SPORTS DIGEST

BASEBALL

The Houston Astros moved a step closer to winning their first World Series title by beating the Los Angeles Dodgers 13-12 in a 10-inning thriller. Houston now lead Los Angeles 3-2 in the battle to be crowned 2017 champions after an epic game five that lasted over five hours. A single from Alex Bregman that allowed Derek Fisher to score ultimately decided the second longest World Series game in history after a contest that included seven home runs. The Dodgers led 3-0 after the first inning, but it was all level after the fourth when an RBI by Carlos Correa and a three-run drive from Yulieski Gurriel got Houston going. Both sides traded three runs in the fifth before Houston surged ahead in the seventh. But the Dodgers clawed their way back in the ninth through Yasiel Puig’s two-run homer and Chris Taylor’s RBI single. That sent the game into an extra inning that kept fans on the edge of their seats until after midnight Texas time, when Bregman moved Houston to the brink of their first World Series. WORLD SERIES: Houston Astros 13 Los Angeles Dodgers 12 (Astros lead sevengame series 3-2).

BASKETBALL

The Cleveland Cavaliers’ struggles continued as they suffered a third straight defeat in a 114-95 loss to the New York Knicks. Tim Hardaway Jr and Kristaps Porzingis combined for 66 points as the Knicks recorded their second successive win after losing their opening three games of the season. Cleveland star Lebron James managed 16 points, his lowest tally of the campaign, as the Cavaliers record fell to 3-4. Porzingis is averaging over 27 points a game at this early stage of the season, the third best record in the NBA. Giannis Antetokounmpo leads that category with a staggering 34.7 points a game after a 33-point effort in the Milwaukee Bucks’ 117-106 win against the Atlanta Hawks. It is not just Cleveland struggling as defending champions the Golden State Warriors were stunned 115-107 by the Detroit Pistons. The Warriors, who went through the 2015 and 2016 seasons with just two home defeats and suffered five last year, have lost two of their four games at Oracle Arena this season. Stephen Curry (27), Kevin Durant (28) and Klay Thompson (29) scored 84 of Golden State’s 107 points between them, while Avery Bradley put up 23 for Detroit. Elsewhere, the San Antonio Spurs were beaten 97-94 by the Indiana Pacers while the Washington Wizards downed the Sacramento Kings 110-83. The Denver Nuggets became the first visiting team to win at Barclays Center this season, beating the Brooklyn Nets 124-111, while Kemba Walker’s 34 points led the Charlotte Hornets to a 120-113 success against the Orlando Magic. NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION: Atlanta Hawks 106 Milwaukee Bucks 117, Brooklyn Nets 111 Denver Nuggets 124, Charlotte Hornets 120 Orlando Magic 113, Cleveland Cavaliers 95 New York Knicks 114, Golden State Warriors 107 Detroit Pistons 115, Indiana Pacers 97 San Antonio Spurs 94, Sacramento Kings 83 Washington Wizards 110.

ICE HOCKEY

Blake Wheeler scored a hat-trick as the Winnipeg Jets thrashed visiting Stanley Cup champions the Pittsburgh Penguins 7-1. Wheeler scored three of the five goals Winnipeg grabbed in the first period, while newcomer Brendan Lemieux found the net for the first time in the NHL less than a fortnight after his Jets debut. It took until late in the second period for the Penguins to score, but Evgeni Malkin’s powerplay effort was too little, too late as the Penguins suffered a defeat of six goals or more for the third time this season. The Calgary Flames beat the Washington Capitals 2-1 thanks to Sean Monahan’s tiebreaking goal halfway through the third period. The win ended a four-game home losing streak for the Flames. NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE: Calgary Flames 2 Washington Capitals 1, Carolina Hurricanes 3 Anaheim Ducks 4, Winnipeg Jets 7 Pittsburgh Penguins 1.

SNOOKER

INTERNATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP (Daqing, China) 1st rd: Robbie Williams (Eng) bt Stuart Bingham (Eng) (WO), Akani Songsermsawad (Tha) bt Hossein Vafaei Ayouri (Irn) 6-0, Jack Lisowski (Eng) bt Barry Hawkins (Eng) 6-2, Mark Joyce (Eng) bt Anthony Mcgill (Sco) 6-2, Li Hang (Chn) bt David Gilbert (Eng) 6-1, Mark Selby (Eng) bt Cao Yupeng (Chn) 6-4, Shaun Murphy (Eng) bt Mei Xiwen (Chn) 6-5, Jimmy Robertson (Eng) bt Robin Hull (Fin) 6-5, Mark King (Eng) bt Rory Mcleod (Eng) 6-1.

