FORMULA ONE
Schumacher goes home
Former Formula One champion Michael Schumacher has left a Swiss hospital and will continue his recovery at home, his manager said on Tuesday. The seven-time world champion suffered a serious head injury while skiing in France at the end of December last year. “Considering the severe injuries he suffered, progress has been made in the past weeks and months,” his manager, Sabine Kehm, said in a statement. “There is still, however, a long and difficult road ahead.” Schumacher was transferred to a hospital in Lausanne in June after six months at a hospital in France. Kehm said he was now at his home in Gland, near Geneva, without specifying when the move happened or giving details about his current condition. “We ask that the privacy of Michael’s family continue to be respected and that speculations about his state of health are avoided,” Kehm said.
FOOTBALL
Bills sold to Pegula family
The owners of the Buffalo Bills reached an agreement on Tuesday to sell the NFL franchise to Terry and Kim Pegula, who already own the NHL’s Buffalo Sabres. Terry Pegula, 63, a natural gas development and real-estate mogul, has been a popular figure in Buffalo for his commitment to keep the franchise in western New York state. The price tag was not revealed, although multiple outlets reported the deal to be worth US$1.2 billion. That is slightly more than truck-stop magnate Jim Haslam paid for the Cleveland Browns in 2012. The team was put up for sale when Ralph Wilson, the franchise’s founding owner, died in March at the age of 95. “This is a very important day in the history of the Buffalo Bills franchise,” Bills controlling owner Mary Wilson said in a statement. “Ralph would have been pleased with the sale of the team to the Terry Pegula family, who has been so committed to Buffalo and the western New York region.”
BASKETBALL
Cavs sign Shawn Marion
Adding championship experience in the wake of landing superstar LeBron James, the Cleveland Cavaliers announced on Tuesday they had signed forward Shawn Marion, who helped Dallas win the 2011 NBA crown. The Cavaliers were revitalized when James, who led the Miami Heat to two NBA titles and two more runner-up showings over the past four seasons, returned to his home-region club in July. That prompted the Cavaliers to swing a trade deal for star big man Kevin Love, giving James a “Big Three” along with guard Kyrie Irving in much the way he had a star trio in Miami with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, but the Cavaliers have also added a strong supporting cast, including sharpshooter Mike Miller, James Jones and now Marion.
RUGBY UNION
Pollard to face All Blacks
South Africa coach Heyneke Meyer has thrown rookie Handre Pollard to the wolves, naming him as starting flyhalf against the All Blacks for their pivotal Rugby Championship clash in Wellington on Saturday. With the tournament hanging in the balance after three rounds, the promise of three-cap Pollard has been preferred to the lethal boot and experience of seasoned flyhalf Morne Steyn, who has been dumped from the team altogether. The only omission from the squad that lost a cliff-hanger 24-23 to Australia in Perth last weekend, Steyn may have some cause to feel aggrieved after a solid performance against the Wallabies. “We felt that Handre has the right skill set for how we want to approach this game,” Meyer said of the 20-year-old.
BOUNCE BACK: Curry scored 46 points in the Warriors’ victory over the Spurs, after ‘everybody stepped up’ following Tuesday’s blowout loss to Oklahoma City Nikola Jokic scoring 50 or more points had never been enough for the Denver Nuggets to win — until now. Jokic on Wednesday night tied the highest-scoring performance in the NBA this season with 55 points, as the Nuggets beat the Los Angeles Clippers 130-116 for their sixth straight victory. The Nuggets were 0-4 in his previous 50-point outbursts. “It’s a good feeling,” the three-time NBA Most Valuable Player said. He equaled Oklahoma City Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who had 55 in a double-overtime game at the Indiana Pacers on Oct. 23. Jokic has been on a roll during Denver’s winning streak. He is the
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,
The tri-nation Twenty20 international series featuring hosts Pakistan, as well as Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe, is to be played entirely in Rawalpindi from Tuesday next week, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said yesterday, after this week’s suicide bombing in the capital, Islamabad. The change came after at least eight Sri Lankan players asked to leave over security fears following Tuesday’s bombing that killed 12 people and wounded 27. Their country’s cricket board issued a stern directive to the team to stay put or face consequences. Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) said the decision to stay was taken after “close consultations” with hosts Pakistan who
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