SPORTS DIGEST
BASKETBALL
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION Boston Celtics 102 Cleveland Cavaliers 88, Brooklyn Nets 98 Minnesota Timberwolves 97, Chicago Bulls 115 Toronto Raptors 124, Dallas Mavericks 122 Golden State Warriors 125, Denver Nuggets 134 Phoenix Suns 111, LA Lakers 96 Oklahoma City Thunder 133, Miami Heat 111 Detroit Pistons 104, Milwaukee Bucks 122 Indiana Pacers 101, Orlando Magic 98 Houston Rockets 116, Philadelphia 76ers 112 San Antonio Spurs 106, Utah Jazz 98 New Orleans Pelicans 108, Washington Wizards 121 New York Knicks 103.
CRICKET
FIFTH TEST MATCH (Sydney, Australia) England 233-5 (J E Root 83, D J Malan 55 no) v Australia.
FOOTBALL
Major League Soccer’s upcoming season includes a nine-day break in June for the World Cup finals in Russia. The league’s hiatus for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil was two weeks. But the US national team, who played in the 2014 finals, did not qualify for this year’s tournament. More than two dozen MLS players from other national teams are expected to play in the World Cup, although squads will not be announced for some time. The World Cup break will run from 14-22 June, during the group stage of the tournament. The MLS season opens on 3 March with Toronto hosting the Columbus Crew in an afternoon match. The league’s newest team, Los Angeles FC, debuts the following day, on 4 March, in Seattle against the Sounders.
SKIING
Marcel Hirscher won a slalom in Zagreb, Croatia, yesterday to match Italian great Alberto Tomba’s tally of 50 men’s World Cup wins. The six-time overall champion from Austria became only the fourth male skier to reach that mark, also joining Hermann Maier (54) and Ingemar Stenmark (86). On the women’s circuit, only Lindsey Vonn (78), Annemarie Moser-proell (62) and Vreni Schneider (55) have passed the 50-win milestone. “I am very proud of this, definitely, but I am very thankful on the other side for being healthy all the time,” said Hirscher, who quickly recovered from fracturing his left ankle in pre-season training in August and didn’t have to sit out a race because of the injury. Watched by 11,000 spectators under floodlights yesterday, Hirscher beat his Austrian team-mate and first-run leader, Michael Matt, by 0.05 seconds. Henrik Kristoffersen of Norway was 0.11 behind in third, with another Austrian, Manuel Feller, trailing by 0.79 in fourth. FIS ALPINE SKIING WORLD CUP (Zagreb, Croatia) Men’s Slalom: 1 Marcel Hirscher (Aut) 1:50.600, 2 Michael Matt (Aut) 1:50.650, 3 Henrik Kristoffersen (Nor) 1:50.710, 4 Manuel Feller (Aut) 1:51.390, 5 Luca Aerni (Swi) 1:52.240, 6 Alexis Pinturault (Fra) 1:52.490, 7 Dave Ryding (Gbr) 1:52.780, 8 Sebastian Fosssolevaag (Nor) 1:52.790, 9 Andre Myhrer (Swe) 1:52.960, 10 Manfred Moelgg (Ita) 1:52.970. Leading Overall World Cup Standings: 1 Marcel Hirscher (Aut) 674, 2 Henrik Kristoffersen (Nor) 580, 3 Kjetil Jansrud (Nor) 480, 4 Aksel Lund Svindal (Nor) 454, 5 Alexis Pinturault (Fra) 442, 6 Matthias Mayer (Aut) 318, 7 Beat Feuz (Sui) 316, 8 Max Franz (Aut) 303, 9 Aleksander Aamodt Kilde (Nor) 297, 10 Andre Myhrer (Swe) 275.
TENNIS
HOPMAN CUP (Perth Arena, Perth, Australia) Group B: Japan bt Russia 2-1, Men’s Singles: Karen Khachanov (Rus) bt Yuichi Sugita (Jpn) 6-4 6-2. Women’s Singles: Naomi Osaka (Jpn) bt Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (Rus) 6-4 3-6 7-6 (7-5). Mixed Doubles: Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (Rus) & Karen Khachanov (Rus) bt Naomi Osaka (Jpn) & Yuichi Sugita (Jpn) 4-1 4-0. Switzerland bt USA 3-0, Men’s Singles: Roger Federer (Swi) bt Jack Sock (USA) 7-6 (7-5) 7-5. Women’s Singles: Belinda Bencic (Swi) bt Coco Vandeweghe (USA) 7-6 (8-6) 6-4. Mixed Doubles: Belinda Bencic (Swi) & Roger Federer (Swi) bt Coco Vandeweghe (USA) & Jack Sock (USA) 4-3 (5-3) 4-2. WTA SHENZHEN OPEN (Shenzhen, China) Quarter-finals: (4) Irina-camelia Begu (Rom) bt Timea Babos (Hun) 7-5 7-5, Maria Sharapova (Rus) bt Zarina Diyas (Kaz) 6-3 6-3, (1) Simona Halep (Rom) bt Aryna Sabalenka (Blr) 6-2 6-2, (6) Katerina Siniakova (Cze) bt Kristyna Pliskova (Cze) 6-2 6-2. ATP TATA OPEN MAHARASHTRA (Pune, India) Quarter-finals: (1) Marin Cilic (Cro) bt (8) Pierre-hugues Herbert (Fra) 6-3 6-2, Gilles Simon (Fra) bt Ricardo Ojeda Lara (Spa) 6-2 6-3, (2) Kevin Anderson (Rsa) bt (7) Mikhail Kukushkin (Kaz) 6-7 (3-7) 6-4 6-2. ATP & WTA BRISBANE INTERNATIONAL (Brisbane, Australia) Men: Second round: Denis Istomin (Uzb) bt Jared Donaldson (USA) 7-6 (7-5) 6-2, Ryan Harrison (USA) bt Yannick Hanfmann (Ger) 6-7 (5-7) 6-4 6-2, Kyle Edmund (Gbr) bt Hyeon Chung (Kor) 7-6 (7-3) 5-7 6-4, (1) Grigor Dimitrov (Bul) bt John Millman (Aus) 4-6 7-6 (10-8) 6-3. Women: Quarter-finals: Aliaksandra Sasnovich (Blr) bt Alize Cornet (Fra) 3-6 6-2 6-3, (3) Elina Svitolina (Ukr) bt (5) Johanna Konta (Gbr) 1-6 7-6 (8-6) 3-2 ret, (7) Anastasija Sevastova (Lat) bt Aleksandra Krunic (Ser) 6-2 6-4, (2) Karolina Pliskova (Cze) bt Kaia Kanepi (Est) 3-6 7-5 6-2. ATP QATAR EXXONMOBIL OPEN (Doha, Qatar) Quarter-finals: Guido Pella (Arg) bt Mirza Basic (Bih) 6-2 6-3, Andrey Rublev (Rus) bt Borna Coric (Cro) 6-3 7-5, (1) Dominic Thiem (Aut) bt Stefanos Tsitsipas (Gre) 7-5 6-4, Gael Monfils (Fra) bt Peter Gojowczyk (Ger) 6-3 7-6 (8-6).