CRICKET
Munro leads NZ to victory
Colin Munro yesterday smashed his way into the record books as New Zealand crushed the West Indies by 119 runs in the final Twenty20 at Mount Maunganui to sweep the series. Munro, with a rollicking 104 off 53 deliveries, became the first player to hit three centuries in international Twenty20 cricket as New Zealand posted an imposing 243-5, their highest Twenty20 total. The West Indies reply began disastrously with openers Chadwick Walton and Chris Gayle out without scoring in Tim Southee’s opening over. Their innings folded at 124-9 in 16.3 overs with Shai Hope unable to bat after being injured while fielding. It ended a disappointing tour for the West Indies, with New Zealand winning both Tests, the three one-day internationals and two Twenty20s, with one match washed out.
FOOTBALL
Grateful Bills fans donate
Grateful supporters of the long-suffering Buffalo Bills have overwhelmed Andy Dalton’s foundation as a way of thanking the Cincinnati Bengals quarterback for his role in snapping the team’s 17-year NFL post-season drought. Dalton on Sunday capped a stunning comeback over Baltimore with a last-minute, 49-yard touchdown pass in a fourth-and-12 situation. The Ravens’ loss, coupled with a Bills’ win minutes earlier, ended what had been the longest active playoff drought in North American professional sports. The quarterback’s foundation on Tuesday said it had received more than US$100,000 in donations since Sunday’s 31-27 victory that gave Buffalo the final American Football Conference wild-card berth in the playoffs.
SOCCER
Atalanta advance to semis
Atalanta BC on Tuesday continued their impressive season, winning 2-1 at Serie A leaders SSC Napoli to reach the semi-finals of the Coppa Italia. Atalanta went ahead five minutes after the restart with a goal from Timothy Castagne, who blasted the ball into the net from close range after Andreas Cornelius’ shot hit a defender and rebounded into his path. Alejandro Gomez added a brilliant second in the 81st minute, when he collected the ball on the left, sped past Vlad Chiriches and unleashed an unstoppable shot from a narrow angle past Luigi Sepe. Dries Mertens, brought on the in the second half, pulled one back in the 84th minute, but Atalanta comfortably held on.
TENNIS
Haase beats Kavcic at Tata
Fifth-seeded Robin Haase on Tuesday started the new year with a 7-6 (8/6), 7-5 victory over Blaz Kavcic in the first round of the Tata Open Maharashtra. Kavcic broke the serve of 42nd-ranked Haase three times, but the Dutchman eventually came through to line up a match against Chile’s Nicolas Jarry. Brazilian qualifier Thiago Monteiro was on court for 2 hours, 40 minutes before beating Ruben Bemelmans 6-7 (7/4), 6-3, 7-6 (9/8). Monteiro, ranked 124th, is to meet US Open finalist Kevin Anderson of South Africa in the second round. India’s Yuki Bhambri ended the hopes of wild-card countryman Arjun Kadhe with a 6-3, 6-4 victory and is to play eighth-seeded Pierre-Hugues Herbert of France. Ilya Ivashka of Belarus earlier beat Sumit Nagal of India 6-3, 6-3, while Laslo Djere of Serbia rallied to beat Marius Copil of Romania 5-7, 6-4, 7-5.
SS Lazio on Monday fired the far-right sympathizer who handles their eagle mascot after he posted online a series of videos and pictures of his erect penis. Falconer Juan Bernabe, who has been present at Lazio home matches with Olimpia the eagle since the 2010-2011 season, posted the footage on social media after having surgery on Saturday to implant a penile prosthesis to improve his sexual performance. Lazio said that they had “terminated, with immediate effect” their relationship with Bernabe “due to the seriousness of his conduct,” adding that they were “shocked” by the images. The Serie A club added that Bernabe’s dismissal
‘TOUGH TO BREATHE’: Tunisian three-time Grand Slam finalist Ons Jabeur suffered an asthma attack in her 7-5, 6-3 victory over Colombia’s Camila Osorio Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei yesterday cruised into the second round of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while Iga Swiatek romped into a third-round women’s singles showdown with Emma Raducanu and Taylor Fritz was just as emphatic in his pursuit of a maiden Grand Slam title. Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia, the third seeds, defeated Slovakia’s Tereza Mihalikova and Olivia Nicholls of Britain 7-5, 6-2 in 90 minutes in Melbourne. Ostapenko and Hsieh — who won the women’s doubles and mixed doubles at the Australian Open last year — hit 25 winners and converted five of nine break points to set
Doping fears prevented former US Open champion Emma Raducanu from treating insect bites on the eve of the Australian Open, she said, with players increasingly wary about ingesting contaminated substances. The British player was speaking in the wake of high-profile doping cases involving Iga Swiatak and Jannik Sinner. “I would say all of us are probably quite sensitive to what we take on board, what we use,” the 22-year-old said, recalling an incident on Friday. “I got really badly bitten by, I don’t know what, like ants, mosquitoes, something. I’m allergic, I guess,” she added. The bites “flared up and swelled up really a
Dubbed a “motorway for cyclists” where avid amateurs can chase Tadej Pogacar up mountains teeming with the highest concentration of professional cyclists per square kilometer in the world, Spain’s Costa Blanca has forged a new reputation for itself in the past few years. Long known as the ideal summer destination for those in search of sun, sea and sand, the stretch of coast between Valencia and Alicante now has a winter vocation too. During the season break in December and January, the region experiences an invasion of cyclists. Star names such as three-time Tour de France winner Pogacar, Remco Evenepoel and Julian Alaphilippe
RSS