself in this position and be able to propel the sport to potentially the next level,” McBeth said in a YouTube video announcing the blockbuster deal on Wednesday. “I feel like this is just the beginning.” The 30-year-old, from Huntington Beach, California, is widely regarded as disc golfing’s biggest star with 130 tournament wins and US$510,680 in career earnings, the Professional Disc Golf Association’s (PDGA) Web site says. Wednesday’s deal is an extension of an initial four-year contract that McBeth signed with the Michigan-based company ahead of the 2019 season, which was worth a guaranteed US$1 million in addition to royalties and a percentage of Discraft disc sales. Discraft team manager Bob Julio described that deal as a success. “Blew away my expectations in three months,” Julio told Ultiworld Disc Golf. “We outgrew the first deal — the four years — we outgrew that in a year, and we started discussing that we need to restructure things and make it long term, more so than four years.” A one-time accomplished shortstop who played baseball until he was 21, McBeth took up disc golfing when he was 14 and joined the professional ranks in 2008, when he captured Male Rookie of the Year honors. He won four consecutive PDGA world titles from 2012 through 2015, then a fifth in 2019 after recovering from a back injury. McBeth’s banner year came in 2015, when he won 19 of 25 events, and completed the first and only grand slam in the sport’s history by
‘ESCAPE FROM JUSTICE’: A US gymnast who trained under Geddert for more than 10 years and was assaulted by Larry Nassar called his suicide ‘an admission of guilt’
A former US Olympics gymnastics coach with ties to disgraced sports doctor Larry Nassar on Thursday killed himself, hours after being charged with turning his Michigan gym into a hub of human trafficking by coercing girls to train and then abusing them. John Geddert faced 24 charges that could have carried years in prison had he been convicted. He was supposed to appear in an Eaton County court, near Lansing, Michigan, but his body was found at a rest area along Interstate 96, state police said. “This is a tragic end to a tragic story for everyone involved,” Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said. Nessel earlier announced that Geddert was charged with a bushel of crimes, including sexual assault, human trafficking and running a criminal enterprise. The charges were the latest fallout from the sexual abuse scandal involving Nassar, a former Michigan State University sports doctor now in prison. Geddert, 63, was not arrested and transported to court. Rather, Nessel’s office allowed him to show up on his own. “We had no indication that Geddert intended to flee or hurt himself or others. We had been in contact with his attorney and were assured of his cooperation,” Nessel spokeswoman Kelly Rossman-McKinney said. Geddert was head coach of the 2012 US women’s Olympic gymnastics team, which won a gold medal. He was long associated with Nassar, who was the Olympic team’s physician and also treated injured gymnasts at Twistars, Geddert’s Lansing-area gym. Among the charges, Geddert was accused of lying to investigators in 2016 when he denied ever hearing complaints about Nassar. However, the bulk of the case against him involved his gym in Dimondale, Michigan, and how he treated the young athletes whose families paid to have them train under him. The charges against Geddert had “very little to do” with Nassar, Michigan Assistant Attorney General Danielle Hagaman-Clark said. Geddert was
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang on Thursday scored twice, including a late winner, as Arsenal qualified for the last 16 of the Europa League with a 3-2 victory over SL Benfica in Greece, while Manchester United and Rangers cruised through to the next round. The Gabon striker put Arsenal ahead at the Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium in Piraeus in their home leg of a tie relocated due to COVID-19 travel restrictions between Portugal and the UK. Diogo Goncalves leveled the contest with a magnificent free-kick and Rafa Silva gave Benfica a 2-1 lead on the night when he took advantage of an error from Dani Ceballos on the hour. Kieran Tierney rifled in an equalizer and Aubameyang headed in the decisive goal from Bukayo Saka’s cross on 87 minutes, earning the Gunners a 4-3 aggregate victory and saving them from an unusual away-goals exit, following a 1-1 draw in the first leg in Rome. “Everyone is happy tonight. This is what gives me power every day, take errors from the past and transform to strength,” Aubameyang told BT Sport. “The