Sadio Mane on Tuesday got up from a horrible clash of heads that left him dazed on the ground, possibly with a concussion, to score a goal and help put Senegal into the quarter-finals at the Africa Cup of Nations. Senegal won 2-0 against Cape Verde, who had two players sent off in the last-16 game in Bafoussam, Cameroon. The Liverpool star did not finish the match and later was taken to a hospital, although he said on social media that he was OK. Morocco followed Senegal into the quarters by coming from behind to beat Malawi 2-1. The Morocco comeback was completed by a magical free-kick by Paris Saint-Germain’s Achraf Hakimi, who curled the ball over the wall and into the top corner for the winner in the 70th minute. He ran across to the Morocco bench and took a bow. The Africa Cup of Nations action continued a day after a crush outside the stadium at the Cameroon-Comoros last-16 game killed eight people, with seven others in a serious condition, throwing a shadow over the continent’s top soccer tournament. There had been questions about whether the day’s games would go ahead. They did, after a moment’s silence at both. Some players also wore black armbands. “Eight people who died yesterday at Olembe Stadium will always be in our memory,” Hakimi wrote on Twitter after his team’s victory. “Football takes a back seat today despite it is happy day for our country after the classification to quarterfinals of Africa Nations Cup. Rest in peace.” In the Senegal-Cape Verde game, Cape Verde’s second red card was dished out to goalkeeper Vozinha when he raced out of his area and tried to head a ball clear with Mane chasing it down. The players’ heads clashed badly as they leaped in the air, and Vozinha clearly sustained a concussion as he tried to
The Los Angeles Clippers on Tuesday became the NBA’s new comeback kings after Luke Kennard scored seven points inside the final nine seconds, including a go-ahead four-point play with 1.9 seconds remaining, to cap their return from a 35-point first-half deficit and stun the Washington Wizards 116-115. Kennard hit a three-point shot from out of a timeout and then, after Washington committed a five-second violation, sank another three running to his right while absorbing a foul from the Wizards’ Bradley Beal. Kennard made the free throw, finishing with 25 points and completing a rally that tied for the second-biggest in the NBA since the 1996-1997 season. Beal was left to rue a fourth straight loss that dropped the Wizards to two games below .500 (23-25) for the first time this season. Washington began the season 10-3, but are 13-22 since. “What are we trying to achieve, honestly?” Beal asked. “What kind of a team are we trying to be? I think that’s my biggest question to all of us as a unit.” Beal did not even expect that he would have to play in the fourth quarter, given that his team led by 30 at halftime. He ended up scoring 10 of his 23 points in the period. It was not enough to avoid finishing an eight-game homestand with a 3-5 record, or to quiet talk that Beal might be traded before the Feb. 10 deadline. “I’m very well aware of how we’re playing and how other teams are playing and what my interests are,” Beal said. “And obviously I’m a big factor into that, too, in producing and playing well and performing, but I want to win. And we all know that. It’s just a matter of us doing it.” Amir Coffey scored a career-high 29 points for the depleted Clippers, who pulled off a third rally from this
Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Keith Yandle on Tuesday broke the NHL record by playing in his 965th consecutive game. The 35-year-old Yandle passed the previous mark set by Doug Jarvis, who played 964 straight games over his entire career from Oct. 8, 1975, to Oct. 10, 1987. Yandle started his streak March 26, 2009, with the then-Phoenix Coyotes, and played 1,075 games overall with the Coyotes, including after their name switch to Arizona. He later played for the New York Rangers, the Florida Panthers and the Flyers. The three-time All-Star is in his first season with the Flyers and was on the ice for the opening face-off against the New York Islanders. Yandle was paired with Ivan Provorov to start the game. He played 18 shifts for 11 minutes, 58 seconds of ice time as the Flyers fell 4-3. “I don’t think it has really sunk in,” Yandle said of the record. “I’m grateful to play one game in this league, the best league in the world, surrounded by the best players. To be a part of the NHL and the NHL family for the last 16 years is more than a dream come true.” Yandle, a fourth-round draft pick by the Coyotes in 2005, expressed sheer appreciation for his ability to reach the milestone. His family attended the game at UBS Arena. “The support I have had, it has meant the world to me,” he said. “I’m very grateful.” Islanders fans gave Yandle a polite ovation at the 7:24 mark of the first period, when he was recognized for his achievement. Yandle raised his stick, skated off the bench and did a quick circle as he waved to the crowd. Arizona’s Phil Kessel is third on the list at 940 straight games and could also pass Jarvis before the end of the season. In other games on Tuesday, it was: ‧ Hurricanes 4,
