Other Sports

Ukrainian Paralympic team to boycott opening ceremony

MILAN, Italy, ⁠Feb 20 (Reuters) - The ⁠Ukrainian team will boycott ‌the Milano Cortina Paralympics opening ceremony on March 6 in ​Verona, its committee ⁠said on ⁠Friday, after the International Paralympic ⁠Committee ‌allocated 10 combined slots to ⁠Russian and Belarusian athletes.

Cycling

Motorcycling-Aprilia's Martin cleared for MotoGP return at Buriram pre-season test

Feb 20 (Reuters) - ⁠Former MotoGP champion Jorge Martin ⁠will make his on-track return ‌in the final pre-season test at Buriram after receiving clearance from the FIM ​Grand Prix World Championship ⁠medical unit, ⁠his Aprilia team announced on Friday.

Badminton

Chong Wei says Zii Jia's injury not serious, understands his situation

PETALING JAYA: The Badminton Association of Malaysia performance committee chairman Datuk Seri Lee Chong Wei has given assurance that professional men's singles shuttler Lee Zii Jia's recent injury that saw him withdrawing from next week's German Open is not serious.

Rugby

Rugby-Evergreen Slipper packs down for 200th Super Rugby match

MELBOURNE, Feb 20 (Reuters) - More than 16 ⁠years after first packing down for Ewen McKenzie's Queensland Reds, prop James Slipper will run out with the ACT Brumbies for ⁠his 200th Super Rugby match on Sunday, ticking off another milestone in a career of incredible longevity.

Football

Soccer-Turkey detains 32 suspects in widening betting probe, prosecutor's office says

ISTANBUL, Feb 20 (Reuters) - ⁠Turkish authorities detained 32 suspects, including ⁠executives of football clubs, on Friday as ‌part of a widening investigation into alleged match-fixing and illegal betting in the country's professional leagues, the prosecutor's ​office in Istanbul said.

Badminton

Sze Fei-Izzuddin agree to Thomas Cup, Asian Games, says Rexy

PETALING JAYA: Former world No. 1 men's doubles pair Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani have agreed to help strengthen the national squad for the Thomas Cup Finals in Horsens, Denmark from April 24-May 3.

Badminton

Zii Jia, Jin Wei have one week to decide on BAM's Thomas-Uber Cup offer

PETALING JAYA: Professional shuttlers Lee Zii Jia and Goh Jin Wei have been given one week to decide whether they want to represent Malaysia at the upcoming Thomas and Uber Cup Finals.

Cricket

Cricket-Trott unsure of future but England coaching role appeals

Feb 20 (Reuters) - Jonathan Trott ⁠enjoyed a victory in his last game in charge of ⁠Afghanistan on Thursday and while he does not know ‌what the future holds he said he would jump at the chance to coach England if the opportunity arose.

Badminton

Chong Wei meets Zii Jia, Jin Wei at BAM over Thomas-Uber Cup talk

PETALING JAYA: Professional men's singles shuttler Lee Zii Jia sprang a surprise when he showed up at the Academy Badminton Malaysia in Bukit Kiara on Friday (Feb 20).

Badminton

New coach Zakry seeks stronger back-up behind Pearly-Thinaah

PETALING JAYA: Malaysia stand to gain plenty if they can have more than two top class women's doubles pairs.

Football

Soccer-Perfect start for Pereira as Forest enjoy record win at Fenerbahce

Feb 20 (Reuters) - Nottingham Forest's ⁠new head coach Vitor Pereira said he had encouraged his ⁠players to express themselves at Fenerbahce on Thursday and ‌they responded in style with a 3-0 victory that marked their biggest away win in European competition.

Cricket

Cricket-Australia coach defends World Cup planning, puts blame on players

MELBOURNE, Feb 20 (Reuters) - Australia head ⁠coach Andrew McDonald put the blame for the team's humiliating T20 ⁠World Cup exit squarely on the players, rejecting criticism of their ‌preparations and a "false narrative" that the nation is not taking the format seriously.

Other Sports

Olympics-Figure Skating-Sakamoto's final Olympic skate ends in tears and silver

MILAN, Feb 19 (Reuters) - Kaori Sakamoto's final ⁠Olympic skate ended in bittersweet fashion on Thursday, the three‑time world champion leaving Milano Cortina with a silver medal that ⁠felt as much like a lesson as an achievement.

Squash

Rachel races into Cincinnati Gaynor Cup quarters

PETALING JAYA: National squash player Rachel Arnold secured her spot in the Cincinnati Gaynor Cup quarter-finals after dispatching Egypt's Menna Hamed in straight games on Thursday (Feb 19).

Other Sports

Olympics-Figure skating-Liu's golden skate caps joyful comeback story

MILAN, Feb 19 (Reuters) - Four years after she ⁠stepped away from her sport saying she had lost her love for it, American Alysa Liu skated on Thursday night as though she ⁠had flicked the light back on in a long-darkened disco, and soared to Olympic women's gold.

Other Sports

Olympics-Curling-World champions Britain to play Canada for men's curling gold

CORTINA D'AMPEZZO, Italy, Feb 19 (Reuters) - ⁠World champions Britain nabbed a steal of two in the final end to beat Switzerland 8-5 ⁠in a thrilling semi-final clash on Thursday in the men's curling competition at the Winter Olympics ‌and set up a final against Canada.

Athletics

Athletics-Britain's Hodgkinson smashes world indoor 800m record in Lievin

Feb 19 (Reuters) - Keely ⁠Hodgkinson on Thursday smashed the women's world ⁠indoor 800 metres record set by ‌Slovenia's Jolanda Ceplak on the day Britain's Olympic champion was born nearly 24 years ago.

Other Sports

Olympics-Figure skating-Dazzling Liu strikes gold to end U.S. women's Olympic medal drought

Feb 20 (Reuters) - Alysa Liu delivered a dazzling performance to win ⁠the gold at the Milano Cortina Games on Thursday as she capped a remarkable comeback journey to snap a 20-year Olympic medal drought for Americans in the women's figure ⁠skating event.

Motorsport

Motor racing-F1 will thrill in new engine era and Verstappen sure to stay, Domenicali says

Feb 20 (Reuters) - Formula One chief executive Stefano ⁠Domenicali has assured fans that the sport's new engine era will still provide plenty of thrills and ⁠Max Verstappen is in no danger of walking away.

Hockey

Olympics-Ice hockey-Captain Knight bows out on a high as US win gold

MILAN, Feb 19 (Reuters) - Hilary Knight had the ⁠perfect ending to her fifth and final Olympics, with the U.S. captain scoring the late goal that sent the ⁠championship game to overtime before her side beat Canada to take the women's ice hockey gold medal on Thursday.