GOLF
Taiwan’s Kevin Yu leads
Kevin Yu of Taiwan on Wednesday shot a bogey-free, eight-under 64 on the North Course at Torrey Pines to take a one-shot lead over Patrick Cantlay and Ryo Hisatsune in the opening round of the Farmers Insurance Open. The eight lowest scores came on the North Course, which generally plays a few strokes easier than the South Course on the municipal layouts on a bluff high above the Pacific Ocean. Players have a round on each course before the cut. The final two rounds are to be played on the South Course. Yu, a 25-year-old who played at Arizona State, is seeking his first PGA Tour win. He tied for third at The American Express last week. “I fell short last week; bogeyed the last hole on Sunday, but yeah, I’ve been playing very good and just keep building momentum,” Yu said. “If I hit a lot of fairways, I can have a lot of chances to get on the green and try to make some putts.”
Photo: AFP
SOCCER
Liverpool to play Chelsea
Liverpool are to play Chelsea at Wembley Stadium on Feb. 25 with the EFL Cup title on the line following Liverpool’s 1-1 draw with Fulham on Wednesday, which secured a 3-2 aggregate win in their semi-final. Carrying a 2-1 first-leg lead over Fulham, Liverpool completed the job at Craven Cottage. Luis Diaz’s 11th-minute strike proved decisive in the tie as Fulham evened the score on the night through Issa Diop’s goal in the 76th minute. Liverpool won the EFL Cup two years ago by beating Chelsea on penalties following a goal-less draw in the final and completed a trophy double over the Londoners that season when they won on penalties again in the FA Cup final following another 0-0 draw.
SOCCER
Bayern beat Union
Raphael Guerreiro on Wednesday scored the only goal of the Bundesliga game as Bayern Munich won 1-0 against Union Berlin, whose coach was sent off for striking Bayern forward Leroy Sane. Nenad Bjelica was red-carded in the 74th minute for twice shoving Sane in the face after the winger demanded the ball from him to take a throw-in. The incident came as several Union players were indignant at having had a penalty appeal turned down shortly before. Bayern’s win left the German champions four points behind league leaders Bayer 04 Leverkusen.
CRICKET
Starc reaches milestone
Mitchell Starc yesterday became the fifth Australia bowler to take 350 Test wickets after claiming three on the opening day of the second Test against the West Indies at the Gabba. The 33-year-old Starc reached the milestone when he had Alick Athanaze (8) caught behind by Alex Carey. He took 4-68 on the first day, which the visitors finished on 266-8. In India, England made 246 with Ben Stoke’s 70 the top score and India were on 119-1 at stumps on the first day of the first Test in Hyderabad.
BOUNCE BACK: Curry scored 46 points in the Warriors’ victory over the Spurs, after ‘everybody stepped up’ following Tuesday’s blowout loss to Oklahoma City Nikola Jokic scoring 50 or more points had never been enough for the Denver Nuggets to win — until now. Jokic on Wednesday night tied the highest-scoring performance in the NBA this season with 55 points, as the Nuggets beat the Los Angeles Clippers 130-116 for their sixth straight victory. The Nuggets were 0-4 in his previous 50-point outbursts. “It’s a good feeling,” the three-time NBA Most Valuable Player said. He equaled Oklahoma City Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who had 55 in a double-overtime game at the Indiana Pacers on Oct. 23. Jokic has been on a roll during Denver’s winning streak. He is the
The tri-nation Twenty20 international series featuring hosts Pakistan, as well as Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe, is to be played entirely in Rawalpindi from Tuesday next week, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said yesterday, after this week’s suicide bombing in the capital, Islamabad. The change came after at least eight Sri Lankan players asked to leave over security fears following Tuesday’s bombing that killed 12 people and wounded 27. Their country’s cricket board issued a stern directive to the team to stay put or face consequences. Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) said the decision to stay was taken after “close consultations” with hosts Pakistan who
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
Australian restaurant chain Grill’d has made a cheeky apology for putting a “curse” on Oscar Piastri’s Formula One title hopes with their offer of a free burger for every time the McLaren driver gets on the podium. The Melbourne native has not finished in the top three since the promotion relaunched five races ago, losing the championship lead to teammate Lando Norris and now 24 points behind. Online conspiracy theorists have been quick to put two and two together. The chain’s Piastri 81 Burger debuted ahead of the Australian Grand Prix in March, with his endorsement, and was relaunched in September after he
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