08TUESDAY 28 JANUARY 2020 SPORT

SPORTIt's deeply saddening for the world of sport and for all of us. Not just for basketball fans, but for everything he did for sport: Neymar dedicates goal to Bryant.

Australian Open quarter-finals in Melbourne Park

EFL Cup (semi-final)Aston Villavs Leicester City

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Kobe Bryant, a transcendent star who never took a night offREUTERS — LOS ANGELES

Kobe Bryant became one of the greatest players in basketball, a tran-scendent star who went straight from high school to the game’s biggest stage and brought “Showtime” back to the Los Angeles Lakers for two glittering decades.

But Bryant, who was killed in a hel-icopter crash in Southern California on Sunday at the age of 41, was not ini-tially rated by National Basketball Association (NBA) scouts as a can’t-miss prospect.

After deciding to skip college and go straight to the NBA, at the time an unusual career path, he was not taken until the 13th pick in the 1996 draft, by the Charlotte Hornets, who immedi-ately traded him to the Lakers in a pre-arranged deal.

NBA teams at the time were wary of teenagers straight out of high school.

The 1996 draft was also particu-larly strong, though some of the players taken before Bryant turned out to be complete busts.

Acquiring Bryant from the Hornets was one of the best pieces of business the Lakers ever did, as he led the team to five NBA championship rings and was the face of the franchise during his 20-year career that ended in 2016.

A small forward and shooting guard, Bryant made his debut at age 18 and averaged 25 points over no less than 1,346 regular season games while twice leading the NBA in scoring.

But he did more than just rack up points, equally proficient in defence while playing with an intensity night after night that few could match.

In a league with a grinding 82-game regular season, he turned up with his game face on every time, never just

mailing it in, no matter how seemingly meaningless the game.

Bryant was an 18-times NBA All-Star who wore the jersey numbers 24 and 8 - both of which were retired by the Lakers - and continued the “Showtime” tradition of the storied franchise that has been home to the likes of Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Shaquille O’Neal.

The fourth-highest scorer in NBA history with 33,643 points, Bryant only gave up the third spot on the list on Saturday night to LeBron James.

On Saturday, Bryant used Twitter

to extend his congratulations to James: “Much respect my brother,” he tweeted.

A few hours later, Bryant perished in the crash. He is survived by wife Vanessa, with whom he had four daughters, one of whom, 13-year-old Gianna, also died in the accident.

Born in Philadelphia, Bryant spent eight years of his childhood living in Italy, where his father played profes-sionally, an upbringing that gave him an urbane and worldly outlook that helped him become a global superstar.

Eventually giving himself the nickname “Black Mamba” - a

venomous snake native to Africa - he spent his entire career with the Lakers before retiring in 2016.

Apart from the five championship rings, he made 18 All-Star teams and in 2008 was named the NBA Most Val-uable Player.

Internationally, he won two Olympic gold medals, part of the United States team in 2008 and 2012, helping spread the gospel that has made basketball arguably the second biggest global sport behind soccer.

Part of a legacy that will live much longer than his 41 years.

In this file photo taken on January 29, 2011, Shaquille O’Neal of the Boston Celtics and Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers chat during their game at Staples Center in Los Angeles, California.

In this file photo taken on December 13, 2010, US President Barack Obama chats with Kobe Bryant of Los Angeles Lakers at a Boys and Girls Club in Washington.

President Trump offers condolences to Kobe Bryant’s family

AA — WASHINGTON

US President Donald Trump offered his condo-lences to the family of basketball star Kobe Bryant, who was killed Sunday morning in a heli-copter crash in Calabasas, California.

“Kobe Bryant, despite being one of the truly great basketball players of all time, was just getting started in life. He loved his family so much and had such strong passion for the future,” Trump said on Twitter.

The helicopter crashed in foggy conditions and then caught fire. According to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, the crash left nine people dead, including Bryant’s 13-year-old daughter Gianna and Orange Coast College baseball coach John Alto-belli. Bryant was 41.

“The loss of his beau-tiful daughter, Gianna, makes this moment even m o r e d e v a s t a t i n g . Melania and I send our warmest condolences to Vanessa and the won-derful Bryant family. May God be with you all!” said Trump, referring to Bry-ant’s wife.