team showed a lot of character and we deserved the win. It was a hard game. What we showed tonight will be an example for the future,” he added. Manchester United cemented their place in yesterday’s draw with a 0-0 draw at home to Real Sociedad, having effectively clinched the tie last week with an emphatic 4-0 win on neutral ground in Italy. Mikel Oyarzabal’s awful penalty miss represented the best chance at Old Trafford for La Real, while Bruno Fernandes rattled the crossbar and Axel Tuanzebe’s header was disallowed for a foul. Leicester City, who are behind second-placed United in the Premier League only on goal-difference, were knocked out after sliding to a 2-0 loss at home to Czech champions Slavia Prague. Lukas Provod fired Slavia in front just after halftime following
French Open champion Iga Swiatek yesterday advanced to the final of the Adelaide International with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Jil Teichmann. The fifth-seeded Swiatek next plays second-seeded Belinda Bencic of Switzerland, who felled 16-year-old American Coco Gauff 7-6 (7/2), 6-7 (4/7), 6-2. Swiatek was dominant in the opening set, breaking the Swiss left-hander’s serve in the fourth game. The 19-year-old Swiatek bothered her opponent with a series of powerful groundstrokes as Teichmann made a series of unforced errors — 13 in the first set. Teichmann failed to convert a break point in the fourth game of the second set — her only one of the match — and it was a turning point. Swiatek held serve, then broke the unseeded Teichmann’s serve the next two times to keep her perfect record for the tournament — she has not lost a set. “I feel solid and that is the most important thing for me because when I play good I just enjoy everything,” Swiatek said. OPEN SUD DE FRANCE AP Top-seeded Roberto Bautista Agut on Thursday swept aside French qualifier Gregoire Barrere 6-0, 6-3 to reach the quarter-finals of the Open Sud de France. The Spanish veteran, who is chasing a 10th career title, won 100 percent of his first-serve points in the first set and broke Barrere’s serve three times in each. Barrere leveled for 2-2 as they exchanged breaks early in the second set, but Bautista Agut broke him twice more, including in the last game. The 32-year-old Spaniard next faces sixth-seeded Frenchman Ugo Humbert. Dusan Lajovic, No. 3, and Hubert Hurkacz, No. 4, were both knocked out by unseeded players. Lajovic lost 7-6 (7/5), 7-5 to Austrian David Novak and Hurkacz was beaten 7-5, 6-2 by Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina. Novak next plays German qualifier Peter Gojowczyk, who withstood 29 aces from Jiri Vesely and had 17 of his own in
Kyrie Irving on Thursday finished with 27 points and nine assists, as the Brooklyn Nets stretched their winning streak to a season-high eight games with a 129-92 victory over the Orlando Magic. The Nets recorded their most one-sided win of the season by shooting 61 percent from the floor over the last three quarters. “We put a few possessions together and we ended the first quarter well, and I feel like that put us in position to take control of the pace of the game,” Irving said. James Harden finished with 20 points, seven assists and nine rebounds for the Nets, who nailed 20 three-pointers in front of a pandemic-limited crowd of 327 people at the Barclays Center. Reserve Landry Shamet added 19, while Joe Harris and Bruce Brown chipped in 14 apiece in a dominant win. Brooklyn are on their longest winning streak since 2006 and won their sixth straight contest without Kevin Durant with a strained left hamstring. Nikola Vucevic tallied 28 points and 12 rebounds for Orlando, who suffered their worst loss of the season, missing 27 of 36 threes. “We can’t beat ourselves and we can’t turn the ball over, and that’s where it started,” Magic coach Steve Clifford said. Meanwhile, Joel Embiid scored 23 points and pulled down nine rebounds as the first-placed Philadelphia 76ers took advantage of a rare off night by Luka Doncic to overpower the Dallas Mavericks 111-97. Embiid shot five of 20 from the field, but made 11 of 12 free throws. Ben Simmons added 15 points and seven assists, while Seth Curry contributed 15 points for the Sixers, who improved to 14-2 at home. “I was just being me. Doing what I do,” Simmons said. In other games on Thursday, it was: ‧ Knicks 140, Kings 121 ‧ Grizzlies 122, Clippers 94 ‧ Nuggets 110, Wizards 112 ‧ Bucks 129, Pelicans 125
