TENNIS
Harrison advances to final
Ryan Harrison yesterday reached his third tour-level final with a 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4 semi-final win over 18-year-old wild card Alex De Minaur at the Brisbane International in Australia. De Minaur, who defeated former Wimbledon finalist Milos Raonic in the second round, was two points from another upset when he led 5-3 in the second-set tiebreaker. However, Harrison went on a roll to win the last four points of the tiebreaker to level the match, then got two early breaks to lead 4-0 in the third set to take control of the match. Harrison is to meet either defending champion Grigor Dimitrov or third-seeded Nick Kyrgios in today’s final.
GOLF
Leishman, Harman in lead
Marc Leishman and Brian Harman on Friday birdied the 18th to grab a one-shot second-round lead over world No. 1 Dustin Johnson in the PGA Tour Tournament of Champions in Hawaii. Australia’s Leishman, who held a one-stroke overnight lead, had four birdies without a bogey in his four-under 69 on the Plantation Course at Kapalua. He was joined on 10-under par 136 by America’s Harman, who had seven birdies in a five-under par 68. The leading duo pulled out of a tie with Johnson, who shook off back-to-back bogeys at the third and fourth holes to card seven birdies in a five-under 68 that left him on 137. Leishman notched the only bogey-free round of the day. He rolled in a 15-foot birdie putt at the par-three second and drained an eight-footer at the par-three eighth. He rolled in another eight-footer for a birdie at the par-four 14th, and at the par-five 18th he missed a 31-footer for eagle by inches and came up with the birdie.
FOOTBALL
Landry fined for behavior
Miami Dolphins receiver Jarvis Landry has been fined US$48,620 by the NFL for unsportsmanlike conduct, but he avoided a suspension for his role in a brawl with the Buffalo Bills. Miami running back Kenyan Drake and Bills cornerback Leonard Johnson were each fined US$12,154 for their parts in the fight. Landry and Drake were ejected following the fight in the fourth quarter, and coach Adam Gase described the episode as embarrassing. For Landry, the fine was a record by US$2. He was fined US$48,618 a year ago for grabbing his crotch and spiking his helmet during a touchdown celebration.
SOCCER
Fans injured in celebration
About 40 soccer fans from Oman were injured on Friday evening after a glass barrier broke during celebrations following the country’s Gulf Cup win over the United Arab Emirates.The Pim Verbeek-coached Omanis claimed the title for only the second time in the nation’s history with a 5-4 penalty shoot-out win after the game had ended scoreless after 120 minutes. The barrier at the Jaber al-Ahmad International Stadium in Kuwait City broke as fans from Oman pressed against the glass during celebrations, with the team several metres below at pitch level. The Kuwait Football Association said on its Twitter account “around 40 people” had been hospitalized for minor injuries and posted videos of some of those involved after they had received treatment. Kuwait stepped in to host the keenly contested regional tournament at the last minute after diplomatic issues between original hosts Qatar and Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain threatened this year’s competition.
New Taipei Kings guard Jeremy Lin on Friday was named the Taiwan Professional Basketball League’s (TPBL) Player of the Month, the first domestic player to win the award, while the Hsinchu Toplus Lioneers are to welcome their third head coach in less than a year. Lin averaged 22 points, 5.4 rebounds and 6.6 assists over five games in October and last month, helping the Kings to second in the standings with a 4-2 record as of Friday. The Kings last night defeated the Lioneers 96-78 to move level with the top-of-the-table Formosa Dreamers (5-2), while in the night game, the New Taipei
Taiwan on Wednesday finished with 15 medals at the World Taekwondo Poomsae Championships in Hong Kong, taking home four gold, five silver and six bronze medals across the age group divisions. Taiwan ranked third on the medal table after South Korea with 17 golds and the US with eight golds at the five-day competition. “Your athletes have proven themselves as the best in the world,” World Taekwondo president Choue Chung-won said at the closing ceremony of the martial art contest that was attended by a record 1,727 athletes from around the world. On the first day of the competition at the Hong Kong
TO NO AVAIL: The Denver Nuggets’ Serbian center Nikola Jokic surpassed his 53-point performance in the 2023 Western Conference semi-finals against Phoenix The Washington Wizards withstood a 56-point explosion from Denver star Nikola Jokic to beat the Nuggets 122-113 on Saturday and snap their 16-game NBA losing streak. Jokic, who won his third NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) award last season, posted a career scoring high — surpassing a 53-point performance in game four of the 2023 Western Conference semi-finals against Phoenix and a 50-point regular-season best against Sacramento in 2021. The Serbian big man added 16 rebounds and eight assists, but it was all to no avail as Washington, buoyed by 39 points from Jordan Poole, won for the first time
Taiwan’s Lin Cheng-jing won a bronze medal in the clean and jerk in the women’s under-49 kg division at the 2024 IWF World Weightlifting Championships in Bahrain on Saturday. Lin won her first medal at a World Weightlifting Championships for lifting 107kg in the clean and jerk in her weight class, 2kg more than Rosegie Ramos of the Philippines. However, Ramos won bronze for the combined lift after topping Lin by 5kg in the snatch. Ri Song-gum of North Korea won gold in the division’s combined lift with a total of 213kg, while Xiang Linxiang of China took silver with
RSS