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.
MEDVEDEV AWAITS: The world No. 1 Spainiard said that he is ‘finding the right shots’ as he pushed his record so far this year to 16 victories and no losses Carlos Alcaraz on Thursday extended his unbeaten season and got revenge over Cameron Norrie to reach the semi-finals at Indian Wells for a fifth straight year. The world No. 1 from Spain emerged from a see-saw battle with 29th-ranked Norrie with a 6-3, 6-4 victory. In the semis tomorrow, he faces Russian Daniil Medvedev, who pushed his own ATP winning streak to eight matches with a 6-1, 7-5 victory over defending champion Jack Draper. World No. 2 Jannik Sinner powered past Learner Tien 6-1, 6-2 to line up a semi-final with fourth-ranked Alexander Zverev, a 6-2, 6-3 winner over Arthur Fils. Alcaraz, 22, became
Ollie Watkins’ second-half header on Thursday gave Aston Villa a 1-0 win over Lille OSC in the first leg of their UEFA Europa League round-of-16 tie. Just past the hour mark, Ezri Konsa sent a deep pass that Emi Buendia headed to Watkins in the home team’s box. The England forward noticed goalkeeper Berke Ozer was off his line before sending a looping header over him and into the net. Minutes later, Watkins wasted a chance to double the advantage when he failed to score in a one-on-one with the ’keeper. Nottingham Forest were stunned 1-0 by Danish club Midtjylland, with substitute Cho
Brice Turang and Pete Crow-Armstrong’s consecutive RBI singles proved to be the difference in the US’ 5-3 win over Canada in a World Baseball Classic (WBC) quarterfinal on Friday night in Houston. The US faces the Dominican Republic, which crushed South Korea 10-0 in seven innings in its quarter-final, in a semifinal Sunday in Miami for a spot in Tuesday’s championship. The Dominican team has won all five games in this WBC by a combined margin of 51-10. It appeared the US squad was headed toward a cozy victory when it built a 5-0 lead by the sixth inning. A first-inning RBI groundout
Wilyer Abreu watched the ball leave the park and tossed his bat high in the air. His Venezuela teammates streamed out of the dugout in celebration. The comeback was on and the win over the reigning World Baseball Classic (WBC) champion Japan was within reach. Japan, their 11-game WBC winning streak on the line, held a 5-4 lead in the sixth inning of Saturday’s thrilling quarter-final matchup when Abreu put his team ahead with the biggest swing of the game: a three-run shot off Hiromi Itoh that sent the loanDepot Park crowd into a passionate roar and helped seize Venezuela’s 8-5
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