BASKETBALL
Haliburton being assessed
Tyrese Haliburton’s status for today’s Game 6 of the NBA Finals was in doubt as the Indiana Pacers guard was undergoing evaluation on Tuesday to determine the extent of an injury to his lower right leg. Part of that evaluation was an MRI exam, according to a person with knowledge of the matter who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity because neither Haliburton nor the team revealed that publicly. ESPN first reported that an MRI was scheduled. Pacers coach Rick Carlisle did not specifically say that the MRI would be part of the team’s next moves in figuring out how best to proceed with Haliburton, although it made clear that the Eastern Conference champions would be taking a close look at the injury. “We’ll evaluate everything with Tyrese,” Carlisle said after Game 5 on Monday, which the Pacers lost in Oklahoma City to fall into a 3-2 deficit in the series. Haliburton left the game late in the first quarter and returned to the bench area with a wrap on his lower leg. He returned to the game, but missed all six of his shots and with him barely looking to shoot at all in the second half.
RUGBY UNION
Galthie defends squad
France coach Fabien Galthie has defended sending a weakened squad to face the All Blacks in three Tests next month, saying that the workload for players in France was much greater than for those who play in New Zealand. Galthie has named a squad of 28 for an A international against England at Twickenham on Saturday and is to add more players from the teams who lose the domestic Top 14 semi-finals this weekend. The squad would be completed with the addition of a maximum of five players from the two Top 14 finalists after the French championship is decided on June 28, although they will be unavailable for the first Test against the All Blacks in Dunedin on July 5. “I am aware of their schedule,” Galthie told a news conference at France’s training center Marcoussis on Tuesday. “They began their domestic season in February and are now wrapping it up, averaging eight matches. And they are entering a period that is exclusively dedicated to the national team. We just have to explain the constraints that come with our schedule. We have no other option. I think it’s quite clear. Otherwise, the New Zealanders need to help us reinvent our national schedule. That’s part of the specifics of each country.”
CRICKET
Rathnayake uses both arms
Ambidextrous Sri Lanka spinner Tharindu Rathnayake said he switched his bowling arm according to the weakness of the batter on strike as he took two wickets on the first day of his debut Test match against Bangladesh on Tuesday. Both of Rathnayake’s wickets came from right-arm deliveries in the first session, but the 29-year-old also bowled with his left arm as visitors Bangladesh posted 292-3 at stumps in Galle. “We talked about what each batsman is better at facing and which sides they hit to. So I try to create plans around their weaknesses and change which arm I’m bowling with according to that,” Rathnayake was quoted by ESPN Cricinfo as saying. “I don’t know which arm I’ve taken more wickets with. I’ve never looked at it properly. I’ve bowled a lot with both my arms,” Rathnayake said.
Brazil has four teams, more than any other country, in the expanded Club World Cup that kicked off yesterday in the US, but for SE Palmeiras, the competition holds a special meaning: winning it would provide some redemption. Under coach Abel Ferreira since 2020, Palmeiras lifted two Copa Libertadores titles, plus Brazilian league, cup and state championships. Even before Ferreira, it boasted another South American crown and 11 league titles. The only major trophy missing is a world champions’ title. Other Brazilian clubs like Fluminense FC and Botafogo FR, also in the tournament, have never won it either, but the problem for Palmeiras
Paris Saint-Germain’s Lee Kang-in has pleaded with South Korea fans to get behind the team at the 2026 FIFA World Cup after more boos were aimed at coach Hong Myung-bo despite leading them to qualification. South Korea reached next year’s finals in North America without losing a game, but that does not tell the whole story. The country’s soccer association has been in the firing line, having scrambled about to find a successor after sacking the unpopular Jurgen Klinsmann in February last year. They eventually settled on Hong, the decorated former skipper who had an unsuccessful stint as coach in 2013-2014, during which
Lionel Messi drew vast crowds and showed flashes of his brilliance when his Inter Miami side were held to a goalless draw by African giants Al-Ahly as the revamped FIFA Club World Cup got off to a festive start on Saturday. Fans showed up en masse for the Group A clash at the Hard Rock Stadium, home to the NFL’s Miami Dolphins, but Messi could not fully deliver, his best chance coming through a last-second attempt that was deflected onto the crossbar. Inter Miami next face FC Porto on Thursday in Atlanta, while Al-Ahly, who benefited from raucous, massive support, are to
Ferrari’s F1 fortunes might be flagging, but the Italian team start this weekend’s 24 Hours of Le Mans as favorites, targeting a third consecutive triumph in motorsport’s fabled endurance classic. Roger Federer is acting as celebrity starter with the tennis icon getting the 93rd edition of the jewel in four-wheeled endurance racing’s crown under way tomorrow. Twenty-four hours later, through daylight, darkness and dawn, the 21 elite hypercars are to battle it out over 300 laps (more than 4,000km) in front of a sold-out 320,000 crowd burning the midnight oil with copious quantities of coffee and beer. Ferrari made a triumphant return after
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