■BASKETBALL
Davis fined for swearing
Boston Celtics forward Glen Davis has been fined US$25,000 for “directing inappropriate language” toward a fan, the NBA said on Thursday. Davis responded to a heckler during Boston’s 92-86 loss to the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday at The Palace of Auburn Hills in suburban Detroit. The 2.06 m, 131.1 kg Davis is averaging 6.2 points per game this season. A jeering fan called Davis a “fat boy” and told him to lose some weight. Davis responded with an expletive. “We know what happened, and that’s unacceptable,” Celtics coach Doc Rivers said after the game. “It’s tough when the fans are yelling that stuff at you, but you have to be stronger than that.”
■GOLF
La Quinta play washed out
The second round of the Bob Hope Classic was postponed until yesterday because of unplayable conditions at La Quinta, California, on Thursday. Organizers had initially pushed back the scheduled tee times by two hours due to heavy overnight rain before eventually abandoning play for the day. Little-known American Shane Bertsch held the first-round lead after firing a 10-under-par 62 on the Nicklaus Private course at PGA West, one of four venues hosting the 90-hole event.
■SOCCER
Beckham tackle in spotlight
An Italian television channel has apologized for a prank in which a female presenter attempted to grab David Beckham between the legs. The AC Milan midfielder was visibly angered when Elena Di Cioccio, who fronts the popular show Le Iene (The Hyenas) on Italia Uno, made her move while he was being interviewed by another person on Wednesday. Beckham is on loan at Milan from the Los Angeles Galaxy. Beckham’s spokesman Simon Oliveira says he has “no issue with it. It did surprise him at the time, but David saw it for what it was — harmless fun.”
■ATHLETICS
Marathon cheats disqualified
At least 30 runners in a marathon in China cheated their way into the top 100, hopping on to public transport during the race or hiring faster runners, sporting authorities said yesterday.
Some of the people taking part in this month’s Xiamen International Marathon cheated in a bid to boost their chances of getting into university, the provincial sports bureau said on its Web site. If they run a marathon in good time, students can earn extra points for the entrance examination for China’s highly competitive universities. The Fujian sports bureau said some of the cheats, who were all later disqualified, used public transport to cover part of the race route, while others convinced better runners to replace them.
■SOCCER
Clubs spend too much: UEFA
European clubs’ spending on players is still rising just months before UEFA introduces reforms that will limit their ability to spend beyond their means. A UEFA survey of 629 clubs across Europe’s 53 soccer nations showed the clubs’ revenues rose by 10 percent last season but spending on transfers and salaries went up 18 percent. UEFA general said in an interview on Thursday that more than half the clubs ran up a deficit in the 2008-2009 season while one in five made a “huge’’ loss — spending 20 percent above their total income. The research will be used to draw up “financial fair play” reforms demanded by UEFA president Michel Platini, who said the spending cannot go on.
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
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,
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
France head coach Fabien Galthie on Thursday lauded his team’s attacking performance after their dazzling 36-14 victory over Ireland in their Six Nations opener. A brace of tries from Louis Bielley-Biarrey and one from mercurial flyhalf Matthieu Jalibert helped France storm into a 29-0 lead before taking their foot off the gas and allowing Ireland back into the match, before winger Theo Attissogbe put some gloss on the victory late on. “In an attacking sense, with the ball, the team played with great accuracy,” Galthie said. “It was one of the most accurate attacking performances in a long time, despite the weather
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