HORSE RACING
McNamara dies, aged 41
Irish jockey J.T. McNamara, who was paralyzed after a fall three years ago, has died, aged 41, the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) said on its Web site on Tuesday. McNamara rode more than 600 winners in his career, including Teaforthree in the 2012 National Hunt Chase at Cheltenham. “We are extremely saddened to hear of the passing of J.T. McNamara” BHA chief executive Nick Rust said. “None of us will forget his four Cheltenham Festival winners, in which his remarkable talent was so clearly highlighted. Nor will we forget the day of his accident.” Father of three McNamara fractured two vertebrae in his neck in a fall on Galaxy Rock at Cheltenham in 2013. Twenty-times champion jockey A.P. McCoy led the tributes, saying: “He was a very tough man. He was a brilliant man and a brilliant amateur jockey.”
SOCCER
Guardiola bans pizza
Pizza is off the menu for Manchester City players, as coach Pep Guardiola has imposed strict weight parameters on the squad — breaching of which is to result in training bans, defender Gael Clichy said. Guardiola has added four players, including winger Nolito and German midfielder Ilkay Gundogan, to the City ranks, hoping to rebuild the squad after the club stumbled to a fourth-placed finish last season. “With him, if your weight is too high, you are not training with the team,” Clichy told British media, while also praising the coach’s eye for detail. “He has also cut out some juices and, of course, pizza, and all the heavy food is not allowed... He just wants us to trust him, he wants to trust us and I think it is the right way to start a relationship.”
FOOTBALL
Nelson put on PUP list
Green Bay Packers wide receiver Jordy Nelson, who has been trying to recover from a right-knee injury that sidelined him last season, has tweaked his other knee, leading the team to put him on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list. “It is not the [right] ACL [anterior cruciate ligament]. No one needs to freak out,” Nelson told NFL.com on Tuesday. “I am not going into details of stuff. You guys know I do not like to talk about injuries... We are all on the same page, we are going to be back hopefully — not worried about it.” Nelson was knocked out of last season’s campaign when he was injured during the pre-season. He suffered the latest setback while working out and did not have a time line for a return.
CRICKET
Australia bowled out for 203
Spinners Rangana Herath and Lakshan Sandakan took four wickets each as Sri Lanka dismissed Australia for 203 in their first innings on the second day of the first Test yesterday. Sri Lanka were 6-1 at tea, trailing Australia by 80 runs having been dismissed for 117 in their first innings. Herath bowled opener Joe Burns for 3 and then claimed the prize wickets of captain Steve Smith (30) and Usmal Khawaja (26) before snaring Peter Nevill (2) to finish with 4-49. Sandakan clean bowled Mitchell Marsh for his first Test wicket and had figures of 4-58 on his debut. Adam Voges top scored for Australia with a watchful 47 off 115 balls, featuring only three boundaries. Mitchell Starc claimed the wicket of Kusal Perera, who was out LBW before tea.
MARRED FINAL: As most of Senegalese players walked off the pitch after a controversial decision, some supporters threw objects and attempted to get onto the pitch Senegal on Sunday won the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) as Pape Gueye’s extra-time winner sunk hosts Morocco 1-0 after a chaotic final that saw the eventual champions storm off the pitch late in the game. Brahim Diaz could have won the trophy for Morocco with a controversial spot-kick in the 24th minute of added time at the end of normal time as ugly scenes broke out in the stands. However, Senegal goalkeeper Edouard Mendy easily saved the weak attempted “Panenka” chip by the Real Madrid winger, who was clearly distracted by the long delay that followed the penalty award.
Qatar’s Nasser al-Attiyah on Saturday secured his sixth Dakar Rally car title in Saudi Arabia with Luciano Benavides scraping home by two seconds to claim the motorbike title. “We’ve worked very hard since last year. I might not be showing much emotion yet, but it’s there, deep down. We are so happy to win,” al-Attiyah said at the finish. Al-Attiyah, at the wheel of a Dacia, only had to avoid a final day slip-up to top the podium after bringing his career tally of stage wins to 50 on Friday. The 55-year-old, who took clay pigeon shooting bronze at the
Tobias Harris on Monday scored 25 points as the Detroit Pistons held off the Boston Celtics to score a 104-103 victory in their top-of-the-table Eastern Conference showdown. Harris was one of four Detroit players to finish in double figures, with Jalen Duren adding 18 points and point guard Cade Cunningham scoring 16 points with 14 assists. The win sees Detroit extend their lead at the top of the Eastern Conference to 31-10, 5.5 games ahead of second-placed Boston, who fell to 26-16 with the defeat. Jaylen Brown led the Celtics scoring with 32 points and almost snatched victory in the
The Philadelphia 76ers, fueled by 36 points from Tyrese Maxey and a triple-double from Joel Embiid, on Thursday beat the Houston Rockets 128-122 in an NBA overtime thriller. Cameroonian big man Embiid scored 32 points, grabbed 15 rebounds and handed out 10 assists, posting the ninth triple-double of his career to help the Sixers end the Rockets’ three-game winning streak. Rockets star Kevin Durant scored 36 points and Amen Thompson added 17, but Thompson was scoreless in the fourth quarter. Even so, the Rockets led by nine midway through the final frame, Maxey tying it at 115-115 with 40.1 seconds left. Durant missed a
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