FOOTBALL
Jets’ betting odds plunge
The New York Jets’ odds to win the Super Bowl plummeted after quarterback Aaron Rodgers suffered a season-ending torn Achilles tendon in their 22-16 overtime victory over the Buffalo Bills on Monday night. New York’s odds to win it all went from 16-1 to 50-1 at Caesars Sportsbook and 18-1 to 66-1 at BetMGM. “Since the Rodgers injury, bettors are not interested in backing Zach Wilson,” BetMGM trading team lead Seamus Magee said. The Jets drove much of the pre-season NFL betting thanks to their trade for Rodgers from the Green Bay Packers. More money was bet on New York than any other American Football Conference team at BetMGM, and the Jets were Caesars’ biggest financial liability.
CYCLING
Jonas stuns on stage 16
Jonas Vingegaard on Tuesday re-established the pecking order in the Jumbo-Visma team with a stunning victory on stage 16 of the Vuelta a Espana to move closer to the overall lead. The Dane, who retained his Tour de France title this year, went off like a rocket on the steep finish to the 120km run through the Cantabrian valleys to outclass the peloton. Teammate Sepp Kuss struggled in the finale and lost more than a minute to Vingegaard, but hangs on to the red jersey with a reduced buffer of 29 seconds. Three-time Vuelta winner Primoz Roglic completed a Jumbo-Visma top three in the GC standings and was 1 minute, 33 seconds behind Kuss. The Jumbo-Visma team were reeling earlier on Tuesday after the news that their rider Nathan van Hooydonck was in hospital after falling ill at the wheel at home in Belgium. Initial reports said he was in a life-threatening situation, but later Jumbo-Visma said his condition was “not critical.” Vingegaard, who counted on teammate Van Hooydonck’s steadfast support during his ride to the Tour victory this year, looked emotional after crossing the finish line. “I’m just happy to win today, because we had some terrible news this morning and I wanted to win for my best friend today,” Vingegaard told Eurosport after his second stage win at this year’s Vuelta. Jumbo-Visma are poised to become the first team to win all three Grand Tours in a single season after Roglic won this year’s Giro d’Italia.
CRICKET
Proteas end Aussie streak
South Africa’s spin bowlers backed up a century by Aiden Markram as the hosts ended Australia’s winning streak with a 111-run victory in the third one-day international at the J.B. Marks Oval in Potchefstroom on Tuesday. Markram hit 102 not out in a South African total of 338-6. South Africa survived a furious assault by David Warner and Travis Head before bowling out Australia for 227. Left-arm spinners Tabraiz Shamsi (2-29) and Keshav Maharaj (2-37) changed the course of the match on a spin-friendly pitch before fast bowler Gerald Coetzee (4-50) finished off the Australian innings. Maharaj also made a key intervention in the field with a direct-hit run out of Warner, who made 78 off 56 balls before slipping and losing his shoe as he set off for a single. “We needed a positive one,” South Africa captain Temba Bavuma said. “The batters knuckled down and we were banking on the wicket assisting the spin bowlers and it’s exactly what it did.” Australia won the first two games in the five-match series after sweeping a Twenty20 series 3-0.
Hong Kong-based cricket team Hung See this weekend found success in their matches in Taiwan, even if none of the results went their way. Hung See played the Chairman’s XI on Saturday morning, the Daredevils that afternoon and PCCT yesterday, with all three home teams winning. The team for Chinese players at the Happy Valley-based Craigengower Cricket Club sends teams on tour to “spread the game of cricket.” This weekend was Hung See’s second trip to Taiwan after visiting Tainan in 2016. “The club has been traveling to all parts of the world since 1982 and the annual tradition continues [with the Taiwan
Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei yesterday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while Coco Gauff’s dreams of a first women’s singles title in Melbourne were crushed in the quarter-finals by Paula Badosa. World No. 2 Alexander Zverev was ruffled by a stray feather in his men’s singles quarter-final, but he refocused to beat 12th seed Tommy Paul and reach the semi-finals. Third seeds Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia defeated Elena-Gabriela Ruse of Romania and Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine 6-2, 5-7, 7-5 in 2 hours, 20 minutes to advance the semi-finals. Hsieh and Ostapenko converted eight of 14 break
‘TOUGH TO BREATHE’: Tunisian three-time Grand Slam finalist Ons Jabeur suffered an asthma attack in her 7-5, 6-3 victory over Colombia’s Camila Osorio Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei yesterday cruised into the second round of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while Iga Swiatek romped into a third-round women’s singles showdown with Emma Raducanu and Taylor Fritz was just as emphatic in his pursuit of a maiden Grand Slam title. Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia, the third seeds, defeated Slovakia’s Tereza Mihalikova and Olivia Nicholls of Britain 7-5, 6-2 in 90 minutes in Melbourne. Ostapenko and Hsieh — who won the women’s doubles and mixed doubles at the Australian Open last year — hit 25 winners and converted five of nine break points to set
HARD TO SAY GOODBYE: After Coco Gauff dispatched Belinda Bencic in the fourth round, she wrote ‘RIP TikTok USA’ and drew a broken heart on a television camera lens Defending champion Hsieh Su-wei of Taiwan yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while compatriot Chan Hao-ching on Saturday dominated her opponents in the second round, as world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka swept into the quarter-finals. Third seeds Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia toppled Hungary’s Timea Babos and Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US 6-4, 6-3, hitting 24 winners and converting three of seven break points in 1 hour, 18 minutes at 1573 Arena. Although rivals at last year’s Australian Open — where Hsieh and Belgium’s Elise Mertens beat Ostapenko and Ukraine’s Lyudmyla Kichenok 6-1, 7-5
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