SOCCER
Arsenal win FA WSL Cup
Dutch forward Vivianne Miedema’s first-half goal on Wednesday helped Arsenal Women beat defending champions Manchester City Women 1-0 and clinch a record fifth FA Women’s Super League (WSL) Cup title. Miedema latched on to a deep cross from defender Dominique Janssen on 32 minutes and held off her marker to slot past City goalkeeper Ellie Roebuck at Adams Park, Wycombe. Favorites City, holders of the Women’s FA Cup and Women’s Super League One title, went close to restoring parity through forwards Nikita Parris and Jane Ross, but Arsenal held on. “It really is a huge achievement,” Miedema said. “We’ve got a load of respect for them because they’re an amazing team. I’m really happy we managed to beat them today.”
RUGBY UNION
Jones ‘sorry’ over comments
England coach Eddie Jones on Wednesday apologized for offensive comments he made last year about Wales and Ireland. The Australian, speaking at a sponsor’s event in July last year, talked about how disappointed he was by his team’s Six Nations loss to the “scummy Irish” and described Wales as a “shit little place.” “No excuses. I shouldn’t have said what I did,” Jones told the BBC. “I am very sorry for any offense caused.” The English Rugby Football Union said it would apologize to the sport’s ruling bodies in Ireland and Wales and a spokesperson described Jones’ comments as “inappropriate.” England, whose defeat by Ireland last year was their first under Jones, play Ireland at Twickenham tomorrow.
SOCCER
Bayern breeze into last eight
Treble-chasing Bayern Munich on Wednesday eased past Besiktas JK 3-1 to breeze into the Champions League quarter-finals with an 8-1 aggregate win. It was a record 11th straight victory in the competition for coach Jupp Heynckes, who had led Bayern to the title in 2012-2013 before retiring and returning this season. The German side went ahead through Thiago Alcantara in the 18th minute to kill off any lingering hopes of a miracle recovery by the Turkish team after Bayern had crushed them 5-0 in the first leg in Munich. Bayern, who could secure their sixth consecutive Bundesliga title at the weekend, went 2-0 up seconds after the second-half restart when Gokhan Gonul volleyed a Rafinha cross into his own net. Besiktas, who were missing their entire central defense, offered little resistance despite controlling possession.
SKIING
Two skiers banned for life
South Korean freestyle skiers Choi Jae-woo and Kim Ji-hyon, who competed at last month’s Pyeongchang Winter Olympics in South Korea, have been banned for life for allegedly assaulting female teammates, the Korea Ski Association said yesterday. The two are accused of “physically and sexually abusing female athletes” at a competition in Japan this month, an association spokesman said. After an investigation, “we decided to ban Choi and Kim permanently,” the spokesman said. The spokesman said that Choi, 24, and Kim, 23, drank together in their hotel room during the Freestyle Skiing World Cup in Akita. They asked female athletes in the next room to join them and multiple media reports say they assaulted them when the offer was refused.
BOUNCE BACK: Curry scored 46 points in the Warriors’ victory over the Spurs, after ‘everybody stepped up’ following Tuesday’s blowout loss to Oklahoma City Nikola Jokic scoring 50 or more points had never been enough for the Denver Nuggets to win — until now. Jokic on Wednesday night tied the highest-scoring performance in the NBA this season with 55 points, as the Nuggets beat the Los Angeles Clippers 130-116 for their sixth straight victory. The Nuggets were 0-4 in his previous 50-point outbursts. “It’s a good feeling,” the three-time NBA Most Valuable Player said. He equaled Oklahoma City Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who had 55 in a double-overtime game at the Indiana Pacers on Oct. 23. Jokic has been on a roll during Denver’s winning streak. He is the
TIGHT GAME: The Detroit Pistons, the NBA’s second-best team, barely outlasted the Washington Wizards, who fell to an NBA-worst 1-10 with their ninth consecutive loss Cade Cunningham’s triple double, Daniss Jenkins’ three-pointer at the buzzer and Javonte Green’s overtime dunk lifted Detroit past Washington 137-135 on Monday, stretching the Pistons’ win streak to seven games. In an unexpected thriller, the NBA’s second-best team barely outlasted a Wizards club that fell to an NBA-worst 1-10 with their ninth consecutive loss. “We knew how big this game was for us,” Jenkins said. “We wasn’t going to let nothing stop us from getting this W.” Cunningham made 14-of-45 shots and 16-of-18 free throws for a career-high 46 points, and added 12 rebounds, 11 assists, five steals and two
The tri-nation Twenty20 international series featuring hosts Pakistan, as well as Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe, is to be played entirely in Rawalpindi from Tuesday next week, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said yesterday, after this week’s suicide bombing in the capital, Islamabad. The change came after at least eight Sri Lankan players asked to leave over security fears following Tuesday’s bombing that killed 12 people and wounded 27. Their country’s cricket board issued a stern directive to the team to stay put or face consequences. Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) said the decision to stay was taken after “close consultations” with hosts Pakistan who
LIKE FINE WINE: Thirty-eight-year-old Djokovic won his 101st title of his career in Athens, becoming the oldest tournament winner since Ken Roswell, 44, in 1977 Elena Rybakina on Saturday clinched her biggest title since Wimbledon in 2022, defeating world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka 6-3, 7-6 (7/0) at the WTA Finals in Riyadh. The world No. 6 put on yet another serving masterclass and was at her returning best as she became the first Kazakh and the first player representing an Asian country to lift the WTA Finals singles trophy. Having gone 3-0 in round-robin play, Rybakina earned a record US$5.235 million and would finish the year ranked No. 5 in the world. “It’s been an incredible week, I honestly didn’t expect any result, and to go so far,
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