SKIING
Kilde out for season
Norway’s World Cup ski star Aleksander Aamodt Kilde is to miss the remainder of the season after his heavy crash in Wengen, the national team doctor said. “The season is over, the ski season is finished,” Marc Jacob Strauss told Norwegian public broadcaster NRK on Sunday. “We’re now setting ourselves the goal for him to be ready for next season.” He said the medical team was “very happy with the extent” of the damage. “We feared much more serious injuries based on the TV images.” Kilde underwent surgery in nearby Bern on Saturday night after falling hard near the finish of the downhill won by Marco Odermatt.
SNOOKER
O’Sullivan wins 8th Masters
Ronnie O’Sullivan came from behind to claim a record-extending eighth Masters title with a brilliant 10-7 victory over Ali Carter on Sunday at Alexandra Palace. The world No. 1, nicknamed “The Rocket,” trailed 6-3 in the evening session, but then won six of the next seven frames before sealing his win. O’Sullivan claimed the ￡250,000 (US$318,403) first prize, while Carter took home ￡100,000. The 48-year-old adds a 23rd Triple Crown title to his collection and becomes the oldest champion, being also the youngest, having won his first Masters title in 1995 at the age of 19. He collected his eighth UK Championship last month, but had never previously won consecutive Triple Crown events in the same season.
MOTORSPORTS
Dakar enters final week
Sebastien Loeb started the Dakar Rally’s final week with his third stage win on Sunday to slash Spaniard Carlos Sainz’s overall lead in the Saudi Arabian desert to 19 minutes. The nine times world rally champion finished the seventh stage from Riyadh to al-Duwadimi seven minutes and six seconds clear of Toyota’s Brazilian Lucas Moraes with Qatar’s defending champion Nasser al-Attiyah third despite two punctures. Audi driver Sainz was fourth, losing 10-and-a-half minutes to Loeb’s Prodrive Hunter in the rally that started on Jan. 5 and ends on Friday. In the motorcycle category, Chilean Jose Ignacio Cornejo won the stage, while American Ricky Brabec retained the overall lead for Honda by a single second from Botswana’s Ross Branch after 2,865km of timed action. The gap, after 32-and-a-half hours of racing, comes down to about 24m. “The one second difference is crazy, that’s a tight race for sure,” Brabec said.
HORSE RACING
Macao ends horse racing
The government in Macao yesterday said that after more than 40 years, there would be no more horse racing in the territory and announced plans to terminate its contract with its jockey club in April. The gaming hub on China’s south coast near Hong Kong is a home to various gambling businesses, which form a major pillar of its economy, but its jockey club, acquired by a consortium led by late casino tycoon Stanley Ho in 1991, has faced financial woes in the past few years. Macanese Secretary for Administration and Justice Cheong Weng Chon told reporters that the Macao Horse Race Company had last year asked that the contract with the government be terminated, citing operational difficulties and the “impossibility of aligning horse racing activities with the current developmental needs of society.”
Taiwan kept its hopes of advancing to the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome last night, backed by solid pitching. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. The win was crucial for Taiwan, as a loss would have eliminated the team from contention for the next WBC. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen (沙子宸) struck out one and allowed no hits, except for
The Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) is considering reducing its pitch clock by two seconds to help players better adjust to the rules applied at the World Baseball Classic (WBC). The proposal aims to shorten the pitch timer from 25 seconds to 23 seconds with the bases empty, and from 20 seconds to 18 seconds with runners on base. Currently, the WBC mandates that pitchers deliver a pitch every 18 seconds with the bases empty and 15 seconds with runners on base. The issue was raised during a pre-season CPBL managers’ meeting on Tuesday by Rakuten Monkeys bench and batting
‘SETTING THE TONE’: Donovan Mitchell said that their determination to dominate had nothing to do with past results, but was about a potential post-season clash The Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday boosted their NBA-best record with a 142-105 romp past the New York Knicks, tightening their grip on the Eastern Conference lead with an all-around dominant display. Donovan Mitchell scored 27 points to lead six Cavs players to score in double figures, connecting on five of seven three-pointers as Cleveland drilled 19 from beyond the arc. “I think the biggest thing was just try to set the tone early,” Mitchell said, adding that the determination to dominate had nothing to do with the Knicks’ first-round playoff win over the Cavs two seasons ago and everything to do with
BELGIANS ADVANCE: Club Brugge gave Atalanta a lesson in efficiency, as Gian Piero Gasperini’s team had 29 efforts at goal, compared with seven from the visitors Seldom has a player’s sending off had such an influence on a game. AC Milan was to left rue Theo Hernandez’s second yellow card — for diving — as Feyenoord advanced to the UEFA Champions League last 16 at the former European champion’s expense with a 1-1 draw in the second leg of their playoff on Tuesday, giving the Dutch team a 2-1 win on aggregate. Bayern Munich, Club Brugge and Benfica also won their playoffs, eliminating Celtic, UEFA Europa League winner Atalanta BC and French team AS Monaco respectively. “In soccer everything changes in a second,” said Milan forward
RSS