HOME HOPE: There was no stopping Ashleigh Barty as she thrashed Jessica Pegula to set up a semi-final with Madison Keys, who upset world No. 4 Barbora Krejcikova
Rafael Nadal yesterday dug deep into his immense reserves of resilience for the second match running to keep his dream of a 21st Grand Slam title alive at the Australian Open, as women’s top seed Ashleigh Barty powered into a semi-final against Madison Keys. The ruthless Barty dismantled Jessica Pegula 6-2, 6-0 in 63 minutes to reach the last four at Melbourne Park for only the second time. “That was solid tonight. I had a lot of fun out here,” said Barty, who is edging closer to becoming the first Australian woman to win her home Grand Slam since Chris O’Neill in 1978. She is to face the unseeded Keys for a place in Saturday’s final after the American, ranked 51, upset French Open champion Barbora Krejcikova 6-3, 6-2. Wimbledon champion Barty is yet to drop a set and has only given up 17 games in her five matches at Melbourne Park. Nadal raced to a two-set quarter-final lead against Denis Shapovalov, but then began to feel unwell, needing medical attention for a stomach complaint before surviving a four-hour thriller 6-3, 6-4, 4-6, 3-6, 6-3. The Spanish sixth seed previously had to show all his experience and tenacity just to reach the quarter-final in an epic 28-minute tiebreak, and he somehow found the willpower again to cross the finish line, despite being badly hampered. “I started to feel not very well in my stomach, so I just asked if they could do something,” said Nadal of calling for medical assistance. “They just checked everything was all right and then I took some tablets to try to improve the situation. It was lucky that I was serving great in the fifth,” he said. Nadal won a warm-up tournament and continues to amaze even himself after being out for most of last year with a chronic foot injury. He then caught
Hosts Cameroon on Monday set up an Africa Cup of Nations quarter-final against the Gambia, but only after laboring to a 2-1 win over a Comoros side who were forced to start an outfield player in goal and played most of the game with 10 men. Leftback Chaker Alhadhur started between the posts for the Comoros in Yaounde after two of their three goalkeepers were ruled out due to COVID-19, while the other was missing due to injury. The Comoros then had captain Nadjim Abdou sent off after just seven minutes, and Karl Toko-Ekambi put Cameroon in front before skipper Vincent Aboubakar netted his sixth goal of the tournament. However, it was a heroic performance from the Comoros, who kept the last-16 tie alive until the end thanks to Youssouf M’Changama’s stunning late free-kick. “I don’t think I am the only hero. I did what I could. I think I gave hope to the team and they all tried to help me,” Alhadhur, usually a back-up left-back for French Ligue 2 side AC Ajaccio, told broadcaster Canal Plus. He had to use tape to mark out his number three on the back of his goalkeeper’s jersey. Of being chosen to go in goal he said: “It was something that at first we spoke a bit about and laughed about, but then it became serious.” “I was chosen, but I didn’t believe it until I put on the gloves and the top. Then I realized it was serious,” Alhadhur said. “There were lots of emotions going through my head, but then I just got on with it.” The tiny Indian Ocean island nation qualified for the last 16 in their first-ever appearance at the Cup of Nations after finishing as one of the best third-placed teams in the group stage. However, their dream turned to a nightmare as a total
With Winter X Games medals in one hand and their snowboards in the other, the Hirano brothers — Ayumu and Kaishu — posed for photograph after photograph at the bottom of the half-pipe. Get used to it. They could be on the podium again at the Beijing Olympics, and it would be no surprise to see the entire Japanese team go gold, silver, bronze and maybe even scoop up fourth place, too. “The Japanese are a force,” said Australia’s Scotty James, who took gold at Winter X over the weekend and, along with Shaun White, is among the handful of male riders standing in the way of Japan’s growing dominance. “Just incredibly talented snowboarders,” James said. They are tight-knit, too. They might be fierce rivals on competition days, but they stay good friends in between. They travel together, eat together and perfect innovative tricks together. They have certainly raised the bar in the half-pipe, along with expectations. Long filled with potential, they