TENNIS
Hsieh cruises to quarters
Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Laura Siegemund of Germany took just 54 minutes to advance to the quarter-finals of the doubles at the Brisbane International yesterday with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over US duo Christina McHale and Asia Muhammad. Hsieh and Siegemund failed to save the one break point they faced, but they converted four of seven, winning 57 of the 90 points contested to advance to a quarter-final clash against fourth seeds Andreja Klepac of Slovenia and Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez of Spain.
CRICKET
NZ beat Bangladesh in T20
Kane Williamson belted 73 off 55 balls as New Zealand cruised to a six-wicket win over Bangladesh in the first Twenty20 match in Napier, New Zealand, yesterday. New Zealand reached their 142-run target with two overs to spare as captain Williamson held the innings together with support from Colin de Grandhomme after the first four wickets fell cheaply. New Zealand debutant Lockie Ferguson took the wickets of Sabbir Rahman and Soumya Sarkar with his first two deliveries. He finished with 3-32.
CRICKET
Rabada makes breakthrough
South Africa bowler Kagiso Rabada ended a stubborn Sri Lanka opening partnership when he bowled Kaushal Silva on the second day of the second Test at Newlands in Cape Town yesterday. Sri Lanka were 56-2 at tea in reply to South Africa’s first innings of 392. Silva and Dimuth Karunaratne defied South Africa for 73 minutes before Rabada made the breakthrough when Silva played on to his stumps. Kusal Mendis, who had earlier slog-swept for six, then tried to repeat the shot and top-edged a catch to J.P. Duminy. Karunaratne was unbeaten on 24.
FOOTBALL
Broncos’ Gary Kubiak quits
An emotional Gary Kubiak stepped down as coach of the Denver Broncos on Monday because of health concerns, less than a year after he led the team to a Super Bowl crown. The 55-year-old fought back tears as he told reporters he was “retiring from coaching” at a farewell news conference in Denver, Colorado. “This decision is strictly my decision, based on what I’ve been through this year and how I’m feeling,” Kubiak said. “I just feel like it’s time for me to do something different.”
SOCCER
Five-year-old wins award
A five-year-old Sunderland fan who has terminal cancer was adjudged the joint winner of the BBC’s goal of the month award for last month. Bradley Lowery, who earlier this season had his name chanted by Sunderland and Everton fans in the fifth minute of their match in which he led the Black Cats out, beat Chelsea reserve goalkeeper Asmir Begovic from the penalty spot at halftime of the English Premier League game last month. Lowery, who received 250,000 Christmas cards following the penalty, shared the award with Manchester United’s Henrikh Mkhitaryan. “We have woken up this morning to the news that Bradley’s goal got joint goal of the month,” his mother, Gemma, told the Sunderland Echo. “We can’t actually believe this and would like to thank every single one of you for your support. This is a very special moment for us and something we can treasure forever.”
STILL IN THE HUNT: Rasmus Hojlund took his goal tally for SSC Napoli to nine as the champions cruised to a win at US Cremonese and stayed two points behind the leaders Inter on Sunday stayed at the Serie A summit after beating Atalanta BC 1-0 to maintain their slender lead over local rivals AC Milan. Lautaro Martinez netted the only goal of the game in Bergamo for Inter, who lead Milan, 3-0 winners against Hellas Verona thanks to Christoper Nkunku’s first Serie A goals, by a single point at the top of the division. The Argentina striker has scored in four consecutive league matches to end what has been a tricky year in positive style. “I ended last season in a lot of pain... I kept going during the Club World Cup and international
Hosts Morocco on Friday were held to a 1-1 draw by Mali at the Africa Cup of Nations, ending their world record run of wins and leaving them still to make sure of progress to the next stage. Midfielder Brahim Diaz tucked away a penalty in stoppage-time at the end of the first half, but Mali equalized from the spot midway through the second half through Lassine Sinayoko. Both penalties were awarded after video reviews in a tempestuous clash at the end of a busy day of action at the tournament. Morocco were atop the Group A standings with four points, while Zambia,
Algeria on Sunday became the third country after Egypt and Nigeria to qualify for the knockout stage of the Africa Cup of Nations by edging Burkina Faso 1-0 in Rabat through a Riyad Mahrez penalty. Defending champions Ivory Coast failed to join the trio after drawing 1-1 with Cameroon in a lively showdown in Marrakesh. Elsewhere, Mozambique ended a 39-match wait for a first victory by beating Gabon 3-2, while Sudan got back into contention for a last-16 slot by beating Equatorial Guinea 1-0 in Casablanca. Captain Mahrez converted from the penalty spot midway through the first half and Algeria then held on
Supermaxis Master Lock Comanche and defending champions LawConnect yesterday continued their close duel on the second day of the 80th running of the Sydney to Hobart yacht race. Just over 27 hours into the race that began on Friday in Sydney Harbour and is to end on the island state of Tasmania, Comanche had a 4 nautical mile (7.4km) lead over LawConnect. LawConnect was forced to contend with a broken mainsheet and halyard overnight, but fixed both issues and remained in pursuit of Comanche, which is skippered by Matt Allen and James Mayo. “We had a few things slow us down and Comanche’s
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