RUGBY UNION
Leinster eye Cup quarters
Three-time former champions Leinster need just one point from their final Pool 1 game at home to Ospreys to ensure themselves a place in the Heineken Cup quarter-finals after a thrilling 29-22 victory over Castres on Sunday. The Irish province sit atop Pool 1 with 17 points, four points ahead of Northampton, who ran out 29-17 victors over Ospreys in Swansea. It means Northampton’s only chance of qualifying for the knock-out phase is a bonus-point victory at home over Castres on Friday, with Leinster — who have a far superior points differential — losing at Ospreys. In Wales, Northampton ground out an at-times dour win over Ospreys, with Stephen Myler kicking four first-half penalties to one from Dan Biggar. Toulouse beat Saracens 21-11 in the late game to book their place as at least one of the two best runners-up. Saracens can still secure their last eight ticket too in the final Pool 3 action next week against Connacht, when Toulouse face Italian whipping boys Zebre.
SOCCER
L’OM rally to first Evian win
Olympique de Marseille are now unbeaten in five domestic games under Jose Anigo, after coming from behind to beat Evian Thonon Gaillard 2-1 in Annecy, France, on Sunday. On-loan winger Pape Amodou Sougou put the home side in front against his parent club, but Benoit Cheyrou equalized for l’OM and Andre-Pierre Gignac netted what turned out to be the winner before the interval. It was Marseille’s first-ever win away to Evian and the three points lifted them back up to fifth place in the Ligue 1 table. However, they remain eight points adrift of the Champions League qualification places. Elsewhere on Sunday, third-placed LOSC Lille Metropole missed the chance to move second as they slipped to a 2-1 home loss against Stade de Reims. Right-winger Odair Fortes scored with a fortuitous deflected shot in the 73rd minute and midfielder Grzegorz Krychowiak made it 2-0 three minutes later when he headed in at the back post. Lille caught a break in the 89th when center-half Anthony Weber headed into his own net. Lille’s defeat and AS Monaco’s 1-1 draw at Montpellier Herault on Friday night played into the hands of French leaders PSG, which now lead Monaco by five points and Lille by seven. Earlier, Nantes beat local rivals Lorient 1-0 at the Stade de la Beaujoire, with Ismael Bangoura firing home his first goal for the club since May 2012 to seal the points with just one minute remaining.
SOCCER
Benfica win honors Eusebio
SL Benfica won a league match against archrivals Porto for the first time in more than four years on Sunday, beating them 2-0 on an emotional afternoon marked by tributes to late forward Eusebio. Goals in each half from Rodrigo and Ezequiel Garay took Benfica top of the Primeira Liga with 36 points, two ahead of Sporting, with champions Porto a further point behind in third. Benfica’s players all wore Eusebio’s name rather than their own on the back of their shirts and synchronized placards produced a huge image in the stands of the player nicknamed the “Black Panther,” who died on Jan. 5 aged 71. There was also a minute’s silence before the game for the Mozambique-born player who was the top-scorer at the 1966 World Cup with nine goals that helped Portugal reach the semi-finals and inspired Benfica to 11 domestic titles.
OUT AGAINST INDONESIA: Taiwan reached the semi-finals at the tournament for the first time by defeating Denmark, with Chou Tien-chen beating Viktor Axelsen Taiwan yesterday crashed out of the Thomas Cup team competition in Chengdu, China, but achieved their best result at the top-tier badminton event by reaching the semi-finals. Indonesia were too good in the semis, winning 3-0 to advance to today’s final against China, who eliminated Malaysia 3-1. In the opening singles of the men’s team clash at the Hi-Tech Zone Sports Center Gymnasium 2, Anthony Ginting defeated Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen 21-18, 21-19 in 51 minutes, which put a huge hole in Taiwan’s aspirations to perhaps even make the final. In the men’s doubles, Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Ardianto downed Lee Yang and Wang
NO DOUBT: Spurs star Wembanyama was unanimously selected as NBA Rookie of the Year, winning all 99 votes to become the first Frenchman to capture the honor The Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night produced a dominant defensive display to seize a commanding 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven playoff series against the Denver Nuggets with a 106-80 road victory. The third-seeded Timberwolves harassed Denver relentlessly to claim a second straight win over the NBA champions as the series heads back to Minneapolis for Game 3 on Friday. Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards scored 27 points apiece, but the star of the show was Minnesota’s suffocating defensive effort, which knocked Denver out of their stride almost from the tip-off. The Timberwolves finished with 11 steals and 12 blocks, in sharp contrast to
Top-ranked Iga Swiatek on Saturday came through “the most intense and crazy final” she has ever contested to avenge her loss to Aryna Sabalenka in last year’s Madrid Open final with a grueling three hour, 11 minute victory in the Spanish capital. Coming back from 1-3 down in the decider and saving three match points in total, Swiatek claimed a 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (9/7) victory to secure the Madrid Open trophy for the first time. “Well, who is going to say now that women’s tennis is boring, right?” Swiatek said. Swiatek, who picked up the 20th title of her career, and ninth at
One of Malaysia’s top soccer clubs has pulled out of today’s season-opening Charity Shield after a spate of assaults, including an acid attack, on players in the country. It leaves the kickoff of Malaysia’s season this weekend under a cloud following the unprecedented acts of violence against players, which have left the country shocked and angry. Authorities said they have imposed tighter security, but Selangor said that they would not play in the showpiece curtain-raiser against Malaysian Super League champions Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) citing “a series of criminal incidents and recent threats.” Selangor and Malaysia winger Faisal Halim is in intensive care