Russia basketball team excluded from Olympics
Russia has been excluded from qualification for the men's Olympic basketball tournament in Paris next year, basketball's international governing body FIBA said Tuesday.
The decision was widely expected since FIBA has suspended Russia's teams from international play since shortly after the invasion of Ukraine last year. The International Olympic Committee favors allowing individual athletes from Russia and its ally Belarus to compete as neutrals, but not as national teams, like in basketball.
Russia's world ranking was high enough for it to play Olympic pre-qualifying tournaments this year, but that place will be given to Bulgaria as the next-highest-ranked team from Europe, FIBA said in a statement citing the IOC's recommendations.
The Russian women's team already missed out on qualification when it was suspended from the World Cup and EuroBasket qualification last year. Belarus cannot qualify men's or women's teams.
Purdue's Edey opts to enter NBA draft
National player of the year Zach Edey of Purdue declared for the NBA, but will keep open the option of returning to school next season.
The 7-foot-4 center, who led Purdue to a Big Ten regular-season title last season by averaging 22.3 points, 12.9 rebounds, 2.1 blocks and 1.5 assists per game, has one season of college eligibility remaining. The Boilermakers also became the second No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament to lose to a No. 16 seed last month.
“My basketball career has been unorthodox to say the least, but I wouldn't change a thing about it,” Edey wrote on Twitter. “From ranked 437 in my recruiting class to national player of the year, I can't put into words what Purdue University, my teammates, my coaches and our fans mean to me. Though we fell short of our ultimate goal this season, I loved every minute of it.”
He added: “I will evaluate my future after going through the process and look forward to what's next.”
Edey became the first player from Purdue to win the national player of the year award since Glenn Robinson in 1994. Robinson was the No. 1 overall pick that season.
Edey is the first player in NCAA history to finish a season with at least 750 points, 400 rebounds, 70 blocks and 50 assists in a season — since blocks became an official stat. He finished in the top 25 nationally in all four categories, was a unanimous first team All-American, the Big Ten player of the year and swept the national player of the year awards.
Former NFL player dead at age 31
Former NFL defensive end Chris Smith, who was touched by tragedy while he played for the Cleveland Browns, has died. He was 31.
Smith's agent, Drew Rosenhaus, and the Browns confirmed his passing on Tuesday. The cause of death was not immediately known.
Smith played for the XFL's Seattle Sea Dragons this season. He previously spent eight seasons in the NFL with Jacksonville, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Las Vegas and Houston.
While Smith was with the Browns in 2019, his girlfriend, Petara Cordero, was killed when she was hit by a car after she exited the vehicle he was driving. Cordero was standing on the road's shoulder when the vehicle driven by a 47-yearold woman smashed into Smith's car.
“Chris was one of the kindest players and people that I've ever met,” Browns All-Pro defensive end Myles Garrett said. “He was willing to give you the shirt off his back for you. It's hard just knowing people like that can go at any time.”
Smith and Cordero had a daughter shortly before Cordero's death.
After playing at Arkansas, Smith was drafted by the Jaguars in the fifth round in 2014. He finished with 11 career sacks in 72 games.
Fifth seed Baez upset at BMW Open
Fifth-seeded Sebastian Baez was upset by Oscar Otte in the first round of the BMW Open in Munich as out-of-form Dominic Thiem progressed in his match thanks to a retirement.
Otte was the only one of four Germans to win in front of the home crowd as he beat Baez 6-3, 7-5 with a break of serve in each set.
Former U.S. Open champion Thiem has been plagued by injuries and only got past the first round once in the first three months of 2023. He's now in the second round for the third tournament in a row after Constant Lestienne retired following Thiem taking the first set 6-3.
Thiem plays Marc-Andrea Huesler in the second round after the eighthseeded Swiss player finished off a 7-6 (3), 4-6, 6-3 win over another player who's had lengthy injury issues, Britain's Kyle Edmund.
• Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz opened his title defense at the Barcelona Open with a comfortable 6-3, 6-1 win over Nuno Borges.
Alcaraz is making his 2023 debut on the European clay-court tour. He had not competed since Miami in March, skipping Monte Carlo because of inflammation in his left hand and back pain.
“I feel great,” Alcaraz said. “Moving well, hitting the ball really well so I feel a lot of confidence playing here in Barcelona.”
Alcaraz's next opponent will be fellow Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut, the 13th-seed who defeated Bernabe Zapata Miralles 6-2, 6-2.
Fifth-seeded American Frances Tiafoe lost 6-4, 6-7 (3), 6-4 to Emil Ruusuvuori of Finland.
Casper Ruud reached the quarterfinals for a second straight year by beating Ben Shelton 6-2, 7-6 (1).
Also, Diego Schwartzman defeated Wu Yibing 6-2, 6-2 to set up second-round matchup against fourthseeded Jannik Sinner.
David Goffin beat Feliciano Lopez 7-6 (3), 6-7 (4), 6-0, while Alejandro Davidovich Fokina defeated Tomas Martin Etcheverry 6-3, 6-3. Qualifier Matteo Arnaldi defeated Jaume Munar 6-3, 6-4.
• Jelena Ostapenko swept past Emma Raducanu 6-2, 6-1 at the indoor clay Porsche Grand Prix for the British player's second consecutive first-round loss.
In a meeting of two former Grand Slam champions in Stuttgart, Germany, the 2017 French Open winner from Latvia broke Raducanu twice in the first set and ran away with the match in the second as she broke Raducanu to love in consecutive service games.
Sainz penalty upheld
The FIA rejected an attempt by Ferrari to overturn a penalty which cost Carlos Sainz Jr. fourth place at the Australian Grand Prix.
Sainz was given a fivesecond penalty for crashing into Aston Martin driver Fernando Alonso after a restart. The race finished on a safety car lap, so the time penalty pushed Sainz down to last of the 12 finishers and he scored no points.
The stewards' ruling shows Ferrari presented telemetry from Sainz's car, a statement from the Spanish driver and comments from other drivers in interviews to make an argument that Sainz had low grip on cold tires with the sun in his eyes, and couldn't slow the car down enough to avoid Alonso.