BASKETBALL
UMass pays prize
The University of Massachusetts (UMass) said that it would pay a student the US$10,000 prize for a halftime promotion at a women’s game after a dispute with an insurance company over whether he stepped over the line when he made a half-court shot. Noah Lee was selected for the contest on Wednesday that required him to make a layup, a free throw, a three-pointer and a half-court shot in 25 seconds. He made them all, but the university said that the insurance company handling the promotion declined the payout. “After their review of the four camera angles we provided, they determined the half-court shot was disqualified, as it was not taken behind the half-court line,” the university said on Friday. “We weren’t satisfied with that outcome and arrived at the decision to provide Noah with both a [US]$10,000 award and a host of additional UMass athletics benefits.” Reno, Nevada-based prize indemnification insurance company Odds On Promotions said that the university went ahead with its decision without ever filing a claim. “Odds On was not involved in the initial invalidation of the contest win and only became aware of the university’s decision to not pay the contestant through media coverage,” it said.
Photo: AFP
BASKETBALL
NYU winning run hits 50
The New York University (NYU) women’s basketball team is on a run few teams have ever seen. The No. 1-ranked Violets have won 50 consecutive games, dating to last season’s undefeated National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III national championship season, to tie for the 15th-longest run in NCAA women’s basketball history for any division. It is the longest active streak in men’s or women’s NCAA basketball. NYU got No. 50 on Friday, 80-58 over the University of Chicago, to tie the Amherst Mammoths for the ninth-longest streak in Division III history.
BOXING
Paul criticizes Alvarez
Jake Paul on Friday punched back at Canelo Alvarez, a day after the Mexican passed up a speculated bout with the YouTube star and agreed to a four-fight deal with Riyadh Season. “The truth is, you could be bought,” Paul said to Alvarez on social media. “You’re a money-hungry squirrel chasing your next nut. The truth is, these sports-washing, shady characters are paying you hundreds of millions of dollars to stop our fight from happening because they couldn’t fathom the fact that they can’t create a bigger fight than me and you. You call me a YouTuber, but you’ve never had a boxing match as big as mine. I promise you one thing, Canelo. Any fight that you do this year, mine will be bigger.”
OLYMPICS
AOC head urges action
Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) chief executive officer Matt Carroll has warned that a final decision on the main venues for the 2032 Brisbane Olympics needs to be made before the end of June. Brisbane was awarded the Games in 2021, but political rows, particularly over the main stadium and the venue for the athletics, have meant that a final plan is not yet in place. “I think it is time to finalize any more reviews and settle on exactly what the ... [state] governments want to fund in terms of venues,” Carroll told an Australian Senate inquiry in Canberra. “I think [that needs to happen in] the first half of this year.”
Lin Yun-ju on Thursday handed Taiwan two key victories as they advanced to the semi-finals of the ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships Finals in London. The Taiwan men’s table tennis team beat Sweden 3-2 in five singles matches. The 24-year-old Lin, Taiwan’s top-ranked player at world No. 7 and nicknamed the “Silent Assassin,” opened the tie by defeating world No. 2 Truls Moregard 3-0 (11-8, 11-9, 13-11) before clinching the deciding fifth match with a 3-0 (11-8, 11-9, 11-5) win over Anton Kallberg to hand his team the overall victory. Kuo Guan-hong put Taiwan up 2-0 with a 3-2 (4-11, 11-8, 8-11,
Marta Kostyuk’s maiden WTA 1000 title in Madrid came on Saturday thanks to her power, poise and a pair of unexpected lucky shorts. The world No. 23 beat eighth-ranked Mirra Andreeva 6-3, 7-5 in under 90 minutes to secure the most prestigious trophy of her career, her third professional singles title and second in less than a month after Rouen. Yet as the 23-year-old Ukrainian posed for photographs at the Caja Magica, it was not just the silverware that caught the eye. Held alongside her team and her two dogs, Kostyuk showed off a piece of black men’s underwear, prompting
Arsenal stormed six points clear at the top of the English Premier League as Bukayo Saka and Viktor Gyokeres put Fulham to the sword in a 3-0 win, while West Ham United’s defeat at Brentford offered Tottenham Hotspur a lifeline in the battle for survival. The Gunners have stumbled toward the finish line in their quest for a first league title in 22 years, blowing a sizeable lead over Manchester City in a series of nervous displays. However, the return of Saka, making his first start in six weeks, freed up Mikel Arteta’s men in a dominant performance that shrugged
China’s Wu Yize on Monday won the World Snooker Championship for the first time with a dramatic 18-17 victory over Shaun Murphy in the final. Wu held his nerve to seal his thrilling triumph in a tense last frame shoot-out at Sheffield’s Crucible Theatre. The 22-year-old is the second Chinese player to win the world title after Zhao Xintong beat Mark Williams to make history as the first Asian to lift the trophy last year. Wu is also the second-youngest player to be crowned world champion at the Crucible after Stephen Hendry, who was 21 when he won in 1990. “I have been trying
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