BASKETBALL
Lin out with foot injury
Jeremy Lin yesterday did not play in the New Taipei Kings’ 94-83 victory over the Kaohsiung 17LIVE Steelers due to a lingering foot injury. The P.League+ team on Saturday said he would also miss the team’s two other regular season games next month before the Lunar New Year holiday or their East Asia Super League (EASL) match against the Seoul SK Knights on Wednesday in the South Korean capital. Lin wrote on Instagram that an MRI scan showed he had a plantar fascia injury. “I know the best thing I can do right now is to fully recover. I’ll give my 100% during this rehab process and do my best to fully trust God with the timeline and surrender to the results.” This would be the first time the 35-year-old veteran would be sidelined for an EASL game this season.
CYCLING
Pithie claims 1st Tour win
New Zealand’s Laurence Pithie yesterday powered home to nudge out Eritrea’s Natnael Tesfatsion in a split finish to claim his first World Tour victory in the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race in Geelong, Australia. The Groupama-FDJ rider lunged at the finish line to pip Tesfatsion (Lidl-Trek) by a half-wheel in the tightest finish in the eighth running of the 176km race along the southern coastline of Victoria. Pithie had to wait for the photo-finish confirmation before he could celebrate his first World Tour victory with his teammates.
SOCCER
Xavi says he is quitting
Barcelona coach Xavi Hernandez on Saturday said he would quit his “cruel and unpleasant” job at the end of the season after his struggling team were beaten 5-3 by Villarreal in La Liga. “On June 30, I will leave the club, it’s a decision I have taken with the president, with the staff,” Xavi told reporters. Champions Barcelona, third in the top flight, are 10 points behind leaders Real Madrid with their title defense virtually over. “The feeling of being Barca coach is cruel, unpleasant, it feels like people lack respect for you a lot of the time,” Xavi said. “It’s terrible on a mental health level, your morale ... to the point where you think there is no sense in continuing.” After elimination in the Copa del Rey by Athletic Bilbao this week and a thrashing by Madrid in the Spanish Super Cup final earlier in January, Xavi said he made the decision for the good of the club. “I’ve thought about the club ... and above all the players,” he said. “I have the feeling that I am doing the right thing, that I am acting with common sense.”
GOLF
Frenchman bags PGA win
Matthieu Pavon on Saturday became the first player to win a PGA Tour event under the French flag since World War II when he made an eight-foot putt on No. 18 at Torrey Pines South for a dramatic birdie and a one-shot victory in the Farmers Insurance Open. He raised his arms in celebration and shouted before hugging caddie Mark Sherwood after the putt rolled in as the municipal gem high above the Pacific Ocean glowed under the late-afternoon sun. Pavon glowed, too. He said he almost quit golf 10 years ago because of the yips. “It is big for our country,” the 31-year-old PGA Tour rookie said. “I hope it will inspire a lot of people, because coming from an amateur player which is 800 in the world to a PGA Tour winner is pretty big.”
SIBLING RIVALRY: Marc Marquez was locked in a duel with his little brother, falling behind at one point before recovering for his first season-opening victory since 2014 Six-time world champion Marc Marquez yesterday won the MotoGP season-opening Thailand Grand Prix to complete a dominant debut weekend at his new Ducati Lenovo Team, having also romped to Saturday’s sprint. The Spanish great took the 26-lap grand prix by 1.732 seconds for his 63rd MotoGP victory from younger brother Alex Marquez, who is still seeking a first checkered flag, with Francesco Bagnaia third to complete an all-Ducati podium. It completed a perfect weekend for Marc Marquez, who took pole position, the sprint victory and the grand prix win for a maximum 37 points to open the 22-leg 2025 campaign. He led from
AC Milan’s slender hopes of reaching next season’s UEFA Champions League took another hit on Thursday with a 2-1 defeat at Bologna which left them eight points from Serie A’s top four. Sergio Conceicao’s team sit eighth, some way behind fourth-placed Juventus after losing an entertaining contest at the Stadio Renato Dall’Ara, a match which was rescheduled from October last year due to torrential rain and flooding. Swathes of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy, much of which is fertile agricultural land, had been left under water following a massive autumn downpour. Dan Ndoye prodded home the decisive goal in the 82nd minute
VALUABLE POINT: Relegation-threatened Valencia snatched a thrilling 3-3 draw at CA Osasuna thanks to a remarkable backheel volley by Umar Sadiq Barcelona on Sunday secured a comfortable 4-0 win over Real Sociedad to move back top of La Liga. Aritz Elustondo’s early red card gave Hansi Flick’s side a comfortable afternoon, with Gerard Martin, Marc Casado, Ronald Araujo and Robert Lewandowski on the score sheet. Atletico Madrid beat Athletic Bilbao on Saturday to temporarily knock the Catalans from their perch, while Real Madrid, third, lost at Real Betis Balompie. Flick was able to rotate his side a little ahead of the UEFA Champions League round-of-16 visit to face SL Benfica tomorrow and still move one point above Atletico. “There were a lot of things that
Former Australian motorcycle gang member-turned-golfer Ryan Peake, who served a lengthy jail term for assault, yesterday produced a “life-changing” maiden win to qualify for The Open Championship. Peake held his nerve for a one-stroke victory at the New Zealand Open, earning him a berth at the major in Portrush, Northern Ireland, in July, pending clearance to travel as a convicted criminal. The 31-year-old from Perth celebrated animatedly and was showered with champagne by friends on the 18th green of the Millbrook Resort course near Queenstown after a redemption story rarely seen in the refined sport of golf. Peake held back tears as he
RSS