GYMNASTICS
Sunisa Lee alleges attack
US Olympic gold medalist Sunisa Lee said in an interview with PopSugar that she was recently pepper sprayed in an anti-Asian attack while out with friends in Los Angeles. Lee said in the interview posted on Wednesday that she and friends were waiting for an Uber ride when a car drove by with its occupants shouting slurs and that she was pepper sprayed on her arm as the car sped away. “I was so mad, but there was nothing I could do or control because they skirted off,” said Lee, who is of Hmong descent. “I didn’t do anything to them, and having the reputation, it’s so hard because I didn’t want to do anything that could get me into trouble. I just let it happen.” The 18-year-old won the women’s all-around gymnastics gold at the Tokyo Games this year, as well as team silver and individual bronze on the uneven bars. She is currently appearing on ABC television’s Dancing With the Stars.
CRICKET
Kohli to skip opening Test
India captain Virat Kohli is to skip the opening Test against New Zealand this month as the hosts yesterday named a depleted side for the two-match series. India are to be led by Ajinkya Rahane in the Test from Nov. 25 to 29 in Kanpur, with Kohli returning at the helm for the second and final contest in Mumbai from Dec. 3, the Board of Control for Cricket in India said in a statement. Opening batter Rohit Sharma, wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant and fast bowling duo Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami — all regular members of the India Test side — were also missing from the squad. The missing players, including Kohli, are expected to have been rested, although the board did not offer any reason for their exclusion. In the absence of Pant, Wriddhiman Saha is expected to don the wicketkeeping gloves for the hosts.
WRESTLING
Indian champ not dead
A young Indian wrestling champion has assured the world that she is alive and well after a case of mistaken identity saw national media declare her the victim of a murder. Nisha Dahiya, who just days ago won bronze at the under-23 world championships in Belgrade, spent Wednesday training for an upcoming national competition. However, by evening she was shocked to learn that several news reports had declared her dead, after the murder of a trainee wrestler with the same name at a training institute in Haryana state. The victim’s brother was also killed, local media reported. Several reports had declared the victim’s namesake dead before she posted a video on Instagram to announce that she was “absolutely fine.” The former under-23 national champion told the Press Trust of India that “obviously everybody is happy to realize that I am alive. I am preparing for the tournament now.” Haryana has been a traditional powerhouse for India’s top-flight wrestlers — particularly women athletes — but the sport has been plagued by several instances of violence off the mat. Sushil Kumar, a two-time Olympic medalist from the state, was jailed on charges of kidnapping and murder in May over the death of a young wrestler at a stadium in Delhi. Another Haryana coach was arrested in February for allegedly shooting dead five people after he was accused of harassment.
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
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,
An amateur soccer league organized by farmers, students and factory workers in rural China has unexpectedly drawn millions of fans and inspired big cities to form their own, raising hopes China can grow talent from the ground up and finally become a global force. The nation of 1.4 billion people has about 200 million soccer fans, more than any other country, but it has failed to build world-class teams, partly due to a top-down approach where clubs pick players from a very small pool of prescreened candidates. The professional game is marred by a history of fixed matches, corruption, and dismal performances,
EMPTY STANDS: Maccabi fans were banned from attending by police, who cited violence and hate crimes when the team played Ajax in Amsterdam last season Aston Villa beat Israeli club Maccabi Tel Aviv 2-0 on Thursday in a Europa League game played amid heightened security measures, with more than 700 police officers deployed to deal with possible protests. Morgan Rogers put through Ian Maatsen in first-half stoppage time for the defender to score from a tight angle and Villa doubled the lead on the hour with Donyell Malen hitting the bottom corner from the penalty spot. It was Villa’s third win from games in the competition. The game at Villa Park had become the center of a political debate after Maccabi fans were banned from attending, as
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