BASKETBALL
Kevin Durant injured
Kevin Durant on Wednesday slipped on the floor during pre-game warmups and was ruled out of the Phoenix Suns’ NBA game against the Oklahoma City Thunder because of left ankle soreness. The game was supposed to be Durant’s home debut with his new team. He has played in three games since being traded to the Suns, but all were on the road. “We’ll get more testing done tomorrow,” Suns coach Monty Williams said. “Right now, it’s just an ankle sprain and we don’t have anything official to report.” Video showed Durant driving to the basket during warmups when he rolled his left ankle as he jumped. He immediately hopped up and continued his work, but the Suns later said that he would miss the game. Torrey Craig started in Durant’s place and the Suns rolled to a 132-101 victory. Wednesday’s other results were: Pelicans 113, Mavericks 106; Wizards 120, Hawks 122; Clippers 108, Raptors 100; Celtics 115, Trail Blazers 93; Nuggets 96, Bulls 117; and Heat 100, Cavaliers 104.
SOCCER
Official sentenced
An Indonesian court yesterday sentenced a match official to one-and-a-half years in prison after finding him guilty of negligence over one of the world’s deadliest stadium stampedes. The derby match in Malang, East Java, in October last year between Arema and Persebaya Surabaya ended in chaos with 135 spectators killed, many crushed as they fled for exits after police fired tear gas into the crowd. The match official, Abdul Haris, was found guilty “due to his negligence causing people to die,” the judge at the court in Surabaya said. Another match official was to hear his verdict later yesterday. Three police officers are also charged with the same offenses.
SOCCER
Pregnancy support praised
Chelsea midfielder Melanie Leupolz has nothing but praise for her club after the support they provided during her pregnancy, including hiring specialists for training. Players in the English Women’s Super League receive maternity cover as part of an agreement between the Football Association and Professional Footballers Association that came into effect this season. When Leupolz announced her pregnancy early last year, the deal was not effective, but the German international is grateful for the support she received from Chelsea and coach Emma Hayes. “Chelsea were doing much more than they had to do and that’s why I’m really thankful,” Leupolz told Sky Sports. “Emma has a child herself and she knows what’s important. We had a catch-up every two weeks, talked about my training program, what I was doing in Germany and after birth, how I can get back to my strength and fitness,” she said. “Other clubs should take Chelsea as an idol and ask questions about how we did it because, in my experience, they were super.” Hayes urged Women’s Super League clubs to offer more support to players who are mothers. “If a player tears an ACL, you do everything possible to get them back on the pitch in nine to 12 months,” Hayes said. “We should be exactly the same with a woman that has a baby, but we don’t. I think we have to ask ourselves more seriously why that is.” Leupolz, 28, signed a contract extension in January, something the player says gave her peace of mind, as Chelsea had offered her the deal months earlier while she was recovering in Germany.
Freddie Freeman homered and drove in four runs, Shohei Ohtani also went deep and Roki Sasaki earned his first major league win as the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Atlanta Braves 10-3 on Saturday night for their seventh straight victory. The Dodgers have won the first two games of the series to improve to 5-0 against Atlanta this year. Los Angeles’ three-game sweep at home early in the season left the Braves 0-7. Sasaki allowed three runs and six hits over five innings. The 23-year-old right-hander gave up a home run to Ozzie Albies, but received plenty of offensive support in his
INTER AWAIT: Superb saves by PSG ’keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma inspired the victory, as Arsenal were punished for misses, including one by Bukayo Saka Arsenal on Wednesday fell short on the big stage again as their painful UEFA Champions League semi-final exit against Paris Saint-Germain left Mikel Arteta to rue his club’s failure to provide him with enough attacking options. Arteta’s side were unable to reach the Champions League final for the first time in 19 years as PSG clinched a tense 2-1 win at Parc des Princes. Trailing 1-0 from last week’s first leg in London, the Gunners made a blistering start to the second leg, but could not convert their chances as Gianluigi Donnarumma’s superb saves inspired PSG’s 3-1 aggregate victory. Arsenal were punished for
Bayern Munich on Sunday were crowned German champions for the 34th time, giving striker Harry Kane his first major trophy, after second-placed Bayer 04 Leverkusen drew 2-2 at SC Freiburg. Bayern’s 3-3 draw at RB Leipzig on Saturday, when the Bavarians came from two goals down to take the lead before conceding a stoppage-time equalizer, meant defending Bundesliga champions Leverkusen needed to win at Freiburg to delay the title party. Leverkusen were two goals down before scoring twice in the final 10 minutes, but Xabi Alonso’s side could not find a third, as Bayern reclaimed the title at the first attempt after
THRILLER: Raphinha gave Barca a 3-2 lead with two minutes remaining of regular time, but Francesco Acerbi equalized the game in the second minute of added time Davide Frattesi on Tuesday fired Inter into the UEFA Champions League final with an extra-time winner that gave the Italians a stunning 4-3 triumph over Barcelona, 7-6 on aggregate. Italy midfielder Frattesi won a tie for the ages under a downpour in Milan when he lashed home in the 99th minute, sending a packed and rocking San Siro wild with joy. Simone Inzaghi’s team will face either Arsenal or Paris Saint-Germain at the end of this month in Munich, Germany, where they would feel they have a great chance to be crowned kings of Europe for a fourth time after
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