OLYMPICS No decision on boycott: US The White House has not made a final decision on whether the US would take part in the 2022 Winter Olympics in China, a spokeswoman for US President Joe Biden said on Thursday, even as some Republicans call for a boycott. Republicans who have called either for a boycott or for the Games to be moved have cited a US designation that the Chinese government was perpetrating genocide against Uighurs in Xinjiang. Speaking to reporters about US participation in the Beijing Olympics, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said: “There hasn’t been a final decision made on that and, of course, we would look for guidance from the US Olympic Committee.” Human rights groups have urged the International Olympic Committee to move the Games because of China’s treatment of Uighurs along with other human rights concerns. China denies human rights abuses. SOCCER FIFA investigation ends Franz Beckenbauer and other former German officials cannot be prosecuted over the 2006 World Cup vote-buying scandal because the statute of limitations has expired, FIFA’s ethics committee said on Thursday. FIFA’s internal judiciary said it had determined that the statute of limitation had expired in 2012 for Beckenbauer, and in 2015 for Theo Zwanziger and Horst Schmidt. In March 2016, FIFA’s ethics committee opened formal proceedings against Beckenbauer, who chaired the 2006 World Cup organizing committee, and five others over their roles in the bidding process for the finals. The investigation was prompted by a 2015 report in Der Spiegel that Germany had used a secret fund of 10 million Swiss francs (US$11.1 million at the current exchange rate) to buy votes and obtain the rights to host the competition at the expense of South Africa. BASKETBALL Beasley banned over threats The NBA on Thursday slapped Malik Beasley with a 12-game ban after the Minnesota
BARTY PARTY OVER: After crashing out on Wednesday, Ashleigh Barty pulled out of the Qatar Open with a left leg injury, and hit back at Australians’ unrealistic expectations
Coco Gauff and Jil Teichmann yesterday advanced to the Adelaide International semi-finals after three-set wins on the Memorial Drive hard courts. The 16-year-old Gauff beat Shelby Rogers 2-6, 6-4, 6-4, and Teichmann defeated Anastasija Sevastova 6-4 ,6-7 (8/10), 7-5. Gauff has won five straight matches in Adelaide, including two in qualifying, since her second-round loss to fifth-seeded Elina Svitolina at the Australian Open. She and Rogers had an extended rally in the ninth game of the third set, which Gauff won after setting up game point with a cross-court return. Gauff next faces second-seeded Belinda Bencic, who beat Storm Sanders 6-2, 6-4. Teichmann had five match points in the second-set tiebreaker against Sevastova, but was unable to close it out. The 23-year-old Swiss player was then forced to save two match points while trailing 5-4 in the third. “It was a roller coaster and what I felt was nerves,” Teichmann said. “It was a very tense match, very long rallies every time. Anastasija is a tough player and you have to play every point and every game, doesn’t matter if you’re serving or returning.” French Open champion Iga Swiatek advanced to the semi-finals when American opponent Danielle Collins retired with an undisclosed injury while trailing 6-3, 3-0. Collins appeared to wince in pain during her service action in the final point before retiring. “Unfortunately we couldn’t finish,” said the fifth-seeded Swiatek, who will next play Teichmann. “Hopefully Danielle is going to be well soon.” On Wednesday, Ashleigh Barty’s Australian summer of tennis ended in disappointment, with the local hero falling at the first hurdle to Collins. World No. 1 Barty exited after a 6-3, 6-4 loss to Collins and took a defensive swipe at the Australian public for having unrealistic expectations of her. “You know that there are no easy matches going into any tournament,” Barty told local media. “You can’t win every
Ferland Mendy on Wednesday put Real Madrid within touching distance of the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals, with a late strike that sank 10-man Atalanta BC 1-0 in Bergamo, Italy. The French leftback’s curling effort came four minutes from time in a last-16, first-leg clash in which the hosts had to play a man down for more than 70 minutes, giving Zinedine Zidane’s side the advantage heading into the second leg in Madrid on March 16. “We didn’t have a great game tonight, but the most important thing was the result, scoring away was important for us,” Zidane said. “It’s a very good result against an Atalanta team even at 10, because they defended very well.” “The tie is open. We are going to have a great return match,” he added. Atalanta had attacked early, but the game was transformed when Swiss midfielder