SKIING
Kilde out for season
Norway’s World Cup ski star Aleksander Aamodt Kilde is to miss the remainder of the season after his heavy crash in Wengen, the national team doctor said. “The season is over, the ski season is finished,” Marc Jacob Strauss told Norwegian public broadcaster NRK on Sunday. “We’re now setting ourselves the goal for him to be ready for next season.” He said the medical team was “very happy with the extent” of the damage. “We feared much more serious injuries based on the TV images.” Kilde underwent surgery in nearby Bern on Saturday night after falling hard near the finish of the downhill won by Marco Odermatt.
SNOOKER
O’Sullivan wins 8th Masters
Ronnie O’Sullivan came from behind to claim a record-extending eighth Masters title with a brilliant 10-7 victory over Ali Carter on Sunday at Alexandra Palace. The world No. 1, nicknamed “The Rocket,” trailed 6-3 in the evening session, but then won six of the next seven frames before sealing his win. O’Sullivan claimed the ￡250,000 (US$318,403) first prize, while Carter took home ￡100,000. The 48-year-old adds a 23rd Triple Crown title to his collection and becomes the oldest champion, being also the youngest, having won his first Masters title in 1995 at the age of 19. He collected his eighth UK Championship last month, but had never previously won consecutive Triple Crown events in the same season.
MOTORSPORTS
Dakar enters final week
Sebastien Loeb started the Dakar Rally’s final week with his third stage win on Sunday to slash Spaniard Carlos Sainz’s overall lead in the Saudi Arabian desert to 19 minutes. The nine times world rally champion finished the seventh stage from Riyadh to al-Duwadimi seven minutes and six seconds clear of Toyota’s Brazilian Lucas Moraes with Qatar’s defending champion Nasser al-Attiyah third despite two punctures. Audi driver Sainz was fourth, losing 10-and-a-half minutes to Loeb’s Prodrive Hunter in the rally that started on Jan. 5 and ends on Friday. In the motorcycle category, Chilean Jose Ignacio Cornejo won the stage, while American Ricky Brabec retained the overall lead for Honda by a single second from Botswana’s Ross Branch after 2,865km of timed action. The gap, after 32-and-a-half hours of racing, comes down to about 24m. “The one second difference is crazy, that’s a tight race for sure,” Brabec said.
HORSE RACING
Macao ends horse racing
The government in Macao yesterday said that after more than 40 years, there would be no more horse racing in the territory and announced plans to terminate its contract with its jockey club in April. The gaming hub on China’s south coast near Hong Kong is a home to various gambling businesses, which form a major pillar of its economy, but its jockey club, acquired by a consortium led by late casino tycoon Stanley Ho in 1991, has faced financial woes in the past few years. Macanese Secretary for Administration and Justice Cheong Weng Chon told reporters that the Macao Horse Race Company had last year asked that the contract with the government be terminated, citing operational difficulties and the “impossibility of aligning horse racing activities with the current developmental needs of society.”
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
James Harden on Friday scored 31 points and came up big in overtime to help the Los Angeles Clippers erase a double-digit deficit on the way to a 121-117 NBA victory over the Toronto Raptors. Harden scored 16 points in the fourth quarter and overtime as the Clippers pushed their wining steak to five games despite the absence of star Kawhi Leonard with a sprained right ankle. The Clippers trailed by 11 entering the fourth quarter, but Harden drilled a pair of free-throws with 1:24 left in regulation to tie it and after misses from both teams, they went to
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