SOCCER
Bournemouth beat Spurs
AFC Bournemouth manager Andoni Iraola was pleased to spoil the night for yet another major Premier League side — with his team on Thursday securing a 1-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur — but he remained grounded on his expectations from the season. Iraola’s side, who finished 12th last season, were ninth in the table with 21 points ahead of the rest of the weekend’s games. “Luckily, we finished the job, but there were moments when we thought that if we did not kill them, they would punish us,” Iraola told Amazon Prime after the win. “Our defensive performance was most pleasing. We did not give them many chances at all. Everyone defensively was very good.” Elsewhere, Fulham beat Brighton & Hove Albion 3-1.
Photo: AFP
OLYMPICS
New stadium sought
Brisbane Olympic chief Andrew Liveris has weighed in on the debate over the venues for the 2032 Summer Games, saying he would “love” a purpose-built arena as the main stadium for the event. Queensland State Premier David Crisafulli last week announced a seven-member board would conduct a second review of the venue options and report within 100 days. Liveris said that a revamped 30,000-capacity athletics stadium at the QSAC venue would present revenue issues and a rebuilt Gabba would be restricted by the size of the site, leaving Victoria Park as the best solution if the transport links were right. “What better visual than to have a new stadium at Vic Park?” he asked on the Toward The Games podcast. “I would love it, to be perfectly frank. If a stadium like that appears at Victoria Park, that fits the future of cricket and [Australian rules] football perfectly, and has private-sector funding that gives it a return model like Optus Stadium out in Perth, of course Andrew Liveris would say at that: ‘Wow, what a great answer for the Olympics.’”
RUGBY UNION
Springboks bid announced
A group comprising four companies made a rival 6.7 billion rand (US$372 million) bid to buy a stake in the commercial rights of South Africa’s Springboks, the reigning world champions, Business Day reported. AltVest Capital, EasyEquities, 27four Investment Managers and RainFin expressed interest in buying as much as 40 percent of the rights through a entity called Saru Commercial Rights Co, the newspaper reported, citing a letter to the leaders of the South African Rugby Union.
BASKETBALL
NBA to return to China
The NBA is to return to China for the first time in six years with two pre-season games in Macau between the Brooklyn Nets and Phoenix Suns in October next year, reports said yesterday. No NBA games have been held in China since two pre-season contests in 2019 after a post on social media from then-Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey in support of the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong. In the fallout the NBA lost hundreds of millions of dollars as a result of it being yanked off Chinese television until 2022. ESPN, citing unnamed sources, said that the relationship between the NBA and China had improved with the aid of NBA China chief executive officer Michael Ma, who was hired in 2020. Reports said the games in Macau would be played at the Venetian Arena on Oct. 10 and 12.
Manchester City have reached do-or-die territory in the UEFA Champions League earlier than expected ahead of what Pep Guardiola has described as a “final” against Club Brugge today. City have disproved the suggestion a new format to Europe’s top club competition would remove any jeopardy for the top clubs as Guardiola stares down the barrel of failing to make the Champions League knockout stages for the first time in his career. The English champions have endured a torrid season both in their English Premier League title defense and on the continent. A run of one win in 13 games, which included Champions League
BACK-TO-BACK: The League One club, which is owned by stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, is sparing no expense to clinch promotion to the Championship Hollywood endings are pricey, even in England’s third division. In pursuit of their third straight promotion, Wrexham AFC splashed some cash at League One rival Reading to secure the services of striker Sam Smith. The Welsh club owned by actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney confirmed the signing of the 26-year-old Smith on Friday. He is one of the top scorers in the third division. The transfer fee was not disclosed, but British media widely reported it to be about ￡2 million (US$2.48 million) — not extravagant, but a hefty price at this level and it would be about the same figure that
Oklahoma City star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on Sunday poured in 35 points as the Thunder grabbed a bounce-back 118-108 victory in Portland to push their NBA-best record to 37-8. The Thunder, surprised by the short-handed Dallas Mavericks on Thursday, fended off a late surge from the Trail Blazers to snap their four-game winning streak. Jalen Williams scored 24 points and Isaiah Joe added 16 off the bench. Center Isaiah Hartenstein, back after a five-game absence with a calf injury, added 14 points, 11 rebounds, six assists and a big block. The Western Conference leaders were under pressure late as Portland, trailing by 15 heading
The Golden State Warriors on Wednesday withstood Oklahoma City star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s 52-point outburst to beat the Western Conference leading Thunder 116-109. Andrew Wiggins scored 27 points and Warriors superstar Stephen Curry scored 17 of his 21 points in the second half as Golden State erased a double-digit deficit and pulled away late for the victory. “We just stayed solid,” said Curry, who entered the contest mired in a shooting slump and had just four points on one basket in the first half. “Just all-around effort.” The Thunder, fueled by 31 first-half points from Gilgeous-Alexander, led by as many as 14 in the
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