SOCCER
Mali claim third place
Goals by Mahamadou Samassa, Seydou Keita and Sigamary Diarra gave Mali a 3-1 victory over Ghana in the Africa Cup of Nations third-place playoff on Saturday. Samassa put his team in front in the 21st minute with a diving header following a good pass from Adama Tamboura. Man-of-the-match Keita made it 2-0 just after halftime, the midfielder ghosting into the penalty area to convert a cross by Ousmane Coulibaly. Ghana wasted a chance to get back in the match when Salif Coulibaly handled in the box and Mubarak Wakaso blazed his 58th-minute penalty high over the bar. Ghana eventually pulled one back when Kwadwo Asamoah beat goalkeeper Soumbeyla Diakite with a long-range drive in the 82nd minute. Then, as Ghana pushed forward in search of an equalizer, Mali caught them on the counterattack, with Diarra scoring three minutes into stoppage-time.
GOLF
Snedeker, Hahn share lead
FedExCup champion Brandt Snedeker maintained his sizzling form this season by moving into a two-way tie for the lead with fellow American James Hahn after the third round of the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am on Saturday. Snedeker, helped by a run of five birdies in six holes around the turn, fired a four-under 68 at the Pebble Beach Golf Links on a glorious sun-splashed winter’s day. That left him at 12-under 202 and level with USPGA Tour rookie Hahn, who carded a six-under 66 at Spyglass Hill, the most difficult of the three venues being used. Chris Kirk of the US was a further stroke back after a six-under 64 at Monterey Peninsula, but it was not a good day for defending champion Phil Mickelson, who triple-bogeyed the last at Pebble Beach for a 73 to finish right on the cut line.
GOLF
Sterne, Fisher lead by five
South Africans Richard Sterne and Trevor Fisher stretched their lead to five shots on Saturday after three rounds of the Joburg Open. Playing together, each fired a third-round 68 to share first place on 196, with compatriots George Coetzee, tournament favorite Charl Schwartzel, Jaco van Zyl and Chilean Felipe Aguilar on 201, the nearest challengers.
TENNIS
Nadal books place in final
Rafael Nadal looked sharp on Saturday as he booked a finals berth at the Chilean Open, his first event back from a seven-month injury absence. Nadal needed just 64 minutes to defeat third seed Jeremy Chardy of France 6-2, 6-2. In the other semi-final, Argentine Horacio Zeballos, ranked 73rd in the world, reached the second ATP final of his career with a 6-3, 7-6 (7/4) victory over eighth-seeded compatriot Carlos Berlocq.
TENNIS
Cilic to face Melzer in final
Home-crowd favorite Marin Cilic was to face fourth seed Jurgen Melzer of Austria in the Zagreb Indoors final yesterday. Top seed Cilic rallied to defeat defending champion Mikhail Youzhny of Russia 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 on Saturday, while Melzer beat Robin Haase of the Netherlands 7-6 (7/2), 6-3.
TENNIS
Gasquet downs Nieminen
Third seed Richard Gasquet beat veteran Jarkko Nieminen of Finland 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 on Saturday to set up an all-French Open Sud de France final against eighth seed Benoit Paire, who overcame countryman Michael Llodra 4-6, 6-3, 6-1.
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
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,
EMPTY STANDS: Maccabi fans were banned from attending by police, who cited violence and hate crimes when the team played Ajax in Amsterdam last season Aston Villa beat Israeli club Maccabi Tel Aviv 2-0 on Thursday in a Europa League game played amid heightened security measures, with more than 700 police officers deployed to deal with possible protests. Morgan Rogers put through Ian Maatsen in first-half stoppage time for the defender to score from a tight angle and Villa doubled the lead on the hour with Donyell Malen hitting the bottom corner from the penalty spot. It was Villa’s third win from games in the competition. The game at Villa Park had become the center of a political debate after Maccabi fans were banned from attending, as
An amateur soccer league organized by farmers, students and factory workers in rural China has unexpectedly drawn millions of fans and inspired big cities to form their own, raising hopes China can grow talent from the ground up and finally become a global force. The nation of 1.4 billion people has about 200 million soccer fans, more than any other country, but it has failed to build world-class teams, partly due to a top-down approach where clubs pick players from a very small pool of prescreened candidates. The professional game is marred by a history of fixed matches, corruption, and dismal performances,
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