■CRICKET
Injured Flintoff out of IPL
Andrew Flintoff will not fulfill the second year of his contract with Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise the Chennai Super Kings after undergoing another operation on his right knee. The England all-rounder, however, has set his sights on playing for Lancashire in all competitions in the next English season, having believed he would be fit for one-day matches only, even if he won’t be returning until midway through the domestic campaign. Pace bowler and hard-hitting batsman Flintoff retired from Test cricket after helping England regain the Ashes last year, saying his injury-hit body could no longer stand the strain, but stressed he wanted to remain involved in the one-day set-up.
■BASEBALL
Beltran denies defying Mets
Carlos Beltran said on Thursday that the New York Mets made their request to delay knee surgery only after the operation was underway. A day after his right knee was repaired, Beltran contradicted the claims of team officials, who said they asked him to delay surgery while the club’s medical staff evaluated his condition. “I have done nothing but follow the directions of my doctors. Any accusations that I ignored or defied the team’s wishes are simply false,” Beltran said in a statement released by his agent, Scott Boras. “No one from the team raised any issue until Wednesday, after I was already in surgery,” Beltran said. Boras said chief operating officer Jeff Wilpon asked for the delay early on Wednesday, when Richard Steadman was already removing cartilage fragments and inflammation, and shaving bone spurs.
■FOOTBALL
Crennel returns to NFL
Former Cleveland Browns head coach Romeo Crennel returned to the NFL after a year-long break when he was officially appointed defensive coordinator with the Kansas City Chiefs on Thursday. Crennel, who was sacked by the Browns in December 2008 after going 24-40 during four seasons with Cleveland, spent last year recovering from hip replacement surgery. “I’m excited to be here at Kansas City,” Crennel said during a joint conference call with Chiefs head coach Todd Haley. “I was able to take a breath last year. That breath has filled my lungs, my enthusiasm is up, my energy is up.”
■SKIING
Heil, McPhie share podium
Olympic champion Jennifer Heil of Canada won her third consecutive World Cup moguls and second in a row at Deer Valley Resort on Thursday. Heil tied for first with Heather McPhie of the US. They posted the same scores for their runs and in the tie-breaker based on the turn component of their results. “In my 10 years, I’ve definitely never seen anybody share the podium, but Heather obviously had a fantastic run,” Heil said. Dale Begg-Smith of Australia also won his third straight World Cup gold by edging Guilbaut Colas of France. Kazakhstan’s Dmitriy Reiherd of placed third.
■SKIING
Gut to miss Olympics
Swiss teen alpine ski star Lara Gut, a double silver medallist at last year’s World Ski Championships, will not take part in the upcoming Winter Olympics, her father said on Thursday. The 18-year-old underwent an operation on an injured hip three months ago in her homeland, but will not be back on the slopes until early next month. “It’s now official,” said Pauli Gut, Lara’s father, coach and manager. “We knew it would be tough [to make the Games]. The time for preparation was too tight.”
US national team star Folarin Balogun was among the scorers as AS Monaco on Friday won 3-1 at Paris Saint-Germain, dealing a blow to the side from the French capital before they face Chelsea in a crunch UEFA Champions League round-of-16 tie. Maghnes Akliouche gave Monaco a first-half lead at the Parc des Princes, and Aleksandr Golovin doubled their advantage early in the second half of the French Ligue 1 clash. Bradley Barcola pulled one back for the reigning European champions, but Balogun struck shortly after with a fifth goal in his last five games as Monaco claimed a precious
Teenage star Lamine Yamal’s superbly-taken goal on Saturday earned Barcelona a 1-0 win at Athletic Bilbao in Spanish La Liga. The champions restored their four-point lead over second-placed Real Madrid, who had on Friday temporarily closed the gap by beating Celta Vigo. Atletico Madrid tightened their grip on third with an entertaining 3-2 win over Real Sociedad. Yamal, 18, curled into the top corner after 68 minutes to split the sides at Athletic’s San Mames stadium. “We’re already seeing what Lamine can do — he puts it right in the top corner, and there’s nothing the keeper can do,” Barca
Liverpool on Tuesday suffered an embarrassing 2-1 defeat at Wolverhampton Wanderers as Andre’s stoppage-time strike sealed a dramatic victory for the English Premier League’s bottom club. Arne Slot’s side fell behind to Rodrigo Gomes’ strike in the closing stages at Molineux. Mohamed Salah hauled Liverpool level with his first goal in 11 top-flight games dating back to November last year. However, Andre’s first goal for Wolves inflicted the latest humbling loss in a chastening season for Liverpool. It was the first time the Premier League’s bottom club had beaten the reigning champions since Crystal Palace defeated Chelsea in 2017. Liverpool
Taiwan yesterday defeated the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks’ farm team 5-1 in their final warm-up game ahead of their World Baseball Classic (WBC) Pool C opener. Taiwan’s bullpen used an unconventional rotation, with a different pitcher throwing each inning for the first seven innings. Together, they combined for eight strikeouts while allowing only four hits. The lone run surrendered came in the bottom of the eighth inning after a pitcher from Japan’s independent league took the mound. The pitching strategy was designed to preserve the arms of the Taiwanese ahead of their game against Australia at the Tokyo Dome tomorrow morning. Taiwanese-American Stuart Fairchild
RSS