FORMULA ONE
Max parties until daybreak
After a grueling season and an agonizing wait to be confirmed as Formula One champion, Max Verstappen was in a hurry to finally get the party started. Leaving it proved harder. The sun was already rising over Abu Dhabi when Verstappen left the celebrations at about 7am. “All the emotions they come out,” the bleary-eyed Dutchman said on a video call on Monday. “So it was a lot of fun. Of course when I woke up it wasn’t so fun. I maybe regretted that final drink.”
SOCCER
AS Roma halt mini-slump
AS Roma on Monday put an end to their worrying recent run of form in Serie A by beating struggling Spezia 2-0. Goals from corners in each half from Chris Smalling and Roger Ibanez put coach Jose Mourinho’s side back on track following defeat at Bologna and a home hammering at the hands of champions Inter last weekend. Roma are up to sixth on 28 points, two points behind ACF Fiorentina, who hold the UEFA Europa League qualification spot, and level with Juventus in seventh after drawing at Venezia on Saturday. However, they are some way from their true objective of reaching the UEFA Champions League as they sit eight points behind fourth-placed Napoli, and, missing some key players, failed to convince at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome. “I was pleased with the goals because we spent 25 minutes working on corners yesterday,” Mourinho told Sky Sport Italia. “I’m also pleased with the result but I didn’t like the way we played ... even when we were two goals ahead I didn’t feel like the match was over.”
OLYMPICS
Paris breaking with tradition
The opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics on July 26, 2024, is to take part on the River Seine, organizers announced on Monday, breaking the long-held Summer Games tradition of a stadium procession of athletes and officials. More than 160 boats filled with athletes and officials from more than 200 countries are to sail almost 6km between the Pont d’Austerlitz and Pont d’Iena bridges in central Paris, with the closing ceremony to be held at the Trocadero, an expanse of gardens and fountains which overlooks the Eiffel Tower. “Today is a stand-out moment,” said Tony Estanguet, a three-time Olympic canoe C1 gold medalist and president of the Paris 2024 organizing committee. “There are a lot of emotions, a lot of enthusiasm. The opening ceremony is by far the biggest of markers.” Paris 2024 organizers are expecting crowds of 600,000 people for what they call the largest-ever Olympic ceremony.
CRICKET
Pakistan beat T20 record
Pakistan became the first men’s team to win 18 international Twenty20 matches in a calendar year as they beat West Indies by 63 runs in the first game of their three-match series on Monday. Mohammad Rizwan (78) and Haider Ali (68) put on a dominant batting performance as Pakistan set the tourists a target of 201 in Karachi. The bowlers finished the job for the home team after Mohammad Wasim picked up four wickets and Shadab Khan took three as West Indies were skittled out for 137. Pakistan’s 18th T20 win was an improvement on their record of 17 victories in 2018.
The NHL postponed the Los Angeles Kings’ home game against the Calgary Flames on Wednesday with several massive wildfires burning across the greater Los Angeles area. The Kings and Flames were scheduled to play on Wednesday night at the Kings’ downtown arena. The NBA’s Los Angeles Lakers were scheduled to host the Charlotte Hornets in the same arena last night. “Our hearts are with our entire Los Angeles community,” the Kings said in a statement. “We appreciate the hard working first responders who are diligently working to contain the fire and protect our community. We appreciate the league’s support in keeping our
Doping fears prevented former US Open champion Emma Raducanu from treating insect bites on the eve of the Australian Open, she said, with players increasingly wary about ingesting contaminated substances. The British player was speaking in the wake of high-profile doping cases involving Iga Swiatak and Jannik Sinner. “I would say all of us are probably quite sensitive to what we take on board, what we use,” the 22-year-old said, recalling an incident on Friday. “I got really badly bitten by, I don’t know what, like ants, mosquitoes, something. I’m allergic, I guess,” she added. The bites “flared up and swelled up really a
TWO IN A WEEK: Despite an undefeated start to the year playing alongside Jiang Xinyu of China, Wu Fang-hsien is to play the Australian Open with a Russian partner Taiwan’s Wu Fang-hsien yesterday triumphed at the Hobart International, winning the women’s doubles title at the US$275,094 outdoor hard-court tournament, while McCartney Kessler lifted the trophy in the women’s singles. Fourth-ranked Wu and partner Jiang Xinyu of China took 1 hour, 15 minutes to defeat Romania’s Monica Niculescu and Fanny Stollar of Hungary, 6-1, 7-6 (8/6) at the Hobart International Tennis Centre, their second title in a week. Wu and Jiang on Sunday won the women’s doubles title at the ASB Classic in Auckland, beating Serbia’s Aleksandra Krunic and Sabrina Santamaria of the US. Their winning ways continued in Australia as they stretched
EL CLASSICO: La Liga champions Real Madrid would face Barcelona in the Super Cup final tomorrow. Barca secured their final spot after a 2-0 win over Bilbao on Wednesday Real Madrid would chase a record-equaling 14th Spanish Super Cup title in the final against Barcelona after second-half goals by Jude Bellingham and Rodrygo helped them to a 3-0 win over Mallorca in the semi-finals on Thursday. England midfielder Bellingham broke the deadlock after the hour mark with a low shot into the middle of the goal before Mallorca defender Martin Valjent’s own goal doubled the lead in stoppage time followed by a Rodrygo strike from close range. Spanish champions Real are to play Barcelona for the trophy tomorrow after goals by Gavi and Lamine Yamal earned Barca a 2-0 win over
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