■ITALY
Atalanta humbled in the Cup
Serie A side Atalanta were humbled 1-0 at home by third division neighbors Lumezzane and went out of the Italian Cup fourth round on Thursday. Michele Marconi, on loan at Brescia-based Lumezzane from Bergamo’s Atalanta, embarrassed his parent club with the only goal on 19 minutes. Even the third division side had only two first-teamers in the lineup for the much-maligned competition and next travel to Udinese in the last 16 when the big Serie A clubs enter. Palermo set up a meeting with holders Lazio after defeating Serie B side Reggina 4-1 at home in former Lazio boss Delio Rossi’s first game since succeeding Walter Zenga as coach. Napoli face Juventus next after beating second tier Cittadella 1-0, with the rest of the round completed next week. On Wednesday, Serie A bottom side Siena suffered more pain in Alberto Malesani’s first game in charge when they lost 2-0 at home to third division Novara, who now visit AC Milan, while Chievo progressed by overcoming Serie B’s Frosinone 2-0.
■CZECH REPUBLIC
Flu postpones Teplice match
League leaders FK Teplice said on Thursday they would skip tomorrow’s match against Viktoria Pilsen as five of their players have swine flu. “The public health officer has restricted our participation in games and other events while the disease lasts,” Teplice spokesman Petr Heidenreich said. “The players cannot possibly take part in training sessions and the match therefore must be postponed,” said Ivo Lubas of the Czech Football Association. Teplice, surprise leaders with 32 points from 15 games, lost their first game this season last Monday when the devastated team was thrashed 6-2 at Olomouc in a game the association had refused to postpone.
■SWITZERLAND
Olympics revamp proposed
European soccer leaders have unanimously backed a proposal to limit soccer’s participation in future Olympic Games to players under the age of 21. The International Olympic Committee wants to keep the status quo of under-23s plus three overage players — which allows countries to bolster their teams with star talent — enhancing the appeal and credibility of the Olympic tournament, but UEFA’s strategy council of clubs, national associations, leagues and players’ unions unanimously agreed on Thursday that the men’s Olympic tournament should be changed to an under-21 event. FIFA president Sepp Blatter has previously suggested dropping the age limit to 21, or even abolishing the limit altogether, but barring all players with World Cup experience. FIFA and the IOC have been struggling to reach an agreement on player eligibility since current rules almost prevented Barcelona star Lionel Messi from leading Argentina to the gold medal in Beijing last year.
■ITALY
Sissoko urges racism action
Juventus midfielder Mohamed Sissoko has called on the authorities to take further action after his club’s fans were again accused of racist chanting. Juve were forced to play a game behind closed doors last season after fans sang “a black Italian does not exist” at Inter’s Palermo-born striker Mario Balotelli. The club were then fined by the Italian league after supporters chanted “jump up and down and Balotelli will die” at last Sunday’s 1-0 home win over Udinese, but further offensive songs were heard at Wednesday’s Champions League defeat by Bordeaux. “We as players have repeated our position against racism at every opportunity,” Sissoko told Italian radio on Thursday. “Now the institutions must intervene.”
BOUNCE BACK: Curry scored 46 points in the Warriors’ victory over the Spurs, after ‘everybody stepped up’ following Tuesday’s blowout loss to Oklahoma City Nikola Jokic scoring 50 or more points had never been enough for the Denver Nuggets to win — until now. Jokic on Wednesday night tied the highest-scoring performance in the NBA this season with 55 points, as the Nuggets beat the Los Angeles Clippers 130-116 for their sixth straight victory. The Nuggets were 0-4 in his previous 50-point outbursts. “It’s a good feeling,” the three-time NBA Most Valuable Player said. He equaled Oklahoma City Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who had 55 in a double-overtime game at the Indiana Pacers on Oct. 23. Jokic has been on a roll during Denver’s winning streak. He is the
TIGHT GAME: The Detroit Pistons, the NBA’s second-best team, barely outlasted the Washington Wizards, who fell to an NBA-worst 1-10 with their ninth consecutive loss Cade Cunningham’s triple double, Daniss Jenkins’ three-pointer at the buzzer and Javonte Green’s overtime dunk lifted Detroit past Washington 137-135 on Monday, stretching the Pistons’ win streak to seven games. In an unexpected thriller, the NBA’s second-best team barely outlasted a Wizards club that fell to an NBA-worst 1-10 with their ninth consecutive loss. “We knew how big this game was for us,” Jenkins said. “We wasn’t going to let nothing stop us from getting this W.” Cunningham made 14-of-45 shots and 16-of-18 free throws for a career-high 46 points, and added 12 rebounds, 11 assists, five steals and two
The tri-nation Twenty20 international series featuring hosts Pakistan, as well as Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe, is to be played entirely in Rawalpindi from Tuesday next week, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said yesterday, after this week’s suicide bombing in the capital, Islamabad. The change came after at least eight Sri Lankan players asked to leave over security fears following Tuesday’s bombing that killed 12 people and wounded 27. Their country’s cricket board issued a stern directive to the team to stay put or face consequences. Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) said the decision to stay was taken after “close consultations” with hosts Pakistan who
LIKE FINE WINE: Thirty-eight-year-old Djokovic won his 101st title of his career in Athens, becoming the oldest tournament winner since Ken Roswell, 44, in 1977 Elena Rybakina on Saturday clinched her biggest title since Wimbledon in 2022, defeating world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka 6-3, 7-6 (7/0) at the WTA Finals in Riyadh. The world No. 6 put on yet another serving masterclass and was at her returning best as she became the first Kazakh and the first player representing an Asian country to lift the WTA Finals singles trophy. Having gone 3-0 in round-robin play, Rybakina earned a record US$5.235 million and would finish the year ranked No. 5 in the world. “It’s been an incredible week, I honestly didn’t expect any result, and to go so far,
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