■ Cricket
Rashid ready to bowl
Teenage leg-spinner Adil Rashid, the first Yorkshire-born Asian to play for the English county, is ready to start bowling again after being diagnosed with a stress fracture of the back. The 18-year-old, who made a sensational Championship debut last season by bagging six wickets for 67 runs in an innings victory over Warwickshire, will turn his arm over for the first time since the injury in the nets in January. "I'm really looking forward to getting in some practice," Rashid told Yorkshire County's official Web site.
■ Tennis
Rafael Nadal raring to go
Rafael Nadal is determined to kickoff next year at full throttle and make up for the bitter disappointment of his injury-ravaged start to this year. A crippling foot injury ruled the world No. 2 out of the first six weeks of this year, an absence which also included the opening Grand Slam event in Australia. But next year, the French Open champion is wasting no time in his build-up to Melbourne where the Australian Open begins on Jan. 15. Nadal will begin his season next Monday at the Chennai Open and then travel to Sydney for the Medibank International. At both events he will be top seed.
■ Soccer
Banide happy at Monaco
At just 38 years old, Monaco coach Laurent Banide can call upon plenty of expert guidance if required -- his father Gerard twice occupied the hot seat at the principality club. Banide, the youngest coach in the French championship, took over from Laszlo Boloni two months ago when Monaco slumped to second-from-bottom of the table after a 3-1 home defeat to Toulouse. Banide was Boloni's assistant and he was offered the chance to succeed him.
ADVANTAGE ATLETICO: Well off the pace in La Liga, the Copa del Rey represents Atletico Madrid’s best chance of silverware this season Atletico Madrid on Thursday hammered Copa del Rey holders Barcelona 4-0 in the first leg of their semi-final. After an Eric Garcia own-goal sent Diego Simeone’s side ahead early on, Antoine Griezmann, Ademola Lookman and Julian Alvarez struck to give Atletico a landslide lead by halftime. Barca defender Garcia was sent off in the final stages, with Atletico maintaining their significant advantage on the record 32-time winners, which they take into the second leg at the Camp Nou on March 3. Both sides missed good chances in the second half, with Barca’s Pau Cubarsi having a goal disallowed before Garcia was sent off
Stade Rennais, four days after firing coach Habib Beye, stunned Paris Saint-Germain 3-1 on Friday, snapping the defending champions’ seven-match winning run in French Ligue 1. Second-placed RC Lens could leapfrog the champions and retake top spot last night after press time if they beat Paris FC in the capital. PSG started brightly, with Ousmane Dembele and Desire Doue carving openings to no avail. Rennes fired Beye on Monday and promoted his assistant Sebastien Tambouret, and the same players who had lost four games on the bounce seemed transformed. Jordanian forward Mousa al-Tamari bagged the opener, unleashing a fierce strike
Dasun Shanaka hammered the fastest half-century by a Sri Lankan in T20Is as the cohosts thrashed Oman by 105 runs at the World Cup yesterday in Pallekele, Sri Lanka, for their second win in Group B. The 2014 champions piled up 225-5, the highest total of the tournament, before restricting an outclassed Oman to 120-9. The 43-year-old Mohammad Nadeem waged a lone battle for Oman, compiling an unbeaten 53 to become the oldest player to score a 50 in T20 World Cups. Having promoted himself up the order and under pressure to deliver, Sri Lanka skipper Shanaka smashed a 19-ball half-century. It has been
Manchester City FC halved Arsenal FC’s lead at the top of the Premier League with a 3-0 home defeat of Fulham FC, and Aston Villa FC stayed in the frame with a late 1-0 victory at home to Brighton and Hove Albion FC on Wednesday. Nottingham Forest FC squandered a chance to put some distance between themselves and the bottom three as they drew 0-0 at home to bottom club Wolverhampton Wanderers FC. Second-from-bottom Burnley FC pulled off a remarkable 3-2 comeback win over Crystal Palace FC to boost their slender survival hopes. City have little margin for error in their pursuit
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