■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.”
GUNNING FOR A WIN: The victory sending Arsenal to the final for the first time in six years was cathartic for a team who had lost their previous four semi-finals Arsenal on Tuesday reached the League Cup final for the first time in eight years as Kai Havertz sealed a 1-0 win against Chelsea in the semi-final second leg. Mikel Arteta’s side had put themselves in pole position in the first leg and Havertz came off the bench to finish the 4-2 aggregate victory in the closing moments at the Emirates Stadium. It was a cathartic triumph for the Gunners, who had lost their previous four semi-finals in last year’s UEFA Champions League and League Cup, the 2022 League Cup and the 2021 UEFA Europa League. In their first final for six years,
DEADLINE DAY: Rennes’ Jacquet had been linked with a transfer to Chelsea earlier this month, but was reportedly put off the move due to the Blues’ bloated squad Liverpool on Monday won the race to sign Stade Rennais defender Jeremy Jacquet on the quiet final day of the English Premier League transfer window, while Crystal Palace swooped for Wolverhampton Wanderers striker Jorgen Strand Larsen despite the collapse of Jean-Philippe Mateta’s move to AC Milan. The Reds agreed a reported fee of up to ￡60 million (US$82 million) for the highly rated Jacquet. However, the 20-year-old will not join the Premier League champions until the summer despite Liverpool’s need for defensive reinforcements. Jacquet had been linked with a transfer to Chelsea earlier this month, but was reportedly put off
SUPERSTAR DELIVERS: Victor Wembanyama scored 29 points and pulled down 11 rebounds to propel the Spurs to a 135-123 victory over the Dallas Mavericks The Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday shook off the early exit of injured star Luka Doncic, rallying without him in the second half for a 119-115 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers. Austin Reaves, again coming off the bench in his second game back from a 19-game injury absence, scored 13 of his 35 points in the fourth quarter, drilling a pair of back-to-back three-pointers to give the Lakers their first lead of the game early in the final frame. “Losing Luka, you know nothing’s going to be easy after that because he does so much for us, but we bonded together,” said
Ademola Lookman on Thursday scored on his Atletico Madrid debut in a 5-0 rout of Real Betis Balompie that sent Diego Simeone’s team to the semi-finals of the Copa del Rey. David Hancko, Giuliano Simeone, Antoine Griezmann and Thiago Almada also scored for Atletico as they advanced to the last four for the third straight season. Atletico are trying to reach their first Copa final since winning the competition in 2012-2013. Hancko opened the scoring for the visitors in the 12th minute and Giuliano Simeone added to the lead in the 30th, before Lookman got his first goal for Atletico on a fast
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