only have Ayumu Hirano’s two silver medals and Taku Hiraoka’s bronze to show for it since snowboarding arrived on the Olympic scene in 1998. Yet this crew of Japanese riders appears poised to take over the half-pipe in Beijing with four bona fide gold-medal contenders in the Hirano brothers — Kaishu is nearly four years younger than Ayumu — along with Ruka Hirano and Yuto Totsuka, who is ranked first in the world after dominating the half-pipe for the past two years. The country’s next-best could be in contention, as well — if there was not a quota limit. It is akin to the days when the US contingent ruled the pipe. Seven of the world’s top 20 riders hail from Japan. The squad dominates contests and leaves others wondering how to catch up. “That,” Swiss snowboarder Jan Scherrer said, “is the question
Lia Thomas has made a splash in US collegiate women’s swimming with her dominant performances for the University of Pennsylvania, but just a few years ago, she competed on the men’s team. The 22-year-old’s runaway success in the pool this season has reignited debate about inclusivity in sports and the competition requirements for transgender athletes. Thomas’ case has already prompted the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) to amend its policies, and USA Swimming, which governs the sport at the elite level, is considering changes as well. In one of only a few interviews given since the controversy ignited, Thomas said she realized she was transgender in the summer of 2018, but initially still wanted to compete on the men’s team, because of the uncertainty that awaited her with her transition. “I didn’t know what I would be able to do or [if I would] be able to keep swimming,” she told SwimSwam magazine’s podcast. “That caused a lot of distress to me. I was struggling.” Thomas said she began her transition in May 2019 with hormone replacement therapy — a combination of estrogen and testosterone suppressants. In her first season on the women’s swim team, she is putting her opponents on notice. At a meet in Ohio in early December last year, she notched the best times of the year in the 200m and 500m freestyle. At a meet against Harvard last weekend, she won the 100m and 200m freestyle. The NCAA already required transgender women to take testosterone suppressants for a year before becoming eligible to compete on women’s teams, which Thomas did. Yet now, transgender women are expected to be asked to meet certain testosterone thresholds set for each sport. Some say because Thomas went through puberty before transitioning, her muscular build gives her an unfair advantage. “Lia is overperforming in women’s events,” the Women’s Sports Policy Working Group
CYCLING Bernal in hospital after crash Former Tour de France winner Egan Bernal was “conscious” and “stable” in hospital following a training accident with a bus in his native Colombia, his cycling team Ineos Grenadiers said on Monday. Pictures shared on social media showed the 25-year-old Giro d’Italia champion lying on the ground surrounded by teammates. The back of a bus with a huge dent in it is visible in the picture. The 2019 Tour winner had “multiple lacerations” and was receiving treatment in a clinic, the local transport police said, adding that he rode into the back of the vehicle as it pulled up at a bus stop. The accident happened in the town of Gachancipa, about 30km from the capital, Bogota. The Sabana University Clinic, where he was being treated, said that he had undergone an operation for a fractured femur, patella and chest trauma. CRICKET Zimbabwe’s Taylor extorted Former Zimbabwe cricket captain Brendan Taylor on Monday said that he had taken money from match-fixers who tried to blackmail him into manipulating international games with a secret video of him using cocaine on a visit to India in 2019. Taylor said that the International Cricket Council (ICC) was about to impose a “multi-year ban” on him. Even though he took US$15,000 from the fixers, Taylor said he never fixed or manipulated games. The 35-year-old batsman retired from international cricket late last year. Taylor said he was invited to India to discuss what he was told was a sponsorship opportunity in October 2019. At a dinner with businessmen, he was offered cocaine and “foolishly took the bait,” he said. “The following morning, the same men entered my hotel room to show me a video taken of me the night before doing cocaine and told me that if I did not partake in spot fixing
DESTINY: World No. 61 Alize Cornet came into the season acknowledging retirement must be close and that it was now or never for a Grand Slam breakthrough
