RUGBY UNION
Springboks dominate Wales
Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu on Saturday starred as South Africa ran in 11 unanswered tries to inflict a record 73-0 home defeat on Wales in their Autumn Nations Series international Test in Cardiff. The loss surpassed Wales’ 68-14 defeat to England in the Six Nations in March. It was also the first time they had been kept pointless in Cardiff in the professional era — the last time Wales were kept at nil in the capital was in 1967 in a 3-0 loss to Ireland. They were also beaten 51-0 by France in 1998 at Wembley in what was technically a home game. The comprehensive victory marked the second successive season that the Springboks have completed an Autumn Series clean sweep.
Photo: AFP
SOCCER
Kashima in sight of
Kashima Antlers yesterday moved within sight of a record-extending ninth J1 League title, but Kashiwa Reysol ensured the championship race would go down to the final day. Antlers beat Tokyo Verdy 1-0, but Reysol stayed one point behind them in the table after a 3-1 win over the league’s bottom side Albirex Niigata. Antlers can wrap up their first title since 2016 when they host Yokohama F-Marinos on Saturday, but any slipup could hand Reysol their second crown.
OLYMPICS
Hockey stadium not finished
There is no backup stadium if the main ice hockey arena for the Milan Cortina Winter Games is not ready on time. Construction on the arena that is set to welcome NHL players back to the Olympics for the first time in more than a decade is behind schedule and its completion is going right down to the wire. A test event at the Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena — the new, 16,000-seat venue on the outskirts of Milan — had to be moved, and new test events are not scheduled until Jan. 9-11 next year. “There is no plan B,” Milan Cortina head games operations officer Andrea Francisi said on Saturday. “So necessarily we have to be able to organize the competition in an impeccable manner at Santagiulia.” The first scheduled Olympic hockey game at the arena is a women’s preliminary round match on Feb. 5 next year, one day before the opening ceremony.
BOBSLEDDING
Team asks for donations
The Belgium women’s team on Friday said they had started a donation page after traveling to Norway for a competition before finding out they were not registered to race. The Belgian Bullets arrived in Lillehammer only to find their names missing from the start list for the Europe Cup, despite having paid for travel and accommodation. A few weeks ago, their coach noticed an incorrect registration for an event on the same weekend in Innsbruck, Austria, 2,000km away. They asked the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation for a change, but to no avail. “We started a GoFundMe campaign to help us pay for our new plan toward the Winter Olympics,” they said. On Thursday, team members Kelly Van Petegem, Jienity de Kler and Dora de Haseleer posted a heart-felt video pleading for help. “As a self-funded team, where all the athletes pay for themselves, this will have a massive impact on us,” De Kler said.
The pressure was already on Real Madrid coach Xabi Alonso before their 2-1 defeat to Manchester City on Wednesday in the UEFA Champions League raised further questions about his future. Arsenal remain perfect in this season’s competition and three points clear at the top of the standings after a 3-0 win against Club Brugge, while defending champions Paris Saint-Germain were held 0-0 at Athletic Bilbao. The clash between Madrid and City was the standout game of the round amid reports this week that Alonso had lost control of the locker room. Speculation over his position is likely to intensify after the latest
‘HIGH STANDARD’: The Thunder are on track for a Finals-Cup double after they scored 22 three-pointers in equaling the best 25-game start to a season in NBA history The Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday bagged a 16th straight victory, thrashing the Phoenix Suns 138-89 to romp into an NBA Cup semi-final clash with the San Antonio Spurs, who stunned the Los Angeles Lakers 132-119. NBA Most Valuable Player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 28 points to lead the reigning NBA champions Thunder, who improved to 24-1 to equal the best 25-game start to a season in league history. They dominated from start to finish to book their place in the final four of the in-season tournament in Las Vegas, where they are tomorrow to take on the Spurs. The New York Knicks and
TOP OF THE TABLE: Evann Guessand put the visitors ahead early in the game and Flavius Daniliuc equalized before Youri Tielemans got the winner in the second half Aston Villa on Thursday extended their winning streak to eight games in all competitions with a 2-1 victory against Basel in the UEFA Europa League to secure at least a playoff spot. Villa were tied with Olympique Lyonnais, who beat Go Ahead Eagles 2-1, and Midtjylland, 1-0 winners over Genk, atop the standings of the second-tier European competition on 15 points with five wins from six games. They have bounced back from a poor start to the season and are third in the Premier League, including a 2-1 victory over leaders Arsenal on Saturday. At St Jakob-Park in Basel, summer signing Evann Guessand
Tony Jefferson intercepted a Jalen Hurts pass in overtime to give the Los Angeles Chargers a 22-19 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday in an NFL thriller between playoff contenders. Justin Herbert, playing a week after surgery on his broken left (non-throwing) hand, withstood a career-high seven sacks to throw for 139 yards and a touchdown for the Chargers. Cameron Dicker kicked five field goals, including the 54-yard game winner in overtime. The Chargers defenders forced Hurts to throw four interceptions and surrender a fumble for a career-worst five turnovers as the Eagles fell to 8-5 with a third
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