BASKETBALL
Lawson signs with Zalgiris
Lithuanian club Zalgiris Kaunas said they have signed Denver Nuggets point guard Ty Lawson to play this season. General director Paulius Motiejunas confirmed the deal on Monday night. The deal would allow Lawson to return to the NBA if the lockout ends. Lawson will team up with Sonny Weems, a former Nuggets guard who signed with the Lithuanian squad last month. The Denver Post first reported the story. Lawson told the paper: “It’s the best situation for me to go out there.”
SOCCER
Michael Obi’s car found
The family of Chelsea midfielder John Obi Mikel said they’ve recovered the car of the player’s missing father, days after he was abducted. Mikel’s brother Tony Obi said yesterday that the car was found in Jos in central Nigeria, but declined to offer any details about how they knew where to find it. Mikel’s father, Michael Obi, went missing on Friday and the player announced in a television interview on Monday he’d been kidnapped. Meanwhile, Plateau State police commissioner Emmanuel Dipo Ayeni said officers were “working hard to ensure that he is found alive, hale and hardy.’’ Kidnappings occur regularly in Nigeria, though typically not in the region where Mikel’s father was taken.
SOCCER
Wenger risks UEFA wrath
Arsene Wenger could be in trouble with UEFA after repeatedly communicating with the Arsenal bench during his side’s 1-0 win over Udinese in their Champions League playoff first leg. Wenger was forced to watch the match from the Emirates Stadium stands as the Gunners boss served a touchline ban for abusing Swiss referee Massimo Busacca in the aftermath of last season’s stormy Champions League defeat at Barcelona. After Arsenal officials consulted UEFA on Monday, Wenger believed he was still free to communicate with assistant Pat Rice by passing messages to first-team coach Boro Primorac, who was seated next to the Frenchman and then phoned the information down to the bench. The trio did exactly that throughout the first half, but television pictures showed the rather blatant nature of the plan and UEFA, keen not to be embarrassed, warned Wenger at the break that he was contravening the rules and he withdrew from communication.
CRICKET
Aussies to trial night games
Cricket Australia will experiment with twilight matches in the upcoming Sheffield Shield domestic competition. Up to eight matches will become twilight fixtures, with the new timeslot to be trailed in games at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Hobart’s Bellerive Oval, the Sydney Cricket Ground and the Adelaide Oval. The International Cricket Council sees night Test matches as a means of rejuvenating the long form of the game.
ATHLETICS
Bekele to defend world title
Ethiopian Olympic and world champion Kenenisa Bekele will defend his 10,000m world title later this month despite not having raced since early last year, his manager said on Tuesday. “He is going to Daegu and [will] run. He is training well,” Jos Hermens said in a telephone interview. Bekele, 29, has never lost a 10,000m race on the track. His 12 victories at the distance since 2003 include two Olympic and four world titles along with two world records. If Bekele wins in Daegu, he would become the first runner at any distance to win five consecutive outdoor world titles.
Jobe Bellingham on Tuesday admitted to having “anxieties” on following in brother Jude’s footsteps after joining Borussia Dortmund in the summer. Jobe Bellingham, 19, is two years younger than Jude Bellingham, who joined Real Madrid in 2023 after three years at Dortmund. A centerpiece of the England national team, Jude Bellingham has emerged as one of the best players in the world in recent seasons. The younger Jobe Bellingham joined Dortmund in June from Sunderland after their promotion to the English Premier League. He admitted he understood what the perception would be ahead of the move to Germany. “It’s something you do think about.
Before Tuesday’s 7-2 win at the Atlanta Braves, Milwaukee Brewers manager Pat Murphy suggested “most people couldn’t tell you five players on our team.” A look at the standings would indicate more Brewers players soon will be recognized by more fans. After all, it is difficult to overlook a team that not only continues to extend their lead in the National League Central, but also boasts the best record in the majors. “What we’re doing in here right now is special,” right-handed pitcher Freddy Peralta said after allowing only four hits and one run in five innings, while setting a career high with
Carlos Alcaraz on Sunday fought through a second-set slump to post a roller-coaster 6-1, 2-6, 6-3 victory over Damir Dzumhur in his opening match at the Cincinnati Open. The Spaniard, playing his first tournament since losing to Jannik Sinner in the Wimbledon final, raced through the first set, but completely lost his way in the second, dropping his serve twice against the 33-year-old Bosnian. Alcaraz regained his intensity and cut down his errors in the third set as a seventh ace took him to a match point that was converted when Dzumhur fired wide. “It was just a roller coaster,” said the second
NEXT ROUND: World No. 1s Jannik Sinner and Aryna Sabalenka opened their title defenses with straight-sets wins, while Iga Swiatek and Taylor Fritz also advanced Jannik Sinner and Aryna Sabalenka got their title defenses off to smooth starts as they powered into the third round of the ATP-WTA Cincinnati Open on Saturday. The men’s and women’s top seeds, each ranked No. 1 in the world, were both competing for the first time since Wimbledon, where Sinner lifted the title and Sabalenka bowed out in the women’s semi-finals. Sinner crushed Colombian Daniel Elahi Galan 6-1, 6-1 in steamy afternoon weather, while Sabalenka beat 2023 Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova 7-5, 6-1 under the lights of the night session. Sabalenka needed 54 minutes and a service break in the final game
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