CYCLING
Manly wins TDU stage 2
Australia’s Alexandra Manly of Team Jayco-AlUla yesterday overhauled solo breakaway Amanda Spratt to take the hilly stage two and claim the ochre leader’s jersey in the Women’s Tour Down Under (TDU). Three-time TDU winner Spratt (Trek-Segafredo) attempted to steal the stage with a lung-busting attack up Mount Lofty 10km from the finish of the 90km Birdwood to Uraidla leg in the opening World Tour event of the season. Manly reeled in Spratt in a sprint finish ahead of New Zealand’s Georgia Williams (EF Education-Tibco-SVB) and Dutch rider Nina Buijsman (Human Powered Health). “I was perfectly looked after by my team all day, and I am just so thankful to do this in my own backyard,” Manly said.
SNOOKER
Trump wins Masters title
Judd Trump on Sunday won the Masters for a second time when he defeated Mark Williams 10-8 in the final. Trump had claimed the title in 2019 while Williams, the champion in 1998 and 2003, was appearing in the championship match for the first time in 20 years. Former world champion Trump sealed victory in some style, putting together a break of 126 having trailed 8-7 at one stage. “It’s incredible really, I got totally outplayed in the whole game,” Trump told the BBC. “I was just trying to hang on. At 8-7 down I was kind of gone, and I managed to win that frame and then I played all right in the last couple of frames. I should have been out first round, should have been out second round, should have lost this one. I’m like a cat I am. It’s easy to say, but the way I played this week this is my best ever performance to win this.”
BASKETBALL
James scores 38,000th point
LeBron James on Sunday became only the second player in NBA history to score more than 38,000 career points, but his Los Angeles Lakers fell to a third straight defeat with a 113-112 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers. James is now second only to fellow Laker Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s record of 38,387 points on the NBA’s all-time career scoring list and he is expected to surpass that total in the coming weeks. James put up 35 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds for the Lakers, passing the 38,000-mark in the first quarter, but after the game ended in defeat for the Lakers, James was in no mood to reflect on his personal milestone. “It’s just frustrating to get into those positions and not come out with a victory,” James said.
SAILING
Team NZ win in Singapore
Skipper Peter Burling of Team New Zealand on Sunday expertly extricated himself from a pre-regatta penalty to win the Singapore Sail Grand Prix and strengthen his position as the top threat to two-time defending SailGP champion Tom Slingsby of Australia. Burling nailed the start of the podium race aboard his foiling 15.24m catamaran and sped ahead of Denmark’s Nicolai Sehested and Slingsby, each slowed by a poor maneuver, for his third regatta win of the season. Equally impressive, the Kiwis achieved a 100 percent fly time, staying on their foils the entire race at an average speed of 53kph and a top speed of 77.1kph. “Coming into this weekend on the back of those penalty points and just seeing the way the team came together under a bit of adversity is super pleasing for us as a group,” Burling said.
Japan’s Shohei Ohtani is the record-breaking baseball “superhuman” following in the footsteps of the legendary Babe Ruth who has also earned comparisons to US sporting greats Michael Jordan and Tom Brady. Not since Ruth a century ago has there been a baseball player capable of both pitching and hitting at the top level. The 30-year-old’s performances with the Los Angeles Dodgers have consolidated his position as a baseball legend in the making, and a national icon in his native Japan. He continues to find new ways to amaze, this year becoming the first player to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases
More than 180 years of horse racing came to an end in Singapore on Saturday, as the Singapore Turf Club hosted its final race day before its track is handed back to the Singaporean government to provide land for new homes. Under an overcast sky, the air-conditioned VIP boxes were full of enthusiasts, socialites and expats, while the grounds and betting halls below hosted mostly older-generation punters. The sun broke through for the last race, the last-ever Grand Singapore Gold Cup. The winner, South African jockey Muzi Yeni, echoed a feeling of loss shared by many on the day. “I’d
PREDICTION: Last week, when Yu’s father made a wrong turn to the former champions’ parking lot, he said that his son could park there after this year With back-to-back birdies on the 18th hole, Kevin Yu fulfilled his driving range-owning dad’s prediction that he would win the Sanderson Farms Championship and become Taiwan’s third golfer to claim a US PGA Tour title. The Taoyuan-born 26-year-old, who represented Taiwan in the Olympic golf at Paris, saw off Californian Beau Hossler in a playoff at the Country Club of Jackson, Mississippi, on Sunday. Having drained a 15-foot putt to claw his way into the playoff, Yu rolled in from five feet on the first extra hole, ensuring he joined Chen Tze-chung (LA Open in 1987) and Pan Cheng-tsung (RBC
LeBron James and eldest son Bronny James claimed a piece of NBA history on Sunday after making their long-awaited first appearance alongside each other for the Los Angeles Lakers. The duo appeared together at the start of the second quarter in the Lakers’ 118-114 preseason defeat to the Phoenix Suns in Palm Desert, east of Los Angeles. While LeBron James impressed with 19 points in just 16 minutes and 20 seconds on court before sitting out the second half, Bronny found the going harder with zero points in just over 13 minutes on court. The younger James attempted just one
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