Upon hearing the tragic news, Chicago Bulls legend Michael Jordan said: “Words can’t describe the pain I’m feeling. I loved Kobe - he was like a little brother to me.”

NBA commissioner Adam Silver released a statement saying that the NBA family is devastated.

Kobe’s former team-mate Shaquille O’Neal, with whom he won three back-to-back champion-ships in 2000, 2001 and 2002, also took to Instagram.

“There are no words to express the pain I’m going through now with this tragic and sad moment of losing my friend, my brother, my partner in winning championships, my dude and my homie. I love you brother and you will be missed. My condo-lences go out to the Bryant family and the families of the other passengers on board. IM SICK RIGHT NOW !”

Players pay respects to Bryant at Australian OpenAP — MELBOURNE

Nick Kyrgios wore a Lakers No. 8 jersey to honour Kobe Bryant ahead of a fourth-round match against Rafael Nadal at the Australian Open, paying his respects without needing to say a word.

The 15-year-old Coco Gauff had Bryant’s numbers 8 and 24, along with the inscription “Mamba Mentality,” on her shoes in a doubles match at Melbourne Park.

Bryant’s sudden death in a helicopter crash near Los Angeles on Sunday along with eight others, including his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, has shocked and upset fans and athletes around the world.

Kyrgios, a big NBA fan who often wears basketball jerseys while practicing, wore a Bryant jersey from the locker room, through the corridor of cham-pions, and into the warm-up on Rod Laver Arena yesterday. He took it off before play began against top-ranked Nadal.

Fans in the crowd wore Bryant jerseys with the numbers

8 or 24. Australian Open organ-isers also played a short video tribute to Bryant ahead of the match, one of the most antici-pated encounters in the two-week, season-opening major.

Darren Cahill, who coaches two-time major winner Simona Halep and works as television analyst for ESPN, said he “felt sick” when he woke up to news of Bryant’s death.

“Certainly I looked up to what he used to do as an athlete, as a professional, an incredible basketball player,” Cahill said. “And especially his daughter passing away, as well. I couldn’t think of anything worse. My two kids are here. They are 18 and 15. I could not get my head around that.”

Former Australian player and TV commentator Rennae Stubbs said she knew Bryant was a big tennis fan.

“We saw Kobe a lot at the US Open”- he was there a lot last year,” Stubbs said. “He was on the ESPN set many times. He commentated half of Coco Gauff’s match with our team. We saw him around. I saw him

talking to Serena after one match. A terrible day for sport. He’s one of the great, great champions.”

Gauff lost in the fourth round at the US Open last year and beat defending Aus-tralian Open champion Naomi Osaka here before losing in the fourth round at Melbourne Park t o f e l l o w American Sofia Kenin. She was still in contention in the doubles with another US teeanger, Caty M c N a l l y o n Monday. Gauff and McNally both wrote inscriptions on their tennis shoes for their match.

Wimbledon champion Halep woke up to the news.

“It’s a huge loss for the world, for the sport... for the

family,” she said. Other players were affected.

“It was really tough this morning. You know, is the first thing, you know, when I woke up, bunch of messages.

Definitely when I found out that, I was really, really sad, because it was someone that for sure I was looking up growing up and someone very special,” 10th-seeded Gael Monfils said

after his loss to Dominic Thiem. “To be honest with you, really devastated by that, because it means quite a lot for me. All my thoughts and prayers for his family.”

Australia’s Nick Kyrgios wears a jersey of the late NBA legend Kobe Bryant as he arrives for his match against Spain’s Rafael Nadal at the Australian Open in Melbourne yesterday.

** Kobe Bryant was a five-time NBA champion in a career that began in 1996 straight out of a high school and lasted until his retirement in 2016.

** He also was a two-time Olympic gold medallist, helping spark the US squad of NBA stars to titles in 2008 in Beijing and 2012 in London.

** Bryant bowed out of the NBA in 2016, scoring 60 points in a fairytale farewell appearance at the Staples Center.

** The son of former NBA player Joe "Jellybean" Bryant, the Lakers legend was born in Philadelphia while his father played for the 76ers.

** The elder Bryant played from 1984 to 1991 in Italy, giving young Kobe a global worldview as he grew up dreaming of following his dad into the NBA.

