■ GOLF
Cink takes lead in Florida
Stewart Cink claimed the clubhouse lead after three rounds of the rain-disrupted PGA Tour PODS Championship in Palm Harbor, Florida, on Saturday. Cink notched three straight birdies before closing with a bogey to finish with a two-under 69 for a three-round total of five-under 208. Half a dozen golfers were still on the course when play in the tournament was halted by darkness. Among them, second-round leader Brandt Snedeker and Billy Mayfair were at three-under, while Australian Geoff Ogilvy completed a 69 for three-under 210.
■ BADMINTON
Lin reaches final again
China's world champion Lin Dan reached the All-England men's singles final for a fifth year in a row with a comfortable 21-14, 21-14 victory over compatriot Bao Chunlai on Saturday. In the other semi-final, China's Chen Jin, the No.4 seed, scored an upset 21-18, 21-18 win over Malaysia's former world No.1 Lee Chong Wei. In the women's competition Denmark's unseeded Tine Rasmussen won through to the final to face the No 3 seed from China, Lu Lan. Rasmussen, the world No.9, had previously never got beyond the second round in eight previous appearances at an All-England. Lu reached her first final in Birmingham with a straightforward 21-13, 21-14 victory over the Chinese-born German player, Xu Huaiwen.
■ SOCCER
Brawl leaves 80 wounded
A stadium brawl left about 80 people wounded in the Colombian city of Cali late on Saturday, 18 of them with stab wounds, emergency officials said. Clashes broke during the match between America de Cali and Deportivo de Cali spread onto the field and around the Pascual Guerrero stadium. Police fired tear gas as the brawlers lit firecrackers and tried to tear down fencing separating the stands from the field. Eighteen people were stabbed during the melee, said Manuel Infante, spokesman for Cali's Emergency Prevention Committee. They were treated at the stadium and taken to a local hospital. Another 60 suffered bruises and other minor injuries. A young pregnant woman and three police officers were among the wounded, the Red Cross said.
■ TENNIS
Qualifier reaches final
South African qualifier Kevin Anderson defeated American wildcard Robby Ginepri 7-6, 6-4 on Saturday to reach the final of the Las Vegas Open. Anderson will face unseeded American Sam Querrey, who beat fourth-seeded Argentine Guillermo Canas 7-5, 6-2. The 21-year-old Anderson, ranked 175th in the world and bidding to become the first South African to win an ATP final since Wesley Moodie won in Tokyo in October 2005, took the opening set 7-4 on a tiebreak. He was broken only once as he clinched victory in one hour and 28 minutes. The 2.01m Anderson, who won his first ATP match in Monday's opening round, has reached the final without losing a set. "Each match I've felt I could compete and I've played my own game," Anderson told reporters. "I'm not trying to do anything special." Querrey, ranked 66th and looking for his first ATP title, converted five of nine break points to upset the 20th-ranked Canas in one-hour, 39 minutes.
Manchester United on Tuesday confirmed Michael Carrick as interim manager until the end of the season, tasking him with leading the Red Devils back into the UEFA Champions League. “Having the responsibility to lead Manchester United is an honor,” said Carrick, 44, who won 12 major trophies in his 12-year playing career at United. The former midfielder previously had an unbeaten three-game stint as caretaker boss at Old Trafford in 2021. Carrick then took on his first permanent managerial role at second-tier Middlesbrough in October 2022 and was sacked in June last year after the club finished 10th in the
Dallas Mavericks rookie Cooper Flagg on Wednesday was ruled out for the second half of their 118-109 loss to the Denver Nuggets after the No. 1 pick sprained his left ankle in the first half. Flagg was called for a foul while defending against Peyton Watson and turned the ankle as he fell to the floor with 6 minutes, 1 second left in the second quarter. Flagg limped to the bench and continued to the locker room, but returned for the final 2 minutes, 35 seconds before the break. The 19-year-old did not come out for the second half before the announcement that
Yassine Bounou on Wednesday saved two penalties, while Youssef en-Nesyri netted the decisive spot-kick as hosts Morocco secured a 4-2 shoot-out victory over Nigeria following a 0-0 draw in a tense Africa Cup of Nations semi-final in Rabat. Morocco, seeking their first continental title in 50 years, are to face 2021 winners Senegal in Sunday’s decider in Rabat, while Nigeria take on Egypt in the third-place playoff tomorrow. The 120 minutes before the shoot-out had few clear-cut chances for either side, but it was Morocco who created more opportunities, although they were denied by some fine saves from Nigeria goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali. Nigeria
James Harden on Friday scored 31 points and came up big in overtime to help the Los Angeles Clippers erase a double-digit deficit on the way to a 121-117 NBA victory over the Toronto Raptors. Harden scored 16 points in the fourth quarter and overtime as the Clippers pushed their wining steak to five games despite the absence of star Kawhi Leonard with a sprained right ankle. The Clippers trailed by 11 entering the fourth quarter, but Harden drilled a pair of free-throws with 1:24 left in regulation to tie it and after misses from both teams, they went to
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