BASKETBALL
Kings suspend top scorer
The Sacramento Kings have suspended leading scorer and rebounder DeMarcus Cousins indefinitely for “unprofessional behavior and conduct detrimental to the team,” the Kings said on Saturday. The suspension, his third this season, came after Cousins exchanged words with Kings coach Keith Smart during halftime of Friday’s loss to the Los Angeles Clippers. Cousins, who is averaging 16.6 points and 9.5 rebounds, lashed out at Smart after the coach said something to him, the Sacramento Bee reported. Cousins later apologized for his actions. “I shouldn’t have responded back,” he told reporters. “Should have accepted what was said and stayed quiet.” Cousins has been sanctioned twice by the NBA this year. He was suspended for two games last month for confronting a San Antonio Spurs announcer and was benched for one game by the league earlier this month after striking the Dallas Mavericks’ O.J. Mayo in the groin.
SOCCER
Lyon go level with PSG
Olympique Lyonnais beat OGC Nice 3-0 on Saturday to go level with leaders Paris Saint-Germain on 38 points as Ligue 1 prepared to head into its winter break. Lisandro Lopez, Anthony Reveillere and a Bafetimbi Gomis penalty gave Lyon the three points. It was a disappointing return to Lyon for former boss Claude Puel whose side ended the match with 10 men after David Ospina was sent off. The home side also finished a man short when Dejan Lovren was red-carded in the last minute. Meanwhile, Rennes are fourth after a 4-2 win at Ajaccio.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Broncos, Ragin’ Cajuns win
Boise State clinched a third straight Las Vegas Bowl on Saturday, but the Broncos were pushed harder than they were the first two times, edging Washington State 28-26. In Saturday’s other college football bowl game, Louisiana-Lafayette began their own streak with a second-straight New Orleans Bowl victory, defeating East Carolina 43-34. Boise State’s big moment was provided by a little guy, with 1.63m Michael Frisina kicking a 27-yard field goal with 1.16 left to put the Broncos ahead. The Broncos sealed the win when Jeremy Ioane intercepted Keith Price’s pass. Boise State overcame a 205-yard rushing game by Bishop Sankey, who also had 74 yards receiving, giving him 279 of Washington’s 447 yards from scrimmage. Sankey rushed 30 times and caught six passes to be named MVP. Louisiana-Lafayette quarterback Terrance Broadway also put in an MVP performance to lead the Ragin’ Cajuns to victory over East Carolina. Broadway excelled by passing for 316 yards and running for 108. He also ran for a 12-yard score.
CRICKET
Lehmann lands in hot water
Former Australia batsman Darren Lehmann has been charged under Cricket Australia’s code of behavior for questioning the legitimacy of the bowling action of West Indies all-rounder Marlon Samuels. Lehmann, who coaches Brisbane Heat in the Twenty20 Big Bash League (BBL), called for an examination of Samuels’ action after a match against the Melbourne Renegades on Saturday. Samuels’ bowling played a part in the Renegades’ win and Lehmann later asked how the off-spinner could bowl at 120kph off a run-up of just a few paces. Lehmann said he spoke to the umpires because “I just want something done. He couldn’t bowl in the [Indian Premier League] last year, yet he can bowl in the BBL.” Lehmann was charged under a clause in the code that prohibits detrimental public comment.
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but
Taiwanese gymnast Lee Chih-kai failed to secure an Olympic berth in the pommel horse following a second-place finish at the last qualifier in Doha on Friday, a performance that Lee and his coach called “unconvincing.” The Tokyo Olympics silver medalist finished runner-up in the final after scoring 6.6 for degree of difficulty and 8.800 for execution for a combined score of 15.400. That was just 0.100 short of Jordan’s Ahmad Abu Al Soud, who had qualified for the event in Paris before the Apparatus World Cup series in Qatar’s capital. After missing the final rounds in the first two of four qualifier