CRICKET
Thunder players collide
Two Sydney Thunder players in Australia’s T20 Big Bash League required overnight hospital treatment on Friday after colliding while fielding in a match against the Perth Scorchers. Team officials said that Cameron Bancroft’s season was over after the Thunder opener sustained a broken right shoulder blade and broken nose in a collision with teammate Daniel Sams. Sams appeared to be knocked out by the collision. The match was delayed while both players were taken off the field. Sams would be sidelined for at least 12 days after he and Bancroft were diagnosed with concussions, the team said. The Thunder won the match by four wickets.
Photo: AP
SOCCER
Nice defeat Rennes
Nice on Friday beat Stade Rennais 3-2 to move into fourth in Ligue 1. Both sides produced chance after chance in an entertaining match. The result preserved Nice’s unbeaten home record and lifted them to 27 points, equal with OSC Lille and two points ahead of Olympique Lyonnais ahead of the rest of the weekend’s games. Rennes remained 12th.
Photo: AFP
SOCCER
Bellingham snatches win
Jude Bellingham on Friday snatched 10-man Real Madrid a 2-1 victory against Valencia to take them top of La Liga after winger Vinicius Junior was sent off. Huro Duro scored for Valencia and Luka Modric equalized. Vinicius was dismissed for shoving Los Che goalkeeper Stole Dimitrievski in the back of the neck with little over 10 minutes remaining before Bellingham pounced in stoppage-time.
Photo: Reuters
SOCCER
Milan reach final
AC Milan reached Monday’s Supercoppa Italiana final after coming from behind on Friday to beat Juventus 2-1 in Sergio Conceicao’s first game in charge. The win set up a derby decider with Inter, who beat Atalanta BC 2-0 in their semi-final on Thursday. Conceicao could immediately get his hands on a trophy after replacing the sacked Paulo Fonseca as Milan manager on Monday.
Photo: AFP
SOCCER
Pontevedra slay giant
Pontevedra on Friday slayed another giant in the Copa del Rey. The fourth-tier side dispatched high-flying La Liga side RCD Mallorca 3-0 to move into the last 16. Dalisson de Almeida scored from almost 40m, Yelko Pino doubled the lead with a cracking volley and Rufo rounded off the perfect night after a shocking defensive lapse. The Galician side knocked out Villarreal in the previous round. In the night’s other games, Rayo Vallecano and Getafe progressed. Getafe needed extra time to beat second-division Granada 1-0. Borja Mayoral got the only goal in the 93rd minute to put the visitors through. Rayo Vallecano made swift work of second-tier Racing Ferrol, winning 3-1. Alfonso Espino and Jorge de Frutos put the visitors 2-0 up before halftime and Frutos grabbed a third on the hour mark. Alvaro Gimenez scored a late consolation for the home side.
The NHL postponed the Los Angeles Kings’ home game against the Calgary Flames on Wednesday with several massive wildfires burning across the greater Los Angeles area. The Kings and Flames were scheduled to play on Wednesday night at the Kings’ downtown arena. The NBA’s Los Angeles Lakers were scheduled to host the Charlotte Hornets in the same arena last night. “Our hearts are with our entire Los Angeles community,” the Kings said in a statement. “We appreciate the hard working first responders who are diligently working to contain the fire and protect our community. We appreciate the league’s support in keeping our
Doping fears prevented former US Open champion Emma Raducanu from treating insect bites on the eve of the Australian Open, she said, with players increasingly wary about ingesting contaminated substances. The British player was speaking in the wake of high-profile doping cases involving Iga Swiatak and Jannik Sinner. “I would say all of us are probably quite sensitive to what we take on board, what we use,” the 22-year-old said, recalling an incident on Friday. “I got really badly bitten by, I don’t know what, like ants, mosquitoes, something. I’m allergic, I guess,” she added. The bites “flared up and swelled up really a
TWO IN A WEEK: Despite an undefeated start to the year playing alongside Jiang Xinyu of China, Wu Fang-hsien is to play the Australian Open with a Russian partner Taiwan’s Wu Fang-hsien yesterday triumphed at the Hobart International, winning the women’s doubles title at the US$275,094 outdoor hard-court tournament, while McCartney Kessler lifted the trophy in the women’s singles. Fourth-ranked Wu and partner Jiang Xinyu of China took 1 hour, 15 minutes to defeat Romania’s Monica Niculescu and Fanny Stollar of Hungary, 6-1, 7-6 (8/6) at the Hobart International Tennis Centre, their second title in a week. Wu and Jiang on Sunday won the women’s doubles title at the ASB Classic in Auckland, beating Serbia’s Aleksandra Krunic and Sabrina Santamaria of the US. Their winning ways continued in Australia as they stretched
EL CLASSICO: La Liga champions Real Madrid would face Barcelona in the Super Cup final tomorrow. Barça secured their final spot after a 2-0 win over Bilbao on Wednesday Real Madrid would chase a record-equaling 14th Spanish Super Cup title in the final against Barcelona after second-half goals by Jude Bellingham and Rodrygo helped them to a 3-0 win over Mallorca in the semi-finals on Thursday. England midfielder Bellingham broke the deadlock after the hour mark with a low shot into the middle of the goal before Mallorca defender Martin Valjent’s own goal doubled the lead in stoppage time followed by a Rodrygo strike from close range. Spanish champions Real are to play Barcelona for the trophy tomorrow after goals by Gavi and Lamine Yamal earned Barça a 2-0 win over
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