Alize Cornet dropped to her knees on the hard blue court, clasped her hands and took a few moments to let it sink in. On her 17th trip to the Australian Open, her 63rd run at a Grand Slam and two days after celebrating her 32nd birthday, Cornet finally qualified for the quarter-finals at one of the four majors. Cornet yesterday recovered after a second-set meltdown in the hot Melbourne sun to advance to the last eight at the Australian Open with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 win over two-time major champion Simona Halep. “It’s never too late to try again,” Cornet said in her on-court TV interview. “To be in my first quarter-final. It’s a dream come true. The journey goes on. I still can’t believe it.” Cornet led by a set and 3-1 before losing five consecutive games and 16 straight points as Halep took the match to a decider. The match was 2-2 in the third set after Cornet held a service game at love. Halep got a break point two games later with a forehand down the line that just caught the outside of the paint and which Cornet could barely believe. She saved it and held serve, then broke Halep’s serve for a 4-3 lead that set her on course for the quarter-finals. Cornet next faces Danielle Collins, the No. 27 seed from the US who beat 19th seed Elise Mertens 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 in an almost three-hour match to open play on Rod Laver Arena. Cornet made her main draw Grand Slam singles debut as a wild-card entry at the 2005 French Open. She lost five previous fourth-round appearances. With a ranking of 61 — 50 lower than her career-high No. 11 — Cornet came into the season acknowledging retirement must be close and that it was now or never for a Grand Slam breakthrough. “I
Martina Navratilova on Sunday said that the Australian Open organizers had acted “cowardly” by preventing fans from wearing shirts bearing messages of support for Chinese player Peng Shuai at the Grand Slam event. After video emerged of security officials and police on Saturday instructing fans to remove shirts with the slogan “Where is Peng Shuai?” Tennis Australia defended its stance by saying the tournament does not allow political statements. “Under our ticket conditions of entry we don’t allow clothing, banners or signs that are commercial or political,” Tennis Australia said in a statement. That position dismayed 18-time Grand Slam winner Navratilova, who said the organizers were “capitulating” to China and placing sponsorship money ahead of human rights concerns. “I find it really, really cowardly,” she said on the Tennis Channel. “I think they are wrong on this. This is not a political statement, this is a human rights statement. [Tennis Australia is] just really capitulating on this issue ... letting the Chinese really dictate what they do at their own Slam. I just find it really weak.” Peng’s well-being became a matter of concern among the global tennis community in November last year when she appeared to allege that former Chinese vice premier Zhang Gaoli had sexually assaulted her. After that social media post, she was absent from public view for nearly three weeks. Peng last month said that she had never accused anyone of sexually assaulting her and that the social media post had been misunderstood. The WTA suspended tournaments in China due to its concerns over Peng’s safety. Peng supporters in Australia yesterday said that they were planning to hand out 1,000 “Where is Peng Shuai?” T-shirts at Melbourne Park this week after raising more than US$10,000 on a GoFundMe page. “We can see how many match-goers that they can stop,” Max Mok told Australian Broadcasting Corp
Tunisia shocked Nigeria and Burkina Faso edged Gabon on Sunday to set up an Africa Cup of Nations last-eight showdown, while minnows Comoros were preparing to use an outfield player as a goalkeeper when they confronted hosts Cameroon yesterday. Veteran Youssef Msakni scored two minutes into the second half to give previously unimpressive Tunisia a 1-0 second-round triumph over 10-man Nigeria in Garoua. Nigeria’s hopes of equalizing were dealt a huge blow midway through the second half when Alex Iwobi, initially yellow-carded for a stamp on Msakni, was sent off. In the other last-16 match, Burkina Faso needed a penalty shoot-out to eliminate Gabon, who forced a 1-1 draw after extra-time having played 56 minutes with 10 men following the dismissal of Sidney Obissa. Substitute Ismahila Ouedraogo scored to give the Stallions a 7-6 shoot-out victory after Lloyd Palun had struck the woodwork for Gabon in Limbe. With all three goalkeepers unavailable due to positive COVID-19 tests and injury, giant-killers Comoros were set to use an outfield player between the posts when they tackled hosts Cameroon yesterday. Comoros, representing an Indian Ocean nation of less than 1 million people, stunned four-time champions Ghana to reach the second round as one of the four best third-placed teams. “My boys gave their all and I cannot fault them,” said caretaker Nigeria coach Augustine Eguavoen, who is likely to revert to his technical director role with Portuguese coach Jose Peseiro taking over. “A slight mistake gave Tunisia their only chance and they scored. We battled to break down their defense. We needed to move the ball quicker and be less predictable,” he said. “I thought the red card was a bit harsh. It was his first offense and not an intentional foul. However, the referee is the boss on the pitch and we must respect his decisions.” In a shock-riddled tournament, another
