SNOOKER
Ding docked over pants
Chinese snooker player Ding Junhui on Monday had to forfeit the opening frame for wearing the wrong pants in his 4-3 victory over compatriot Ma Hailong at the English Open. The 36-year-old donned his usual brown snooker suit with bow tie and waistcoat, having forgotten about the all-black dress code for the event in Brentwood. “I totally forgot that I needed a black shirt and trousers for this tournament,” the World Snooker Tour Web site quoted Ding as saying. “My memory is not good. I didn’t think about it. Once I was playing, I tried to just concentrate on the match.” Despite a friend’s quick run to a store to purchase the correct uniform, Ding was late for the start of the match by the time he was ready to play and was docked the opening frame. After falling behind 3-1, the 14-time ranking event winner made a strong comeback by winning the last three frames.
SWIMMING
No entries in ‘open category’
There are no entries in the races for the new “open category” at the World Cup in Berlin this weekend, World Aquatics said yesterday. The event was meant to mark the pilot open category established for swimmers after World Aquatics voted last year to restrict participation of transgender athletes in elite women’s competitions. Following the creation of a task force to look into the matter, the organization established the new category, as a pilot project, in July. The open category was to feature 50m and 100m races across all strokes.
MOTORSPORTS
Andretti closer to F1 team
Michael Andretti on Monday cleared a major hurdle in his bid to launch a US Formula One team after the International Automobile Federation (FIA) said that Andretti Global meets all required criteria to expand the world’s top motorsports series to 11 teams. The decision does not guarantee Andretti would get the two-car team he wants and just how far he has to go was made clear in a brusque response issued by F1 after the announcement. “We note the FIA’s conclusions in relation to the first and second phases of their process and will now conduct our own assessment of the merits of the remaining application,” F1 said in a statement. Liberty Media holds the F1 commercial rights and it is to the corporate giant that Andretti Global and partner Cadillac must next prove their commercial value.
BASEBALL
Clock hastened games
The average time of a nine-inning major league game dropped to 2 hours, 40 minutes in the first year of the pitch clock, a 24-minute decrease in a season of change that resulted in a spike in batting average and the most stolen bases in nearly 40 years. Left-handed hitters benefitted from the new restrictions on defensive shifts, runners took advantage of the slightly decreased distance between bases, and average fastball velocity set another record. The average game time dropped to its 1985 level after passing 3 hours for the first time in 2016. It reached a record 3:10 in 2021 before the introduction of the PitchCom electronic pitch-calling device helped bring it down to 3:04 last year. “It took some getting used to, but once you get used to it the game’s a lot faster,” Minnesota shortstop Carlos Correa said. “There’s not wasted time. The pace was great, so I think it’s here to stay.”
Tallon Griekspoor on Friday stunned top seed Alexander Zverev 4-6, 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (7/4) in the second round at Indian Wells, avenging a devastating loss to the German at Roland Garros last year. Zverev, the world No. 2 who is heading the field of the prestigious ATP Masters event with No. 1 Jannik Sinner serving a three-month drugs ban, is the first Indian Wells men’s top seed to lose his opening match since Andy Murray in 2017. It was a cherished win for Griekspoor, who had lost five straight matches — including four last year — to the German. That included a five-setter
VALUABLE POINT: Relegation-threatened Valencia snatched a thrilling 3-3 draw at CA Osasuna thanks to a remarkable backheel volley by Umar Sadiq Barcelona on Sunday secured a comfortable 4-0 win over Real Sociedad to move back top of La Liga. Aritz Elustondo’s early red card gave Hansi Flick’s side a comfortable afternoon, with Gerard Martin, Marc Casado, Ronald Araujo and Robert Lewandowski on the score sheet. Atletico Madrid beat Athletic Bilbao on Saturday to temporarily knock the Catalans from their perch, while Real Madrid, third, lost at Real Betis Balompie. Flick was able to rotate his side a little ahead of the UEFA Champions League round-of-16 visit to face SL Benfica tomorrow and still move one point above Atletico. “There were a lot of things that
Donovan Mitchell on Wednesday scored 26 points as the Cleveland Cavaliers punched their ticket to the NBA playoffs with a hard-fought 112-107 victory over the Miami Heat. A seesaw battle in Cleveland saw the Heat threaten to end the Cavs’ 11-game unbeaten streak after opening up a seven-point lead late in the fourth quarter, but the Cavs clawed back the deficit in the closing minutes to seal their 12th straight victory and a place in the post-season. The Cavaliers improved to 52-10, maintaining their stranglehold on the Eastern Conference with 20 games of the regular season remaining. Mitchell was one of six Cleveland
Five-time champion Novak Djokovic on Saturday tumbled out of the Indian Wells ATP Masters, falling in his first match to lucky loser Botic van de Zandschulp as two-time defending champion Carlos Alcaraz advanced. “No excuses for a poor performance,” 24-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic said after 37 unforced errors in a 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 defeat. “It doesn’t feel great when you play this way on the court,” he said. “But congratulations to my opponent — just a bad day in the office, I guess, for me.” Djokovic is just the latest in Van de Zandschulp’s string of superstar victims. He
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