Sports — International

Football: Man City won’t fall into complacency trap, says Guardiola

LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) – Pep Guardiola says Manchester City proved against Newcastle United that their title charge will not be derailed by complacency as they bounced back to winning ways following defeat against Liverpool. The runaway Premier League leaders responded to their first domestic loss of the season at Anfield on January 14 by overpowering the Magpies 3-1 with a Sergio Aguero hat-trick on Saturday. Guardiola had said beforehand it was important that his players responded […]

NBA: Magic stun East-leading Celtics in Boston

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The Orlando Magic parlayed a big third quarter into a 103-95 upset of the Boston Celtics on Sunday, their third win in 20 games coming against the NBA’s Eastern Conference leaders. Elfrid Payton scored 22 points for the Magic, who had lost their last 14 games in Boston in a skid stretching back to February 2010. Orlando spoiled the return from injury of Boston point guard Kyrie Irving, whose 40 […]

NBA: James, Curry will captain teams in new-look All-Star Game

LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP) — LeBron James and Stephen Curry led the voting for NBA All-Star Game starters announced Thursday and will serve as team captains in the league’s new-look mid-season exhibition on February 18. Cleveland Cavaliers superstar James, a four-time NBA Most Valuable Player, was the top vote-getter among fans in the Eastern Conference and overall, garnering 2,638,294 votes. He will therefore get to choose first when the captains pick their teams from the 10 […]

Get on with tennis, says Federer, there’s been worse heat

 MELBOURNE, Australia (AFP) — Roger Federer has downplayed suffocating heat on court at the Australian Open, saying it was part of the game and players should be prepared. The Swiss great was commenting on furnace-like conditions at Melbourne Park on Thursday, which his rival Novak Djokovic described as “brutal,” complaining it was hard to breathe. More of same was expected Friday, with a peak of 42 Celsius (107.6 Fahrenheit) forecast. Federer escaped the worst on Thursday, playing a […]

NBA: Williams, Hart, Fergie among All-Star performers

NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — Pharrell Williams and his hip-hop group N.E.R.D. will perform at half-time of next month’s NBA All-Star Game, the league announced Thursday, with actor-comedian Kevin Hart opening festivities and introducing teams. The 67th annual clash of elite NBA talent will be staged February 18 in Los Angeles and also feature pre-game national anthems, the American sung by Fergie and the Canadian performed by Canadian rock band Barenaked Ladies. Williams, an […]

NFL: Brady misses practice due to throwing hand injury

NEW YORK, United States (AFP) – New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady missed practice Thursday because of a right hand injury, increasing worries for supporters ahead of Sunday’s NFL home playoff showdown against the Jacksonville Jaguars. A day after Brady reportedly jammed his throwing hand but suffered no structural damage after someone accidentally ran into him during a workout, the 40-year-old US superstar was present only for the start of training. Brady’s contribution to the session was […]

S. Korea’s Incheon airport opens new terminal before Olympics

SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — South Korea’s main international gateway Incheon airport opened its second terminal on Thursday, significantly increasing its capacity three weeks before the start of the Winter Olympics, airport authorities said. More than 300,000 tourists are expected to enter the country through Incheon during next month’s Games and the new terminal will allow 18 million more passengers to pass through the Seoul-area hub each year. A high-speed railway will connect the terminal […]

Tennis: Djokovic staggers past Monfils in draining win

MELBOURNE, Australia (AFP) — Six-time champion Novak Djokovic survived a brutal fitness examination to overcome Gael Monfils in intense heat and stagger into the third round at the Australian Open on Thursday. Djokovic stretched his unbeaten record over Monfils to 15-0, one of the longest at Tour level, after dropping the opening set but just managed to get to the finish line. He just did enough at the end to carve out a 4-6, 6-3, […]

NBA: Warriors equal team record with 14th road win in a row

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Klay Thompson scored 38 points and Stephen Curry added 30 to spark defending NBA champion Golden State over Chicago 119-112 Wednesday, giving the Warriors a club record-matching 14th consecutive road victory. Thompson and Curry, nicknamed “The Splash Brothers,” overwhelmed from 3-point range, with Thompson sinking seven 3-pointers and Curry adding six, while Kevin Durant had 19 points, eight rebounds and seven assists. “Every night we come out it’s a different […]

NBA: Houston’s Ariza, Green banned two games for locker room visit

NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — Houston Rockets forward Trevor Ariza and guard Gerald Green were each suspended two games by the NBA on Wednesday for a hostile confrontation with rivals in their opponents’ locker room. The incident took place after the Los Angeles Clippers beat the visiting Rockets 113-102 on Monday. A league investigation that included more than 20 interviews with coaches, players staff and executives from both teams plus arena personnel determined Ariza […]

Football: Chelsea edge into FA Cup fourth round, Bournemouth rocked

by Steven Griffiths Agence France-Presse LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) – Chelsea needed a penalty shoot-out before finally killing off Norwich after a 1-1 draw in Wednesday’s FA Cup third round replay, while Bournemouth slumped to a 3-0 defeat at Wigan. Antonio Conte’s side finished extra-time down to nine men after late red cards for Pedro and Alvaro Morata at Stamford Bridge. They had been forced into the extra period when Jamal Lewis’s last-gasp equaliser cancelled out Michy […]

Olympics: IOC ready to splash cash on 2026 Winter Games

MONTREAL, Canada (AFP) – The International Olympic Committee pledged to boost funding for the 2026 Winter Olympics on Wednesday as it seeks it encourage more cities to bid for the games. An ever-shrinking pool of cities willing to take on the multi-billion dollar cost of staging the games saw just two cities in the running for 2022 — Beijing and Almaty. Four cities — Sion in Switzerland, Stockholm, Calgary and Sapporo are believed to be exploring a […]