India captain K.L. Rahul on Sunday said there needs to be some “hard conversations” for his team after their 3-0 defeat in the one-day international series against a relatively inexperienced South Africa. India were expected to win the series, especially as all three games were played on pitches that suited their side, but they could not get over the line. The team were without the injured Rohit Sharma, who will be captain when he returns, but was otherwise at close to full strength. “Our shot selection has been poor at times and with the ball we haven’t been hitting the right areas consistently enough,” Rahul said at the post-match presentation after an agonizing four-run loss in the third game at Newlands in Cape Town. “That’s why we ended up losing the series. We need to try and understand how we can get better as a team.” India looked flat at times in the series, but Rahul does not believe the players can be questioned for effort. “I can’t fault the boys for the passion and the effort. Yes, in terms of skill and understanding the situation of the game, sometimes we have gone wrong, but that can happen,” he said. He believes what is important now is for the team to regroup and take stock of the series loss, and make changes where they feel it is necessary. “We kept making the same mistakes, but it is early on in our journey to the World Cup. So we must go back, have some hard conversations and look at ourselves in the mirror to see where we can get better,” he said. WEST INDIES V ENGLAND Reuters England on Sunday held their nerve in the face of a late assault by Akeal Hosein and Romario Shepherd to secure a one-run victory over the West Indies in Bridgetown and level their five-match
Matt Gay on Sunday kicked a last-gasp field goal as the Los Angeles Rams sent Tom Brady and reigning Super Bowl champions the Tampa Bay Buccaneers crashing out of the NFL playoffs. Gay drilled a 30-yard field goal as time ran out to give the Rams a thrilling 30-27 win after Brady and the Bucs had recovered from 27-3 down to tie the game at 27-27 just moments earlier. The win means the Rams advance to an National Football Conference Championship game at home to the San Francisco 49ers where a place in the Super Bowl will be at stake. In Sunday’s other playoff, Patrick Mahomes led the Kansas City Chiefs to an epic 42-36 overtime victory over the Buffalo Bills in a classic shoot-out at Arrowhead Stadium. Bills quarterback Josh Allen looked to have given Buffalo victory after finding Gabriel Davis in the end zone to make it 36-33 with 13 seconds remaining, but Mahomes marched the Chiefs back into field-goal range to send it to overtime, before hitting Travis Kelce on the first drive to settle a remarkable encounter. The Chiefs advance to an American Football Conference Championship game with the Cincinnati Bengals. Tampa Bay’s loss ended the 44-year-old Brady’s hopes of adding an eighth Super Bowl title to his record haul of seven Vince Lombardi trophies. “We let them back into the game with a bunch of mistakes on offense, but we’re a tough team, this is what we’re all about,” said Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford, who finished with 366 passing yards from 28 of 38 attempts. Brady, who was sacked three times and hit on six other occasions by the Rams defense, threw for 329 yards with one touchdown. “We were down a bunch and a lot of guys made a bunch of different plays to get us back into it. They just made one
The Women’s Asian Cup was thrown into turmoil on Sunday when hosts India were kicked out of the tournament after a COVID-19 outbreak meant they were unable to field a team for their Group A match against Taiwan. Regulations require coaches to name a minimum 13-player squad for each game and India’s inability to do so caused the game at Navi Mumbai’s DY Patil Stadium to be canceled. Thomas Dennerby’s side have been kicked out of the competition with all their results nullified. “The inability of India to participate in the match ... triggers Article 6 of the AFC Women’s Asian Cup India 2022 regulations,” the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) said in a statement. Article 6 states “all participating member associations undertake that their participating teams shall play ... all of their matches in the finals until elimination.” India, hosting the event for the first time since 1989, are now out of contention, but the AFC said the tournament would continue as