RUGBY
Bob Fulton dies aged 73
Australian rugby league “Immortal” and former Kangaroos captain Bob Fulton died yesterday at the age of 73, his friend Ray Hadley announced. “It’s a very sad day for the Fulton family and rugby league generally,” Hadley said on Australian radio station 2GB. “I’ve announced some sad things on radio, but this could be the saddest. I’m going to miss him, he was a great man.” The cause of death was cancer, Australian media reported. Born in England and raised in Wollongong, Fulton joined Manly as an 18-year-old and won three Premierships while also playing 35 Tests and World Cup matches for Australia. After his retirement, Fulton coached Manly to Premiership titles in 1987 and 1996 and also led Australia from 1989 to 1998. He was selected as one of Australian rugby league’s first four “Immortals” in 1981 and is the only person to have won Premiership titles and an Ashes series against Great Britain as a player, captain and coach.
FORMULA ONE
Leclerc retains pole position
Charles Leclerc yesterday retained his Monaco Grand Prix pole position after the Ferrari mechanics succeeded in repairing his vehicle in time and without replacing the gearbox. Leclerc, a 23-year-old Monegasque, set the fastest time in qualifying on Saturday, but then crashed his car. A gearbox change would still have led to an automatic grid penalty. “Following further in depth checks this morning, no apparent defects were found on Charles Leclerc’s gearbox, therefore the Monegasque driver will start today’s race from pole position, as per the qualifying result,” Ferrari wrote on Twitter.
BADMINTON
Scoring change defeated
The Badminton World Federation (BWF) voted on a proposal to change the sport’s scoring system and fell just short of the two-thirds majority required to amend the laws, it said on Saturday. Matches are played in a best-of-three format, with the winner of each game being the first player to 21 points. The change proposed a best-of-five format with 11 points to win each game. The proposal was put forward by the governing bodies of Indonesia and Maldives and seconded by Taiwan and South Korea in a bid to increase excitement and make the sport more television friendly. It received 66.31 percent of the 282 votes cast. An attempt to change the scoring failed to obtain the necessary support last time it was voted on in 2018.
BOXING
Taylor drops Ramirez
Scotland’s Josh Taylor on Saturday used a relentless attack and two knockdowns to become the undisputed junior welterweight champion with a unanimous decision victory over Jose Ramirez in Las Vegas. Both former Olympic boxers came into the fight unbeaten and holding two belts but Taylor made sure he was the one to leave with all four 63.5kg straps. The 30-year old Taylor defended his WBA and IBF titles and captured Ramirez’s WBC and WBO belts at the Virgin Hotel. Taylor won by 114-112 scores on all three judges’ cards to improve to 18-0 with 13 KOs. Taylor is now just the sixth four-belt champion in boxing history and Scotland’s first undisputed champ since Ken Buchanan unified the lightweight division by winning the WBA, WBC and lineal championships in the 1970s.
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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