■CRICKET
Black Caps target coach
New Zealand’s cricket team want coach Andy Moles sacked, and claim captain Daniel Vettori has effectively been filling the role for the last six months, a report said yesterday. An unnamed source said senior players claimed Moles had not provided them with adequate tactical or technical support, a report by Dominion Post cricket writer and former New Zealand fast bowler Jonathan Millmow said. New Zealand Cricket responded to the report by confirming Moles’ position as coach. Moles would continue to prepare the team for a series of one-day internationals and Twenty20 matches against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates starting early next month, chief executive Justin Vaughan said.
■BOXING
Kelly Pavlik scraps title bout
Middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik called off a title defense against Paul Williams set for Dec. 5 because of an infected left hand. Pavlik was to fight Williams at Atlantic City in one of the year’s most anticipated bouts, but promoter Top Rank said on Wednesday that Pavlik was unable to make a fist or punch with the injured hand. Pavlik (35-1, 31 KOs) believes the infection could date to last October, when he was pounded by Bernard Hopkins.
■SOCCER
Houston out of CONCACAF
A surprise defeat for Houston Dynamo at the hands of group minnows Metapan on Wednesday cost the US club a spot in the CONCACAF Champions League quarter-finals, handing the berth to Panama’s Arabe Unido. El Salvador’s Metapan had lost all five of its previous group games, but Emerson Umana’s deflected freekick gave the hosts a 3-2 win over a stunned Houston, which would have reached the quarters with a win. That meant Arabe Unido clung onto second spot in Group A despite losing 2-0 to Mexico’s Pachuca, which topped the group and also progresses to the last eight. In the night’s other group game, Trinidad’s W Connection defeated Honduras’ Real Espana 3-2 in Group D. That result eliminated Real Espana from quarter-final contention.
■SOCCER
Match to be screened in 3D
The match between top Mexican sides America and Guadalajara on Sunday will be screened in 3D, with broadcasters Televisa claiming on Wednesday it will be the first broadcast of its kind in the world. The Clausura championship match at the Azteca in Mexico City will be screened in cinemas in Mexico City, Guadalajara and Monterrey.
■OLYMPICS
Torch made for bad weather
The torch that train, plane and motorized sled manufacturer Bombardier made for Canada’s upcoming Olympic Winter Games was to be lit at the birthplace of the Olympics in Greece yesterday. Inspired by the contours of Canada’s winter landscape, the torch is designed to withstand colder temperatures than any other torch in Olympic history and uses a dual burner system to guard against extreme weather conditions. It will be flown back to Canada at the end of the month for a 45,000km relay ahead of the February Games in Vancouver. The torches are made from anodized aluminum, stainless steel and a composite compound. Each weighs 1.6kg, including fuel, which is a mix of propane and isobutane. Its designers said the torch would remain lit through “rain, sleet, snow and wind” and in temperatures from minus 40˚C to 40˚C.
South Korean giants T1, led by “Faker,” won their fifth League of Legends (LoL) world championship crown in London on Saturday, beating China’s Bilibili Gaming (BLG) in a thrilling final. The teams were locked at 2-2 at a packed O2 arena, but T1 clinched game five to make it back-to-back titles after nearly four hours of tense action. China’s BLG started strongly, taking the first game before T1 struck back to level. The Chinese team pulled ahead again at 2-1 only for their opponents to hit back again and go on to take the decider. Faker, who won the Most
Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Belgian partner Elise Mertens on Monday notched up their first win in the doubles group stage of the WTA Finals in Riyadh to keep their semi-final hopes alive, while Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russian partner Veronika Kudermetova were aiming to record their first victory after press time last night. Third seeds Hsieh and Mertens came back from a disheartening opening-day loss to Australia’s Ellen Perez and Nicole Melichar-Martinez to defeat top seeds Ukraine’s Lyudmyla Kichenok and Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko, the women’s doubles world No. 3 and 4 respectively. The 6-1, 6-3 victory at King Saud University Indoor Arena
Amber Glenn overcame a fall and her own doubts to win a maiden Grand Prix figure skating title on Saturday at the Grand Prix de France. The American skater had the lead from Friday’s short program. That and the support of the crowd got her through a tough free skate in which she fell on a triple flip and put a hand onto the ice to steady herself on two other jumps. “I didn’t feel that great out there today, but I really tried, and the audience really got me through that last half when I was doubting myself,” Glenn
After pushing for months to get a shot at Colby Covington, Ireland’s Ian Machado Garry is getting to headline the UFC’s final card for this year. However, it will not be against Covington. The promotion on Friday announced that Machado Garry, the No. 7-ranked welterweight, would face ninth-ranked Joaquin Buckley at UFC Fight Night in Tampa, Florida, on Dec. 14. Machado Garry, 26, is undefeated through 15 matches, the most recent coming on June 29 when he beat Michael Page via unanimous decision. Last month, Machado Garry said in an Instagram post that in September he was offered a fight with Covington — the