Sport shorts
Slater Sailor of the Year
Former Olympian Dan Slater won the Sailor of the Year title at the annual Volvo Yachting Excellence Awards in Auckland last night. Slater started the year by finishing on top in a fleet of 110 boats at the OK Dinghy world championships in Auckland and backed it up by being tactician for the winning team at the 12m world championships in England. He was also tactician for the second-placed team at the 8m world championships to round out an outstanding 2019.
Ronaldo’s lawyers win
Cristiano Ronaldo’s lawyers yesterday won a courtroom bid to block a Nevada woman accusing the football star of raping her in Las Vegas in 2009 from digging into the validity of their 2010 confidentiality agreement and US$375,000 hush-money payment. US Magistrate Judge Daniel Albregts told Kathryn Mayorga’s attorney that it will be up to a higher-level judge to decide if her effort to obtain more money advances to trial or is diverted to closed-door arbitration.
Maggert on the march
Jeff Maggert used a hot new putter to take the first-round lead in the Charles Schwab Cup Championship, and Bernhard Langer, Jerry Kelly, Retief Goosen and Colin Montgomerie made moves to catch Scott McCarron in the PGA Tour Champions’ season standings. Maggert shot an 8-under 63 yesterday in perfect conditions at Phoenix Country Club to take a onestroke lead over Langer, with Miguel Angel Jimenez, Paul Goydos and Steve Flesch another shot back, and Kelly and Goosen at 66 with Lee Janzen and Scott Parel.
Man United in 3-0 victory Manchester United, Celtic and Sevilla all reached the knockout stages of football’s Europa League yesterday, with Espanyol joining them thanks to a 6-0 rout of nine-man Ludogorets. United defeated Partizan Belgrade 3-0, while Celtic scored a last-gasp winner to beat Lazio 2-1 away.
Agents told to ‘curb excesses’ World governing body Fifa has told football’s biggest agents, who are resisting limits to their cut of player deals, that there is a need to “curb the excesses” of the US$7 billion annual transfer market. Agent earnings from transfers would be capped at a maximum 10 per cent of fees when acting for the selling club under changes approved by the Fifa Council due to be introduced from 2021.
Sharma strikes six sixes
Rohit Sharma smacked 85 runs off
43 balls as India beat Bangladesh by eight wickets in the second Twenty20 yesterday and levelled the series 1-1. Playing his 100th T20, Sharma struck six sixes and six fours as he scored a
23-ball half-century. He helped India score 154-2 with 26 balls to spare, chasing down Bangladesh’s 153-6. Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan (31) put on 118 runs for the first wicket.