scheduled. All India Football Federation president Praful Patel said that the team were “heartbroken.” “We are as disappointed as probably the entire nation would be right now with this unwarranted situation,” Patel wrote on Twitter. “However, the players’ health and well-being are of paramount importance to us & it cannot be compromised under any circumstances.” India’s opening draw with Iran has been canceled, effectively turning tomorrow’s match between Taiwan and Iran into an eliminator for a place in the quarter-finals. China on Sunday became the first team to book their place in the quarter-finals with a 7-0 win over debutants Iran in their Group A game in Mumbai. China backed up their opening 4-0 win over Taiwan with a comprehensive victory, Wang Shuang celebrating her 27th birthday by scoring another two goals. The margin of China’s victory over Iran means that Taiwan need just a draw in their final
‘JUST AWFUL’: After Canada’s Shapovalov beat Alexander Zverev, the German smashed his racket, and when asked what went wrong in the match, he replied: ‘Everything’
Rafael Nadal yesterday survived an epic 28-minute tiebreak to seal his spot in the quarter-finals of the Australian Open, while top seed Ashleigh Barty joined him with victory over giant-killer Amanda Anisimova. Nadal would next face Canada’s 14th seed Denis Shapovalov after he stunned third seed and Olympic champion Alexander Zverev — who said “everything” went wrong. Nadal, who is chasing a men’s record 21st Grand Slam title, was pushed all the way by Adrian Mannarino in an 81-minute first set before breaking the Frenchman’s resolve in a 7-6 (16/14), 6-2, 6-2 victory. “First set was very emotional,” said the 35-year-old Nadal, the 2009 Australian Open champion, who pumped his fists after emerging victorious from a marathon first-set tiebreak on a steamy day in Melbourne. “That crazy first set was so important.” The Spaniard, who dropped a set for the first time in the tournament before powering past Russia’s Karen Khachanov in the previous round, is to play Shapovalov in the last eight. The 22-year-old Shapovalov — who tested positive for COVID-19 when he landed in Australia earlier this month — left Zverev still searching for a first major title after beating him 6-3, 7-6 (7-5), 6-3. The German smashed his racket and afterward failed to find any positives. “Today, in my opinion, was just awful from my side,” he said. Asked by reporters what went wrong, he replied: “Everything.” In the women’s draw, home hope and world No. 1 Barty thrilled the crowd by defeating 60th-ranked Anisimova 6-4, 6-3. The Australian faces another American, Jessica Pegula, in the last eight. The 20-year-old Anisimova beat Olympic champion Belinda Bencic and was fresh from knocking out defending champion Naomi Osaka, but she came up against a Barty who looks in irresistible form as she chases her first Australian Open crown. The 21st-seeded Pegula, who revealed earlier this week she has been relaxing
Australian Open organizers yesterday said that the safety of Peng Shuai remains their “primary concern” even as security officials at the Grand Slam forced fans to remove T-shirts referring to the Chinese former doubles No. 1. Drew Pavlou of Brisbane posted a video on Twitter showing Max Mok, a pro-democracy campaigner from Hong Kong who announced his intention to contest the Melbourne marginal seat of Chisholm in this year’s federal election, and a fellow spectator speaking with a member of Tennis Australia security who confiscated a banner and asked them to remove their T-shirts, which featured a photo of Peng on the front below the word “Wanted.” “Where is Peng Shuai?” was printed on the back of the shirts. A police officer was called to explain that the material was in breach of the organizer’s policy banning political statements, the video showed. “I’m not saying you can’t have those views, but Tennis Australia sets the rules here,” the police officer said. Peng’s well-being became a matter of concern among the global tennis community in November when she appeared to allege online that a former Chinese vice premier Zhang Gaoli had sexually assaulted her. After that post, she was absent from public view for nearly three weeks. Last month, she said she had never accused anyone of sexually assaulting her, and that a social media post she had made had been misunderstood. The WTA suspended tournaments in China due to its concerns over Peng’s safety, which the Tour says have not been alleviated by her public appearances. “Under our ticket conditions of entry we don’t allow clothing, banners or signs that are commercial or political,” Tennis Australia said in a statement in response to questions raised about the video. “Peng Shuai’s safety is our primary concern. We continue to work with the WTA and global tennis community to seek more
