RUGBY UNION
Matfield returns to bench
South Africa have retained the same starting lineup and recalled veteran lock Victor Matfield to the bench to play defending champions New Zealand in the Rugby World Cup semi-finals. Matfield’s return to the bench, in place of Pieter-Steph du Toit, is the only change to the 23-man squad announced on Wednesday from the 23-19 win over Wales in the quarter-finals last weekend. The 38-year-old Matfield, a 125-Test veteran, has struggled all season with a hamstring strain and has not played since South Africa’s win over Samoa on Sept. 26.
TENNIS
Sock, Baghdatis advance
American Jack Sock and Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus advanced to the second round of the Stockholm Open with hard-fought wins on Tuesday, while Finland’s Jarkko Nieminen ended his singles career with a defeat against Nicolas Almagro. Seventh-seeded Sock hit 11 aces to beat Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain 6-3, 6-7 (1/7), 6-3 for a second-round match against Fernando Verdasco of Spain. The 2009 champion Baghdatis was taken to a first-set tiebreaker before beating Sam Querrey of the US 7-6 (7/2), 6-1 in a match lasting 77 minutes. He now faces fourth-seeded Bernard Tomic of Australia. Lucky loser Almagro beat Nieminen, making his 16th straight appearance in Stockholm, 3-6, 7-6 (8/6), 6-4. Also, eighth-seeded Gilles Muller of Luxembourg saved eight of 10 break points and hit 16 aces in a 6-3, 6-7 (2/7), 6-1 win over qualifier Mischa Zverev of Germany. Steve Darcis of Belgium defeated Adrian Mannarino of France 7-6 (7/4), 6-4.
TENNIS
Sara Errani advances
Third-seeded Sara Errani of Italy advanced to the second round of the Luxembourg Open by beating Julie Coin of France 5-7, 6-4, 6-1 on Tuesday. Also, seventh-seeded Barbora Strycova of the Czech Republic defeated Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium 6-4, 6-2, Denisa Allertova of the Czech Republic beat Jana Cepelova of Slovakia 6-3, 4-6, 6-1 and Johanna Larsson of Sweden defeated Andreea Mitu of Romania 7-6 (7/5), 6-7 (3/7), 6-3.
BASKETBALL
NBA coach likely for US
An NBA coach will likely follow Mike Krzyzewski as US Olympic basketball coach. USA Basketball chairman Jerry Colangelo on Tuesday said during an interview with SiriusXM NBA Radio that the “odds are that it will be a professional coach.” Krzyzewski was hired as US coach in 2005 when Colangelo began the national team program and is to guide the US into the Olympics for the third straight time next summer in Rio de Janeiro. Colangelo said he hoped to unveil his plan to replace him sometime soon. The US had only been led by NBA coaches once pro players were allowed to be used starting in the 1992 Olympics.
RUGBY UNION
Castrogiovanni has surgery
Italy prop Martin Castrogiovanni has had a tumor removed from his back. Castrogiovanni, Italy’s most capped player with 115, took to Facebook shortly after his operation on Tuesday to post a photograph of him smiling in his hospital bed, and added “all good!!!” Castrogiovanni, who turned 34 yesterday, missed Italy’s third Rugby World Cup pool match against Ireland with a sciatic nerve problem and tests found a tumor pressing on his fifth vertebrae. Castrogiovanni pulled out of the remainder of the World Cup — his fourth — missing the Azzurri’s final match against Romania. He has been Italy’s first-choice tighthead for a dozen years, and plays for Racing Metro club.
Shohei Ohtani and Clayton Kershaw on Friday joined their Los Angeles Dodgers teammates in sticking their fists out to show off their glittering World Series rings at a ceremony. “There’s just a lot of excitement, probably more than I can ever recall with the Dodger fan base and our players,” manager Dave Roberts said before Los Angeles rallied to beat the Detroit Tigers 8-5 in 10 innings. “What a way to cap off the first two days of celebrations,” Roberts said afterward. “By far the best opening week I’ve ever experienced. I just couldn’t have scripted it any better.” A choir in the
The famously raucous Hong Kong Sevens are to start today in a big test for a shiny new stadium at the heart of a major US$3.85 billion sports park in the territory. Officials are keeping their fingers crossed that the premier event in Hong Kong’s sporting and social calendar goes off without a hitch at the 50,000-seat Kai Tak Stadium. They hope to entice major European soccer teams to visit in the next few months, with reports in December last year saying that Liverpool were in talks about a pre-season tour. Coldplay are to perform there next month, all part of Hong Kong’s
Shohei Ohtani, Teoscar Hernandez and Tommy Edman on Thursday smashed home runs to give the reigning World Series champions the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5-4 victory over Detroit on the MLB’s opening day in the US. The Dodgers, who won two season-opening games in Tokyo last week, raised their championship banner on a day when 28 clubs launched the season in the US. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts shuffled his batting lineup with all four leadoff hitters finally healthy as Ohtani was followed by Mookie Betts, then Hernandez and Freddie Freeman in the cleanup spot, switching places with Hernandez. “There’s a Teoscar tax to
Marcus Rashford’s first goals for Aston Villa on Sunday inspired a 3-0 win against Preston North End that sent his side into the FA Cup semi-finals for the first time in 10 years. Rashford struck twice in the second half at Deepdale to end Preston’s stubborn resistance before Jacob Ramsey wrapped up Villa’s long-awaited return to the last four. Villa are to face Crystal Palace — 3-0 winners at Fulham on Saturday — in the semi-finals at Wembley Stadium in London. Revitalized since joining Villa on loan from Manchester United during the January transfer window, Rashford is beginning to show the form that
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