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.
RECORD DEFEAT: The Shanghai-based ‘Oriental Sports Daily’ said the drubbing was so disastrous, and taste so bitter, that all that is left is ‘numbness’ Chinese soccer fans and media rounded on the national team yesterday after they experienced fresh humiliation in a 7-0 thrashing to rivals Japan in their opening Group C match in the third phase of Asian qualifying for the 2026 World Cup. The humiliation in Saitama on Thursday against Asia’s top-ranked team was China’s worst defeat in World Cup qualifying and only a goal short of their record 8-0 loss to Brazil in 2012. Chinese President Xi Jinping once said he wanted China to host and even win the World Cup one day, but that ambition looked further away than ever after a
‘KHELIFMANIA’: In the weeks since the Algerian boxer won gold in Paris, national enthusiasm is inspiring newfound interest in the sport, particularly among women In the weeks since Algeria’s Imane Khelif won an Olympic gold medal in women’s boxing, athletes and coaches in the North African nation say national enthusiasm is inspiring newfound interest in the sport, particularly among women. Khelif’s image is practically everywhere, featured in advertisements at airports, on highway billboards and in boxing gyms. The 25-year-old welterweight’s success in Paris has vaulted her to national hero status, especially after Algerians rallied behind her in the face of uninformed speculation about her gender and eligibility to compete. Amateur boxer Zougar Amina, a medical student who has been practicing for a year, called Khelif an
Taiwanese badminton superstar Lee Yang broke down in tears after publicly retiring from the sport on Sunday. The two-time Olympic gold medalist held a retirement ceremony at the Taipei Arena after the final matches of the Taipei Open. Accompanied by friends, family and former badminton partners, Lee burst into tears while watching a video celebrating key moments in his professional sporting career that also featured messages from international players such as Malaysia’s Teo Ee Yi, Hong Kong’s Tang Chun-man, and Indonesia’s Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan. “I hope that in the future when the world thinks about me, they will
GOING GLOBAL: The regular season fixture is part of the football league’s increasingly ambitious plans to spread the sport to international destinations The US National Football League (NFL) breaks new ground in its global expansion strategy tomorrow when the Philadelphia Eagles and Green Bay Packers face off in the first-ever grid-iron game staged in Brazil. For one night only, the land of Pele and ‘The Beautiful Game’ will get a rare glimpse into the bone-crunching world of American football as the Packers and Eagles collide at Sao Paulo’s Neo Quimica Arena, the 46,000-seat home of soccer club Corinthians. The regular season fixture is part of the NFL’s increasingly ambitious plans to spread the US’ most popular sport to new territories following previous international fixtures
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