Sport news in brief
Great Britain win two-man bronze in Winterberg
Great Britain’s Brad Hall and Taylor Lawrence claimed a World Cup bronze medal in the two-man bobsleigh event in Winterberg. Hall and Lawrence had each won four World Cup medals so far this season prior to yesterday’s competition, including an historic four-man gold with Greg Cackett and Arran Gulliver in Lake Placid in the final race of 2022. Their two-run time of 1 minute 51.44 seconds saw them start the new year with a third two-man medal in as many races together,
following on from a brace of silvers in Whistler and Park City in November and December.
Djokovic survives injury scare to reach final
Novak Djokovic suffered an injury scare before easing to victory over Daniil Medvedev in the semi-finals of the Adelaide International. The Serbian took a medical timeout during the first set because of tightness in his left hamstring but was able to continue and did not drop his serve during a 6-3 6-4 victory over one of his biggest rivals. With just over a week to go until the Australian Open, where Djokovic will chase a 10th title, the 35year-old will not want to take any chances.
Speaking in an on-court interview, Djokovic, who has not lost a match in Australia since 2018, said: “Thankfully it was nothing too serious. If it was, I wouldn’t be able to continue. I just tried with a medical timeout, some anti-inflammatories and it kind of settled in." Providing Djokovic is fit, he will take on Sebastian Korda in the final after the American benefited from the retirement of opponent Yoshihito Nishioka early in the second set because of a hip injury. There is guaranteed to be a British winner of the doubles title after Jamie Murray and his new partner Michael Venus set up a clash against Lloyd Glasspool and Harri Heliovaara.
FA investigates alleged homophobic chants at Lampard
The Football Association has launched an investigation into alleged homophobic chanting which was heard during Manchester United’s 3-1 FA Cup victory over Everton on Friday night. The chant was seemingly directed at Everton manager Frank Lampard during the second half of the match at Old Trafford, and referred to his long association with Chelsea where he was both a player and manager. A statement from the governing body said: “We strongly condemn the use of the term ‘rent boy’ and we are determined to drive it out of our game. We continue to work closely with the Crown Prosecution Service, as
well as the UK Football Policing Unit, in relation to the use of this term."
Australia chase third test victory in Sydney
Australia reduced South Africa to 149 for six at the close of play on the fourth day of the rain-disrupted third test on Saturday after declaring on 475-4 in pursuit of a victory that would give them a 3-0 series sweep. The poor weather that had washed out the best part of two days of the match finally relented at lunch and Australia immediately declared to allow the bowlers as much time as possible to dismiss the tourists twice. Skipper Pat Cummins (3-29) and Josh Hazlewood (2-19) rose to the task with some ferocious pace bowling as the hosts broke South African resistance every time a partnership looked like developing. Marco Jansen, who had made 10 not out, and Simon Harmer, unbeaten on six, will resume today as South Africa, still 126 runs short of avoiding the follow-on, look to bat out the final day to force a draw.
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