SOCCER
Bale Welsh player of year
Real Madrid star Gareth Bale was voted Welsh Player of the Year for a record fifth time on Monday. Bale won the award after being involved in eight of Wales’ nine goals in their Euro 2016 qualifying campaign, scoring six times and providing two assists. The former Tottenham Hotspur forward’s efforts have left Wales on the brink of qualifying for their first major tournament in 58 years. Chris Coleman’s side need one point from their final two qualifiers against Bosnia-Herzegovina away and Andorra at home to make it to the finals in France next year. Bale was also named Players’ Player of the Year and Fans’ Player of the /year at a Cardiff ceremony.
SOCCER
Carvajal out of Euro qualifiers
Real Madrid fullback Dani Carvajal was one of three players to withdraw from Spain’s Euro 2016 qualifiers later this week due to an ankle injury. Real Sociedad centerback Inigo Martinez and Villarreal midfielder Bruno Soriano have also had to pull out, the Spain camp said. “He has been diagnosed with an injury to the peroneal tendons in his right ankle,” Real said of Carvajal’s injury. Carvajal, 23, was forced off during Real’s 1-1 draw at city rivals Atletico Madrid on Sunday and Spanish media reports claim he will be out for two to three weeks. Martinez, 24, has a muscular injury, while Soriano, 31, is suffering from “post-traumatic arthritis” in his knee, according to the Spain management. Group C leaders Spain host Luxembourg on Friday before traveling to Ukraine on Monday next week — a win in the first or draw in the second will be enough to secure their passage to next year’s Euro 2016 finals in France. Viallarreal’s Mario Gaspar was called up to replace Carvajal, while Athletic Bilbao’s Xabier Etxeita and Mikel San Jose come in for Martinez and Soriano respectively.
SOCCER
Deschamps backs Lacazette
France coach Didier Deschamps is backing striker Alexandre Lacazette to make his mark, despite a poor start to the season. Deschamps called up Lacazette to the France squad for international friendlies against Armenia and Denmark after Stade Rennais striker Paul-Georges Ntep had to pull out with a hamstring injury picked up against AS Monaco on Sunday. Lacazette, who has scored once in eight appearances for his country, was voted French Player of the Year last season after topping the Ligue 1 scoring charts with 27 goals for Olympique Lyonnais. However, he has struggled to hit the back of the net this term, missing a penalty against Stade de Reims on Saturday before finally notching his first goal from open play this season — and only the second in total — as Lyon won 1-0. “He’s improving. He had a very unstable summer for various reasons,” Deschamps said. “But Alex hasn’t lost his qualities and his last match put the smile back on his face. It [his selection] is also to show him he’s not been kicked out of the group. He’s on the right track.”
BASKETBALL
Fenerbahce beats Nets
The Brooklyn Nets lost their pre-season opener on Monday night to Turkey’s Fenerbahce Ulker, who got 18 points from former NBA lottery pick Jan Vesely in a 101-96 victory. Brook Lopez scored 18 points for the Nets and Wayne Ellington added 16. With a big crowd of fans cheering them on, the Istanbul team improved to 2-2 all-time against NBA clubs. Bogdan Bogdanovic, a Phoenix Suns draft pick last year, added 17 points, and another former NBA player, Gigi Datome, had 16.
American rugby sevens star Ilona Maher is to join 15-a-side club Bristol next month in a bid to play in next year’s Women’s Rugby World Cup, the English club announced on Monday. Maher, 28, helped the US to a bronze medal at this summer’s Olympic Games in Paris and is the seven-a-side sport’s most popular player on social media. “This is a huge coup to be able to bring Ilona Maher to Bristol Bears on a short-term deal,” Bristol head coach Dave Ward said. “She is one of the biggest names in women’s sport, let alone rugby, and we believe she will
New Taipei Kings guard Jeremy Lin on Friday was named the Taiwan Professional Basketball League’s (TPBL) Player of the Month, the first domestic player to win the award, while the Hsinchu Toplus Lioneers are to welcome their third head coach in less than a year. Lin averaged 22 points, 5.4 rebounds and 6.6 assists over five games in October and last month, helping the Kings to second in the standings with a 4-2 record as of Friday. The Kings last night defeated the Lioneers 96-78 to move level with the top-of-the-table Formosa Dreamers (5-2), while in the night game, the New Taipei
LeBron James is in quite the shooting slump — especially from long distance, highlighted by his zero-for-four effort from three-point range for the Los Angeles Lakers in their 109-80 loss against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday. That return stretched the nearly-40-year-old’s skid to zero-for-19 from deep over his past four games. James’ birthday is on Dec. 30. After going four-for-16 from the floor overall with six of his team’s 20 turnovers for a season-low 10 points against the Timberwolves, James was asked to reflect on the Lakers reaching the quarter mark of their 2024-2025 schedule under rookie coach J.J. Redick at 12-9. “I
TO NO AVAIL: The Denver Nuggets’ Serbian center Nikola Jokic surpassed his 53-point performance in the 2023 Western Conference semi-finals against Phoenix The Washington Wizards withstood a 56-point explosion from Denver star Nikola Jokic to beat the Nuggets 122-113 on Saturday and snap their 16-game NBA losing streak. Jokic, who won his third NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) award last season, posted a career scoring high — surpassing a 53-point performance in game four of the 2023 Western Conference semi-finals against Phoenix and a 50-point regular-season best against Sacramento in 2021. The Serbian big man added 16 rebounds and eight assists, but it was all to no avail as Washington, buoyed by 39 points from Jordan Poole, won for the first time
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