SOCCER
Senegal nab early win
Nicolas Jackson on Tuesday scored twice as much-fancied Senegal began their Africa Cup of Nations bid with a convincing 3-0 win over Botswana, while Nigeria’s Super Eagles made harder work of their opening match against Tanzania before claiming a 2-1 victory. Elsewhere there were also wins for the Democratic Republic of the Congo, who edged Benin 1-0, and Tunisia, who topped Uganda 3-1, as the first round of group matches continued in Morocco, often in torrential rain. Senegal, champions in 2022, are perhaps the biggest threat to Morocco’s chances of winning the title on home soil, as the Lions of Teranga made light work of Botswana in their Group D opener in Tangier. Jackson, who is currently on loan at Bayern Munich from Chelsea, struck either side of halftime with Cherif Ndiaye completing the scoring late on.
Photo: AP
SOCCER
Stewart buys into Swansea
American lifestyle guru Martha Stewart has become a minority owner of Championship club Swansea City. Stewart joins rapper Snoop Dogg and Croatia midfielder Luka Modric as high-profile investors in the unfashionable Welsh team. The 84-year-old TV host and author attended Swansea’s win against Wrexham on Friday last week. “We are very excited to welcome Martha on board,” the club said in a statement, noting that she is a “close friend” of Snoop Dogg. “We know experiencing Friday night’s game in-person has only increased her own enthusiasm and anticipation for being part of Swansea City.”
BIATHLON
Bakken found dead in hotel
Norwegian biathlete Sivert Guttorm Bakken, 27, has been found dead in his hotel room in Lavaze, Italy, the Norwegian Biathlon Association said on Tuesday, adding that the cause of death was unknown. The sports governing body said the athlete’s death had been confirmed by Italian authorities. “Our thoughts are first and foremost with Sivert’s family and with everyone close to him, both in Norway and abroad. We are cooperating with the Italian authorities on site,” acting secretary general Emilie Nordskar said in a statement. Bakken won his first World Cup race in the 15km mass start in Oslo Holmenkollen in 2022. However, his career was halted due to heart problems. After a long way back, he has represented Norway in the Biathlon World Cup over the past few weekends.
GOLF
Legend Ozaki dead at 78
Japanese star Masashi “Jumbo” Ozaki, inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame, has died of colon cancer, his son announced yesterday. He was 78. Ozaki won 94 times on the Japan Tour — his first title coming in 1973 — and won the Order of Merit a record 12 times. Nicknamed “Jumbo” because of his length off the tee, he was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2011 after being named on 50 percent of international ballots. Ozaki died on Tuesday “due to stage four sigmoid colon cancer,” his son, Tomoharu Ozaki, said in a statement. After being diagnosed with cancer about a year ago, the golfer had been undergoing treatment at home, Tomoharu Ozaki said. Masahi Ozaki “explosively elevated the popularity of golf [in Japan] with his overwhelming driving distance and colorful personality,” the Yomiuri daily said in an obituary yesterday.
LOW-GOAL SHOOT-OUT: Of the nine penalties in the shoot-out, only three went in, with Flamengo’s Samuel Lino, and Vitinha and Nuno Mendes of PSG netting Matvei Safonov on Wednesday made four straight penalty saves in a penalty shoot-out to help Paris Saint-Germain beat Flamengo in the Intercontinental Cup final and win a sixth trophy of the year. The Russian goalkeeper was thrown in the air by his teammates after his exploits in the shoot-out, which was won 2-1 by PSG after a 1-1 draw after extra-time. It completed a trophy-laden 12 months for the French team, who had already won the Trophee des Champions, Ligue 1, the Coupe de France, the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Super Cup — also on penalties against Tottenham Hotspur in
TOOTHLESS: Bologna never looked like finding a way back, and Antonio Conte and his substitutes were waiting to celebrate long before the final whistle SSC Napoli on Monday lifted the Italian Supercoppa with a 2-0 win over Bologna in Riyadh, David Neres netting both goals to earn the league champions a deserved victory over the toothless Coppa Italia winners. Neres opened the scoring with a stunning strike from distance six minutes before halftime and found the net again in the 57th minute when Bologna were caught trying to play out of defense. “We came here as champions of Italy, we wanted this trophy and we showed it with a great performance,” Napoli forward Matteo Politano told Mediaset. “We could have scored a few more goals, but
LACKLUSTER FIGHT: At one stage, the referee lost patience with the two fighters, warning them in the fourth round that ‘the fans did not pay to see this crap’ Former world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua on Friday knocked out YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul in their controversial Netflix-backed bout in Miami. The fight at the Kaseya Center, which saw both men reportedly splitting a mammoth purse of US$184 million, had triggered alarm across boxing due to the gulf in physical size and class between Britain’s two-time former world champion Joshua and Paul, an Internet personality who has forged a lucrative career through a handful of novelty boxing contests. However, in the event, Joshua made hard work of defeating his vastly less accomplished opponent, before his superior size and power eventually told
Fulham on Monday climbed away from the English Premier League relegation zone and left Nottingham Forest mired in the fight for survival after Raul Jimenez’s penalty sealed a 1-0 win. Marco Silva’s side started the day just two points above fourth-bottom Forest, but Jimenez’s first-half goal at Craven Cottage moved them 10 points clear of the bottom three. While Fulham’s relegation fears were eased heading into the Christmas schedule, Forest are just five points ahead of third-bottom West Ham United in the scrap to avoid crashing into the Championship. Forest had won six of their previous eight games in all competitions, with a
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