Francis Ngannou on Saturday night retained his UFC heavyweight title with a surprising display of superior grappling in a unanimous-decision victory over previously unbeaten Ciryl Gane at UFC 270. Deiveson Figueiredo also beat Brandon Moreno by unanimous decision, concluding a thrilling fight trilogy by reclaiming the flyweight championship belt he lost to Moreno seven months ago. Ngannou (17-3) defended his heavyweight belt for the first time with impressive perseverance against Gane (10-1), his fellow French citizen. The champ also did it on an injured knee, saying afterward that several doctors advised him to pull out of the bout three weeks ago. “I’m very happy to move on through injury and all the drama, all the talk around this fight,” Ngannou said. “I’m very happy to finally get over this in the best way... That was the point I came here tonight to make, to prove that I’m the champ.” Both heavyweights possess incredible power and uncommonly fluid athleticism for big men, but the champion took control of a cagey fight in the third round with the first of several takedowns. Ngannou turned a matchup between fearsome strikers into a wrestling match that showcased his much-improved game on the ground. The judges scored it 48-47, 48-47 and 49-46 for Ngannou, who had never won a decision in his mixed martial arts career. The Associated Press also scored it 48-47 for Ngannou, the Cameroon-born French citizen who trains in Las Vegas. Just 10 fights and three-and-a-half years after his professional MMA debut, Gane appeared to have an edge in the first two rounds of his first title fight with superior striking, with both fighters showing appropriate caution for each other’s power. Gane mixed in some spinning kicks with increasing confidence, but Ngannou changed the tone of the fight early in the third when he got an arm under Gane’s leg and
Japan’s Mai Mihara on Saturday put her bitterness at missing out on a spot in the Winter Olympics behind her by winning gold for the second time in the ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships, as the US enjoyed a one-two in the pairs event. Mihara’s fourth-place finish at the Japanese nationals ended her hopes of competing in a first Winter Games in Beijing, but she held her nerve in Tallinn to reclaim a title she won five years ago. In the pairs, Audrey Lu and Misha Mitrofanov survived a fall in the free skate to win gold by an 8.16-point margin on fellow Americans Emily Chan and Spencer Akira Howe in the Estonian capital. Mihara, 22, led all the way, scoring a career high 218.03 points and bettering South Korean skaters Lee Hae-in (213.52) and Kim Ye-lim (209.91), who claimed their first ISU medals with silver and bronze respectfully. “I was so nervous today as the nationals were in the back of my mind, like a flashback,” said Mihara. “I was crying even before I went on the ice, but I was able to overcome that bitterness from nationals and bring home a gold medal to Japan,” she said. Mihara extended her lead from the short program, despite a glitch on her final spin in her free skate to Fairy of the Forest and Galaxy by Yuko Toyoda, scoring a career best 145.41. It was her fourth medal in the competition following her gold in 2017, with silver and bronze in 2018 and 2019 respectively.
Freestyle skier Aaron Blunck did not know if he would live after bashing into the lip of a pipe 15 months ago. He broke six ribs, fractured his pelvis, lacerated his kidneys and bruised his heart. “Don’t let me die,” he told his coach at the bottom of the halfpipe. The crash in Saas-Fee, Switzerland, during a training run on Oct. 13, 2020, was so severe that a doctor later told Blunck something that gave him chills — he was really fortunate. “I learned to just be thankful to take a breath of fresh air,” said Blunck, who was to compete yesterday at the Winter X Games before heading to Beijing for the Winter Olympics. “It’s the small things that make the big things and I think we all lose that sight, because I did.” “I really did think I was going to die that day. I had just proposed to my girlfriend and I had the dogs, and I have a super-loving family and almost having that taken away from you in a matter of a heartbeat?” he said. “I need to just be thankful.” During that training run, Blunck was trying to dial in a difficult trick — a switch double cork 1440, which includes two spins wrapped inside of two flips. It is one of the toughest in the business. What happened next remains a blur of sights and sounds to the 25-year-old from Crested Butte, Colorado, who had been to two previous Olympics, where he had placed seventh both times. He saw the deck of the pipe rapidly approaching and thought there was no way he was going to get around in time. He hit the frozen edge and slid to the bottom, he said. US halfpipe coach Mike Riddle, who was filming the run, quickly jumped into the pipe to be at Blunck’s
RSS