TENNIS

ATP CHAMPIONS RANKINGS 2017:1 Rafael Nadal (Spa) 10465pts, 2 Roger Federer (Swi) 9005, 3 Andy Murray (Gbr) 4790, 4 Alexander Zverev (Ger) 4400, 5 Marin Cilic (Cro) 4185, 6 Dominic Thiem (Aut) 3935, 7 Novak Djokovic (Ser) 3765, 8 Grigor Dimitrov (Bul) 3650, 9 Stan Wawrinka (Swi) 3360, 10 David Goffin (Bel) 2975, 11 Pablo Carreno-busta (Spa) 2650, 12 Milos Raonic (Can) 2555, 13 Sam Querrey (USA) 2525, 14 John Isner (USA) 2505, 15 Jo-wilfried Tsonga (Fra) 2490, 16 Kevin Anderson (Rsa) 2470, 17 Juan Martin Del Potro (Arg) 2435, 18 Lucas Pouille (Fra) 2235, 19 Tomas Berdych (Cze) 2230, 20 Kei Nishikori (Jpn) 2175, 21 Nick Kyrgios (Aus) 2010, 22 Jack Sock (USA) 1945, 23 Roberto Bautista Agut (Spa) 1935, 24 Albert Ramos-vinolas (Spa) 1880, 25 Diego Sebastian Schwartzman (Arg) 1720, 26 Gilles Muller (Lux) 1695, 27 Fabio Fognini (Ita) 1635, 28 Adrian Mannarino (Fra) 1590, 29 Philipp Kohlschreiber (Ger) 1430, 30 Richard Gasquet (Fra) 1420, 31 Damir Dzumhur (Bih) 1391, 32 Mischa Zverev (Ger) 1302, 33 Feliciano Lopez (Spa) 1295, 34 David Ferrer (Spa) 1290, 35 Andrey Rublev (Rus) 1284, 36 Pablo Cuevas (Uru) 1280, 37 Alexandr Dolgopolov (Ukr) 1231, 38 Yuichi Sugita (Jpn) 1219, 39 Fernando Verdasco (Spa) 1160, 40 Benoit Paire (Fra) 1155, 41 Paolo Lorenzi (Ita) 1130, 42 Steve Johnson (USA) 1090, 43 Robin Haase (Ned) 1075, 44 Karen Khachanov (Rus) 1045, 45 Ryan Harrison (USA) 1032, 46 Gael Monfils (Fra) 1015, 47 Aljaz Bedene (Gbr) 993, 48 Jan-lennard Struff (Ger) 978, 49 Denis Shapovalov (Can) 971, 50 Kyle Edmund (Gbr) 967. WTA RANKINGS: 1 Simona Halep (Rom) 6175pts, 2 Garbine Muguruza (Spa) 6135, 3 Caroline Wozniacki (Den) 6015, 4 Karolina Pliskova (Cze) 5730, 5 Venus Williams (USA) 5597, 6 Elina Svitolina (Ukr) 5500, 7 Jelena Ostapenko (Lat) 5010, 8 Caroline Garcia (Fra) 4420, 9 Johanna Konta (Gbr) 3610, 10 Kristina Mladenovic (Fra) 2885, 11 Svetlana Kuznetsova (Rus) 2856, 12 Coco Vandeweghe (USA) 2819, 13 Sloane Stephens (USA) 2722, 14 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (Rus) 2425, 15 Anastasija Sevastova (Lat) 2295, 16 Madison Keys (USA) 2213, 17 Elena Vesnina (Rus) 2195, 18 Julia Goerges (Ger) 2060, 19 Angelique Kerber (Ger) 2042, 20 Ashleigh Barty (Aus) 2031, 21 Serena Williams (USA) 2030, 22 Magdalena Rybarikova (Svk) 1999, 23 Barbora Zahlavova Strycova (Cze) 1965, 24 Daria Kasatkina (Rus) 1950, 25 Daria Gavrilova (Aus) 1865, 26 Dominika Cibulkova (Svk) 1860, 27 Shuai Peng (Chn) 1745, 28 Agnieszka Radwanska (Pol) 1715, 29 Petra Kvitova (Cze) 1653, 30 Lucie Safarova (Cze) 1650, 31 Kiki Bertens (Ned) 1610, 32 Mirjana Lucic-baroni (Cro) 1605, 33 Ekaterina Makarova (Rus) 1580, 34 Anett Kontaveit (Est) 1535, 35 Elise Mertens (Bel) 1483, 36 Shuai Zhang (Chn) 1470, 37 Sorana Cirstea (Rom) 1455, 38 Alize Cornet (Fra) 1422, 39 Timea Bacsinszky (Swi) 1362, 40 Carla Suarez Navarro (Spa) 1341, 41 Samantha Stosur (Aus) 1211, 42 Catherine Cartan Bellis (USA) 1205, 43 Lesia Tsurenko (Ukr) 1200, 44 Irina-camelia Begu (Rom) 1194, 45 Ana Konjuh (Cro) 1176, 46 Qiang Wang (Chn) 1165, 47 Tatjana Maria (Ger) 1150, 48 Mona Barthel (Ger) 1103, 49 Katerina Siniakova (Cze) 1100, 50 Lauren Davis (USA) 1093. Selected other: 74 Heather Watson (Gbr) 811. ATP ROLEX PARIS MASTERS 1st rd: Robin Haase (Ned) bt Steve Johnson (USA) 6-2 6-1, Peter Gojowczyk (Ger) bt Ryan Harrison (USA) 7-6 (7-5) 6-3, Hyeon Chung (Kor) bt Mischa Zverev (Ger) 6-0 6-2, Nicolas Mahut (Fra) bt Vasek Pospisil (Can) 5-7 7-5 7-6 (7-4), Filip Krajinovic (Ser) bt Yuichi Sugita (Jpn) 6-4 6-2, Jeremy Chardy (Fra) bt Gilles Simon (Fra) 6-3 6-0.