WORLD OF SPORT

▷▷▷

Tomic has his money as an alternative activity

The continued slump of Bernard Tomic has continued with his failure to qualify for the Australian Open, his home grand slam tournament. But Tomic, 25, in his mind, at least has a consolation – he can count his money instead. He lost yesterday to Italy’s Lorenzo Sonego in the final round of Australian Open qualifying 6-1, 6-7, 6-4. Tomic was once ranked as high as No 17 in the world and reached the third round in Melbourne last year. He is now No 142 and will have to watch this year’s action from at home, but Tomic was keen to point out to reporters that there were other ways he could spend his time other than play tennis. “I just count money, that’s all I do,” he said the former Wimbledon quarter-finalist at a news conference. “I count my millions. You go do what I did [on court]. Bye-bye.”

▷▷▷

Golfers take cover over missile false alarm

Golfers at the PGA Tour’s Sony Open in Hawaii were among those caught up in the panic on Saturday after the mistaken transmission of an alert warning of an incoming ballistic missile. World No 4 and 2017 US PGA Championship winner Justin Thomas was among several players at the event in Honolulu who took to Twitter following the false alarm. “To all that just received the warning along with me this morning ... apparently it was a ‘mistake’ ?? hell of a mistake!!,” Thomas wrote. “Haha glad to know we’ll all be safe.” Journeyman player John Peterson wrote on Twitter that he had taken evasive action. “Under mattresses in the bathtub with my wife, baby and in-laws,” Peterson wrote. “Please lord let this bomb threat not be real.” The Hawaii Emergency Management Agency later corrected the warning, confirming there is “no missile threat to Hawaii.”

▷▷▷

Eagles relish proving their doubters wrong

The Philadelphia Eagles did not mind saying they were motivated by media who branded them underdogs against the Atlanta Falcons in the NFL play-offs despite Philadelphia being the top seed in the National Football Conference. The Eagles, who triumphed 15-10 in Saturday’s clash, had been expected to struggle after losing starting quarterback Carson Wentz to injury in December and they took delight in proving their doubters wrong. “Keep calling us underdogs, man, keep doing it,” defensive end Chris Long crowed. “We love it!” Defensive tackle Fletcher Cox added: “We felt disrespected, sure, but it wouldn’t have mattered unless we had won, which we did.”