BASKETBALL
Cousins out for season
New Orleans Pelicans forward LaMarcus Cousins, set for a starting appearance in the NBA All-Star Game next month, is to miss the remainder of the season, the club announced on Saturday. Cousins is to undergo surgery to repair a ruptured left Achilles tendon suffered when he was going for a rebound late in the Pelicans’ 115-113 victory over Houston on Friday. Cousins’ spot on the LeBron James All-Star roster is to be taken by Oklahoma City’s Paul George, but it will be James who decides which player replaces Cousins as a starter. Cousins is averaging 25.2 points and 1.6 blocked shots a game, as well as career highs of 12.9 rebounds and 5.4 assists a game. He ranked third in the league in rebounds and eighth in scoring.
CYCLING
Local rider wins ocean race
Jay McCarthy yesterday became the first local rider to win the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race in Geelong, Australia, battling through extreme heat to finish in a sprint ahead of Italian Elia Viviani. McCarthy took the fourth edition of the 164km race in 4 hours, 4 minutes. Viviani and South Africa’s Daryl Impey were in second and third place respectively with the same time. McCarthy, 25, said he was speechless at finishing his last race in Australia with a win before heading back to Europe. He had talked up his chances of a win before the race as teammate and three-time world cycling champion Peter Sagan had left Australia after the Tour Down Under. The riders endured searing heat conditions that saw the mercury soar above 40°C. Race commentators said road surface temperatures rose to 50°C.
GOLF
Hsu in third in Bahamas
Canada’s Brooke Henderson on Saturday battled another day of windy conditions to finish her second round five-under-par overall and with a one-stroke lead at the season-opening Pure Silk-Bahamas LPGA Classic. Strong winds, which have already forced organizers to cut the competition from 72 to 54 holes, delayed the start of play at the Paradise Island Ocean Golf Club before the second round was suspended due to darkness. On the last shot of the day, Feng Shanshan sank a putt on the par-five 18th for birdie to give her sole possession of second place with nine holes of her second round left to play yesterday. Taiwan’s Hsu Wei-ling shot a 69 to gain a share of a five-way tie for third place that includes Americans Lexi Thompson, Danielle Kang and Ryann O’Toole, as well as rookie Luna Sobron Galmes of Spain.
CRICKET
Pakistan downs NZ by 18
Pakistan yesterday beat New Zealand by 18 runs in the series-deciding Twenty20 match at Mount Maunganui. The victory gave Pakistan a come-from-behind 2-1 series win that will see them overtake New Zealand at the top of the world rankings. Pakistan made 181-6 batting first with Fakhar Zaman making 46, while Umar Amin clipped 21 off seven deliveries. New Zealand were 163-6 after their 20 overs with Martin Guptill making 59. The consecutive defeats, following an 13-match winning streak across all formats against the West Indies and Pakistan, put a dampener on New Zealand’s preparation for next month’s triangular series with Australia and England.
Nottingham Forest FC are to go into the Europa League play-off round after a 4-0 win over Ferencvaros TC on Thursday, while Celtic FC secured their place in the knockout phase with a victory over FC Utrecht. Aston Villa FC finished second in the league phase after recovering from two goals down to beat FC Red Bull Salzburg 3-2 with their spot in the last 16 already assured. Forest stood an outside chance of climbing into the top eight going into the final round of matches, but needed to beat Robbie Keane’s Ferencvaros and rely on other results going their way. Sean Dyche’s
HEATED RIVALRY: The pair had met 14 times previously, with Sabalenka winning eight of the encounters and entering the final as the favorite to take the title Elena Rybakina took revenge over world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka to win a nail-biting Australian Open final yesterday and clinch her second Grand Slam title. The big-serving Kazakh fifth seed held her nerve to pull through 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne in 2 hours, 18 minutes. It was payback after the Belarusian Sabalenka won the 2023 final between two of the hardest hitters in women’s tennis. The ice-cool Rybakina, 26, who was born in Moscow, adds her Melbourne triumph to her Wimbledon win in 2022. It was more disappointment in a major final for Sabalenka, who won the US Open
Denver superstar Nikola Jokic returned from a 16-game injury absence to post a 31-point, 12-rebound double-double on Friday and propel the Nuggets to a 122-109 NBA victory over the Los Angeles Clippers. Three-time NBA Most Valuable Player Jokic had not played since suffering a bone bruise in the left knee he hyperextended in a game against Miami on Dec. 29 last year. The Serbian big man did not miss a beat. He led all scorers, connecting on eight of 11 shots from the field, and also handed out five assists with three steals while playing just 24 minutes, 32 seconds as the
BATTERED AND BRUISED: Alcaraz suffered a cramp in the third set, but was allowed treatment despite Zverev’s protests, and continued on to win in five-and-a-half hours An ailing Carlos Alcaraz battled past Alexander Zverev yesterday in five epic sets to reach his first Australian Open final and move within a match of becoming the youngest man to complete a career Grand Slam. The world No. 1 outlasted the German third seed 6-4, 7-6 (7/5), 6-7 (3/7), 6-7 (4/7), 7-5 over a titanic 5 hours, 27 minutes in hot conditions to head to tomorrow’s title match. He only narrowly avoided crashing out after a huge fright at 4-4 in the third set when he pulled up in pain with what appeared to be cramp. He was allowed to have treatment
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