BASEBALL
Ohtani undergoes surgery
Los Angeles Dodgers slugger Shohei Ohtani had arthroscopic surgery on Tuesday to repair a labrum tear in his left shoulder, following an injury he sustained during Game 2 of the World Series on Oct. 26. The Dodgers said the Japanese two-way player is expected to be ready for spring training in February. Ohtani injured his non-throwing shoulder while sliding into second base on a stolen base attempt, which resulted in a shoulder dislocation. He returned to play the next three games, helping the Dodgers beat the New York Yankees in five games to win the championship.
CRICKET
Warner returns as captain
David Warner was named captain of Big Bash League team Sydney Thunder yesterday, a fortnight after having his lifetime ban on any leadership role in Australian cricket lifted. In 2018, the opening batsman, who this year retired from international cricket, conspired to tamper with the surface of the ball using sandpaper. He was suspended from playing for a year and banned from any leadership role for life, until a Cricket Australia panel last month ruled to lift the ban. “Captaining the Thunder again this season means a lot to me,” the 38-year-old Warner said. “I was part of the team from the start and now to be back with that ‘C’ next to my name feels fantastic.”
BASKETBALL
Embiid suspended
Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid has been suspended for three games without pay for shoving a member of the media, the NBA said on Tuesday. The locker room incident occurred after the 76ers’ game on Saturday, when oft-injured Embiid, who has not played this season due to what the team have called left knee management, confronted and shoved a Philadelphia newspaper columnist. Embiid took issue with a column the journalist wrote that questioned the seven-time NBA All-Star and former league Most Valuable Player’s effort to stay in shape and also mentioned the player’s son and late brother. “Mutual respect is paramount to the relationship between players and media in the NBA,” league executive vice president Joe Dumars said in a news release. “While we understand Joel was offended by the personal nature of the original version of the reporter’s column, interactions must remain professional on both sides and can never turn physical.”
ATHLETICS
Runner banned from marathon
A social media influencer from Texas was disqualified from last week’s New York City Marathon and banned from future competitions after he ran the race with a camera crew on e-bikes in tow. Race organizers New York Road Runners said in a statement on Tuesday that Matthew Choi contravened the group’s code of conduct and competition rules, not to mention those of World Athletics, by competing “with the assistance of two unauthorized people riding the course on electric bicycles, obstructing runners.” The former college football player posted online several videos of himself running the marathon that immediately drew scorn. “As a runner, seeing him was amazing. Gave me extra motivation to pass him and make sure I never had to see him and his dumb crew for the rest of the race,” one user on Reddit wrote.
Shohei Ohtani and Clayton Kershaw on Friday joined their Los Angeles Dodgers teammates in sticking their fists out to show off their glittering World Series rings at a ceremony. “There’s just a lot of excitement, probably more than I can ever recall with the Dodger fan base and our players,” manager Dave Roberts said before Los Angeles rallied to beat the Detroit Tigers 8-5 in 10 innings. “What a way to cap off the first two days of celebrations,” Roberts said afterward. “By far the best opening week I’ve ever experienced. I just couldn’t have scripted it any better.” A choir in the
After fleeing Sudan when civil war erupted, Al-Hilal captain Mohamed Abdelrahman and his teammates have defied the odds to reach the CAF Champions League quarter-finals. They are today to face title-holders Al-Ahly of Egypt in Cairo, with the return match in the Mauritanian capital, Nouakchott, on Tuesday next week. Al-Hilal and biggest domestic rivals Al-Merrikh relocated to Mauritania after a power struggle broke out in April 2023 between the Sudanese army and a paramilitary force. The civil war has claimed tens of thousands of lives and displaced more than 12 million people, according to the UN. The Democratic Republic of the Congo-born Al-Hilal
The famously raucous Hong Kong Sevens are to start today in a big test for a shiny new stadium at the heart of a major US$3.85 billion sports park in the territory. Officials are keeping their fingers crossed that the premier event in Hong Kong’s sporting and social calendar goes off without a hitch at the 50,000-seat Kai Tak Stadium. They hope to entice major European soccer teams to visit in the next few months, with reports in December last year saying that Liverpool were in talks about a pre-season tour. Coldplay are to perform there next month, all part of Hong Kong’s
Shohei Ohtani, Teoscar Hernandez and Tommy Edman on Thursday smashed home runs to give the reigning World Series champions the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5-4 victory over Detroit on the MLB’s opening day in the US. The Dodgers, who won two season-opening games in Tokyo last week, raised their championship banner on a day when 28 clubs launched the season in the US. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts shuffled his batting lineup with all four leadoff hitters finally healthy as Ohtani was followed by Mookie Betts, then Hernandez and Freddie Freeman in the cleanup spot, switching places with Hernandez. “There’s a Teoscar tax to
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