Remo Freuler was harshly sent off in the 17th minute for tripping Mendy at the edge of the penalty area. Gian Piero Gasperini’s woes continued with forward Duvan Zapata limping off after half an hour with a muscular problem, with midfielder Mario Pasalic coming off the bench. “The game was ruined,” Gasperini said. “I don’t know what would have happened 11 against 11.” “I just got banned for saying something in Serie A, if I say something now then UEFA will ban me, but this is football suicide,” he said. “Enough of these referees who’ve never played a game, and don’t know the difference between a challenge and a foul.” Spanish midfielder Isco had a rare start up front for injury-hit Real Madrid, playing alongside Marco Asensio and Vinicius. The 13-time European champions were without striker Karim Benzema due to an ankle problem with an injury list also including Sergio Ramos, Eden Hazard and Dani Carvajal. “It’s true that there are many casualties, but the players who are
Veteran batsman Martin Guptill yesterday returned to form with a blistering 97, as New Zealand held on for a nail-biting win over Australia in the second Twenty20 international in Dunedin. Guptill’s Black Caps set Australia a challenging target of 220 after losing the toss, but were made to sweat as Australia came within four runs of victory. Both sides took advantage of University Oval’s short boundaries in a thrilling match that featured 30 sixes and 434 runs at an average of 10.9 an over. Marcus Stoinis starred for Australia with 78 from 37 balls, but Guptill’s 97 from 50 laid the foundation for New Zealand’s win. Black Caps spinner Mitchell Santner also shone amid the batting fireworks, taking 4-31, while Australia paceman Kane Richardson managed 3-43. New Zealand all-rounder Jimmy Neesham was another exceptional performer, taking two wickets in the final over when a rampant Australia needed 15 runs for victory. Neesham also scored an undefeated 45, including six sixes. The result puts New Zealand 2-0 up in the five-match series, on the brink of a shock win over the world’s second-ranked Twenty20 team. Guptill’s innings gave him the record for the most sixes in Twenty20 internationals with 132, taking him past India’s Rohit Sharma on 127. The 34-year-old clubbed the ball over the boundary eight times, bludgeoning all comers in the Australia attack. He fell just short of his third Twenty20 century after being caught trying to hit a Daniel Sams delivery out of the ground. Guptill averaged only 17 in the series against the West Indies and Pakistan, then managed just 11.5 in the domestic competition before picking up a hamstring injury. Pressure on the opener grew when he made a duck in the first match against Australia on Monday, with calls for uncapped Finn Allen to join the squad. He answered his critics with a return to his big-hitting
Megan Rapinoe on Wednesday scored twice in the first half as the US romped to a 6-0 victory over Argentina to retain the SheBelieves Cup friendly soccer title. Led by Rapinoe, the tournament’s top scorer with three goals, the US finished with a maximum nine points with three wins from three matches in the four-nation, round-robin tournament. Second place went to Brazil, who capped their tournament with a 2-0 victory over Canada earlier at Exploria Stadium in Orlando, Florida. Canada finished third with three points and Argentina, in their first appearance, came away with zero points. Argentina, the only team in the event outside the top 10 in the FIFA rankings, were a last-minute replacement for Japan. They had an early setback with three players ruled out of their opening match just hours before kickoff because of COVID-19 protocols. They were overwhelmed early by a US team that scored four goals in the first half. The first two came from Rapinoe, who tapped in a ball from Rose Lavelle in the 16th minute. The 2019 FIFA Player of the Year doubled the lead in the 26th, when she finished off a through ball from Carli Lloyd. “We wanted to come out fast as always,” Rapinoe said. “It’s always dangerous to leave teams hanging around.” Lloyd made it 3-0 in the 35th off a cross from Kristie Mewis on the left side of the box. Mewis made it 4-0 in the 41st. Alex Morgan lofted a shot over Argentina goalkeeper Solana Pereyra in the 84th — her first goal since the birth of her daughter, Charlie, in May. Christen Press finished off the scoring with a header in the 88th. The reigning World Cup champions have not lost a game since a defeat to France in January 2019. In the first match of the day’s double-header, goals from Debinha and Julia Bianchi lifted Brazil over Canada.
RSS