ICE HOCKEY
Penguins begin defense
Pittsburgh began their defense of the Stanley Cup with a 3-2 victory over Washington on Thursday, with Phil Kessel beating Braden Holtby in the fourth round of a shootout for the winning tally. Kessel’s wrist shot over Holtby’s glove was initially ruled no goal, but was overturned on replay. Marc-Andre Fleury then saved Alex Ovechkin’s attempt from in close to help the Penguins improve to 5-0 against Washington in season openers. Patric Hornqvist and Evgeni Malkin scored as the Penguins capped a celebratory night in which they lifted their latest Stanley Cup banner to the rafters. Andre Burakovsky scored twice for Washington. Holtby made 28 stops, but allowed three goals in the shootout.
RUGBY UNION
Fiji team to play in NRC
A Fiji team are to join Australia’s National Rugby Championship (NRC) next year, laying the platform for a potential future push for a Pacific island team in Super Rugby. Fiji provided one of the feel-good stories in Rio de Janeiro in August when their men’s side won the first rugby sevens Olympic title, securing the nation’s first-ever medal in the process. While being frontrunners in the abbreviated sevens format, Fiji have never progressed beyond the World Cup quarter-finals in the traditional 15-a-side game. Because of a lack of infrastructure and funding, talented rugby players have tended to go abroad to Europe, New Zealand or Australia to seek professional opportunities. The momentum of the exodus has recently been increasing. To help Fiji keep some homegrown talent at home, World Rugby is underwriting the participation of the Fiji Warriors in Australia’s NRC. “The Fiji brand of rugby is arguably the most exciting brand of rugby in the world and their inclusion in the NRC will enhance the competition both in terms of the quality of rugby and by adding a huge amount of support and interest from the Fijian communities both in Fiji and here in Australia,” Australian Rugby Union chief executive Bill Pulver said at the official announcement yesterday.
CRICKET
Tahir, South Africa fined
Spinner Imran Tahir has been fined 30 percent of his match fee for his heated exchange with Australia batsman David Warner, while South Africa were penalized for maintaining a slow over-rate in Wednesday’s fifth ODI against Australia in Cape Town. Tahir showed a lack of respect toward the umpires when he ignored them during his verbal spat with Warner and the behavior was deemed “contrary to the spirit of the game,” the International Cricket Council (ICC) said. South Africa captain Faf du Plessis was docked 20 percent of his match fee and the rest of the team 10 percent for the slow over rate. Both Du Plessis and Tahir pleaded guilty and accepted the sanctions.
CRICKET
Pakistan take control
Pakistan moved into a commanding position against the West Indies in the day-night Test in Dubai last night. At press time, Pakistan had moved to 406-2 against the pink-ball attack in the United Arab Emirates, who dismissed Sami Aslam for 90 on Thursday and Asad Shafiq for 67 yesterday. Azhar Ali was on 207 not out, batting with Babar Azam on 25 not out.
Manchester United on Tuesday confirmed Michael Carrick as interim manager until the end of the season, tasking him with leading the Red Devils back into the UEFA Champions League. “Having the responsibility to lead Manchester United is an honor,” said Carrick, 44, who won 12 major trophies in his 12-year playing career at United. The former midfielder previously had an unbeaten three-game stint as caretaker boss at Old Trafford in 2021. Carrick then took on his first permanent managerial role at second-tier Middlesbrough in October 2022 and was sacked in June last year after the club finished 10th in the
Dallas Mavericks rookie Cooper Flagg on Wednesday was ruled out for the second half of their 118-109 loss to the Denver Nuggets after the No. 1 pick sprained his left ankle in the first half. Flagg was called for a foul while defending against Peyton Watson and turned the ankle as he fell to the floor with 6 minutes, 1 second left in the second quarter. Flagg limped to the bench and continued to the locker room, but returned for the final 2 minutes, 35 seconds before the break. The 19-year-old did not come out for the second half before the announcement that
Yassine Bounou on Wednesday saved two penalties, while Youssef en-Nesyri netted the decisive spot-kick as hosts Morocco secured a 4-2 shoot-out victory over Nigeria following a 0-0 draw in a tense Africa Cup of Nations semi-final in Rabat. Morocco, seeking their first continental title in 50 years, are to face 2021 winners Senegal in Sunday’s decider in Rabat, while Nigeria take on Egypt in the third-place playoff tomorrow. The 120 minutes before the shoot-out had few clear-cut chances for either side, but it was Morocco who created more opportunities, although they were denied by some fine saves from Nigeria goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali. Nigeria
Reigning NBA Most Valuable Player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on Sunday sparked defending champions Oklahoma City to victory, while Anthony Edwards led Minnesota’s last-minute fightback to beat San Antonio. Gilgeous-Alexander scored 29 points while adding eight assists and five rebounds in the Thunder’s 124-112 home victory over Miami, improving the NBA’s best record to 33-7 after outscoring the Heat 70-53 in the second half. “We locked in defensively. We were finally able to get some stops,” Thunder guard Aaron Wiggins said. “We were able to get out in transition a little bit, get going offensively and find the flow.” Jalen Williams scored 18 points, while
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