GOLF
Schauffele retains lead
Xander Schauffele finished stronger than everyone around him on Saturday and it was good enough to keep a one-shot lead going into the final round of the Sentry Tournament of Champions. Schauffele closed with three pars for a two-under 71 at the winners-only event at Kapalua. Justin Thomas ran off five birdies on the front nine to take the lead until his first three-putt bogey of the week on the 12th hole as he made 38 on the back nine to finish with a 69 to be a shot off the lead.
BASKETBALL
Carter sets longevity record
Vince Carter made NBA history in Atlanta on Saturday, becoming the first player to compete in the league in four different decades in the Hawks’ 116-111 victory over the Indiana Pacers. Carter received a standing ovation when he checked into the contest 6 minutes, 30 seconds into the first quarter. Drafted in 1998, Carter brought “Vinsanity” to Toronto with his high-flying exploits, earning eight All-Star appearances along with an Olympic gold medal. The 42-year-old, who in August last year agreed to a one-year contract to play in his 22nd NBA season, scored three points and grabbed three rebounds for Atlanta, who were led by the 41 points of Trae Young — a 21-year-old who was born the year Carter was drafted.
CRICKET
Hathurusingha seeks US$5m
Sacked Sri Lanka coach Chandika Hathurusingha is seeking US$5 million in compensation from Sri Lanka Cricket over the premature termination of his contract, an official said yesterday. The former Sri Lanka Test star and coach made the claim after the two sides failed to agree the terms of his termination last summer. “He has sent a letter of demand asking for $5 million,” board secretary Mohan de Silva told reporters. Details were not immediately available, but the Sunday Island newspaper said that Hathurusingha had sought his full salary for the remaining 18 months of his contract, which amounted to just over US$1 million. He has also claimed that his reputation as an international coach suffered as a result of what he called the wrongful termination.
CRICKET
Kiwi hits 36 in over
Leo Carter made Super Smash history at Hagley Oval in Christchurch yesterday, clouting six sixes from an Anton Devcich over as the Canterbury Kings surged to victory against the Northern Knights. Chasing 220 to win, the Kings won in the 18th over, with Carter making 70. In the 16th over, when they needed 64 from 30 balls, he matched Tim Seifert, who hit four consecutive sixes in his innings of 79 for the Knights, raising the possibility of six in six from a Blake Coburn over. Carter went two better in the record chase for the New Zealand domestic Twenty20 competition, marking the first time the feat has been achieved in it and a first for a New Zealander. It is just the fourth time in the history of top-level Twenty20 cricket that the feat has been achieved. Carter did not have a record to suggest he might add his name to the list, coming into the match with an average of 13 and a strike rate of 105. “I basically just stepped across and swung as hard as I could,” he told Sky TV. “I’m not so sure I got many off the middle, but pretty short boundary there, so they just carried over, I was pretty thankful for that.”
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
If all goes well when the biggest marathon field ever gathered in Australia races 42km through the streets of Sydney on Sunday, World Marathon Majors (WMM) will soon add a seventh race to the elite series. The Sydney Marathon is to become the first race since Tokyo in 2013 to join long-established majors in New York, London, Boston, Berlin and Chicago if it passes the WMM assessment criteria for the second straight year. “We’re really excited for Sunday to arrive,” race director Wayne Larden told a news conference in Sydney yesterday. “We’re prepared, we’re ready. All of our plans look good on
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
When details from a scientific experiment that could have helped clear Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva landed at the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the leader of the organization’s reaction was unequivocal: “We have to stop that urgently,” he wrote. No mention of the test ever became public and Valieva’s defense at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) went on without it. What effect the information could have had on Valieva’s case is unclear, but without it, the skater, then 15 years old, was eventually disqualified from the 2022 Winter Olympics after testing positive for a banned heart medication that would later