RUGBY UNION
Players of the decade named
Former All Blacks captain Richie McCaw and France star Jessy Tremouliere have been voted the men’s and women’s rugby players of the past decade respectively. Two-time Rugby World Cup-winner McCaw and Tremouliere, who has played both 15s and sevens for France since 2011, topped a worldwide public vote on the best male and female 15s players between 2010 and last year. “To be able to get an award like this is pretty humbling,” said McCaw, who led New Zealand to World Cup victories in 2011 and 2015. “When you’re in a team sport you rely on a good bunch of teammates around you to have any sort of success, so I guess I was lucky for that, and probably quite lucky, [because] I only played half the decade.” McCaw played a New Zealand-record 148 Tests before retiring from international rugby after the 2015 World Cup. Fiji’s Olympic sevens gold medalist Jerry Tuawai was voted the men’s sevens player of the decade and New Zealand’s Portia Woodman was named women’s sevens player of the decade. Woodman also won the award for the women’s 15s best try.
SOCCER
Vissel Kobe in AFC quarters
Andres Iniesta and Daigo Nishi on Monday struck either side of the break as Vissel Kobe edged out Shanghai SIPG FC 2-0 to reach the quarter-finals of the AFC Champions League. Yet fellow Japanese side Yokohama F. Marinos will not be joining them in the last-eight phase after they were stunned 3-2 by South Koreans Suwon Bluewings, who bounced back from a goal down to clinch a thrilling win with two of their goals coming in the final eight minutes. Vissel Kobe flew to Doha with mixed feelings, having broken new ground in the domestic top flight by winning the Emperor’s Cup and the Japanese Super Cup early in the year, but also suffering five straight morale-shattering defeats in the J1 League last month. However, Monday’s show put them just three wins short of the continental title, a possibility they would not have contemplated when they set out for their very first appearance in the competition. “This victory is not just for us, but for all the fans back in Japan who sent us their messages of support,” Vissel Kobe coach Atsuhiro Miura said. The only concern is the possibility of Iniesta missing the next match after he had to substituted in the 65th minute with a thigh injury.
CRICKET
Aussies not axing SA tour yet
Cricket Australia is still planning for the tour of South Africa to go ahead in February, but is monitoring the health situation after a insecurity failure in the country forced the postponement of England’s one-day international (ODI) series. England and South Africa’s cricket boards on Monday called off the series after potentially five COVID-19 cases were flagged inside the teams’ bio-secure environment in Cape Town — one South Africa player, two hotel staff and two members of the England touring party. The breaches have cast doubt on South Africa’s ability to host touring teams. Australia are scheduled to play three Tests in South Africa, but have yet to fix the dates. “The tour of South Africa is part of the World Test Championship and the Future Tour Program,” a Cricket Australia spokesman said yesterday. “We will continue to plan for the tour and monitor the biosecurity situation.”
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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