** He would eventually join the ranks of professionals at the age of 17, jumping directly into the NBA, only the sixth player to make such a leap.

** At 18, Bryant became, at the time, the youngest player or starter in an NBA game and the youngest winner of the NBA Slam Dunk Contest.

** With Bryant paired alongside Shaquille O'Neal, the Lakers captured three NBA crowns in a row from 2000-2002, returning the team to glory days unseen since 1988.

06 TUESDAY 28 JANUARY 2020SPORT 07TUESDAY 28 JANUARY 2020 SPORT

World mourns basketball legend Kobe Bryant after helicopter crashAFP — LOS ANGELES

Basketball legend Kobe Bryant’s death in a helicopter crash along with his teenage daughter sparked an outpouring of grief across the worlds of sports and enter-tainment yesterday.

Bryant, 41, was travelling Sunday with his 13-year-old daughter Gianna and seven other passengers and crew when their hel-icopter slammed into a rugged hillside in thick fog in Calabasas, west of Los Angeles. There were no survivors.

A five-time NBA champion and two-time Olympic gold medallist, Bryant is widely regarded as one of the greatest bas-ketball players in history.

He was an iconic figure who became one of the faces of his sport during a glit-tering two-decade career with the Los Angeles Lakers.

All-time basketball great Michael Jordan said Bryant was “like a little brother” to him.

“Words can’t describe the pain I’m feeling,” the former Chicago Bulls star said. “We used to talk often and I will miss those conversations very much.”

Dozens of firefighters and paramedics battled across hilly terrain to reach the flaming wreckage of the Sikorsky S-76 but found no survivors, officials said. Fans and mourners descended on the area but police warned people to stay away.

“As you can imagine, it’s a logistical nightmare in a sense because the crash site itself is not easily accessible,” Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva told reporters.

The National Transportation Safety Board said an 18-strong team of investi-gators would be sent to California to probe the crash.

Tributes to Bryant flooded in from former US presidents, pop stars and ath-letes from different sports, a sign of how the man known as the “Black Mamba” had transcended basketball.

“Kobe was a legend on the court and just getting started in what would have been just as meaningful a second act,” Barack Obama tweeted.

“Laker Nation, the game of basketball & our city, will never be the same without Kobe,” former Los Angeles Lakers star Magic Johnson tweeted.

American football star Tom Brady wrote simply: “We miss you already Kobe.”

At the Australian Open, Australian tennis player Nick Kyrgios wore a Lakers jersey before he took on Rafael Nadal.

At the Staples Center in Los Angeles, crowds of shocked fans gathered to pay tribute as the venue which witnessed many of Bryant’s career highlights hosted the music industry’s Grammy Awards.

Hundreds, many wearing purple and gold Lakers shirts, placed flowers and candles at a makeshift memorial for their hero.

“This dude is everything to me man. It makes no sense,” said distraught Lakers fan Bobby Jimenez.

Singer Alicia Keys paid a somber tribute at the Grammys.

“To be honest with you, we’re all feeling crazy sadness right now,” Keys told the audience. “Los Angeles, America and the whole wide world lost a hero. And we’re literally standing here heartbroken in the house that Kobe Bryant built.”

Across the NBA, tributes were held at several of the eight games played Sunday.

Denver Nuggets fans began chants of “Kobe, Kobe” as a minute’s silence was held before their game against the Houston Rockets.

In New York, Madison Square Garden was lit up in purple and gold alongside a giant image of Bryant captioned: “Kobe Bryant, 1978-2020.”

The crash came only hours after Bryant was passed by current Lakers star LeBron James for third on the all-time NBA scoring list in a Saturday game at Philadelphia.

Bryant’s final post on social media had

been a tweet congratulating James. “Con-tinuing to move the game forward @King-James,” Bryant wrote. “Much respect my brother #33644.”

Bryant was a five-time NBA champion in a career that began in 1996 straight out of a high school and lasted until his retirement in 2016.

He also was a two-time Olympic gold medalist, helping spark the US squad of NBA stars to titles in 2008 in Beijing and 2012 in London.

Bryant bowed out of the NBA in 2016, scoring 60 points in a fairytale farewell appearance at the Staples Center.

The son of former NBA player Joe “Jel-lybean” Bryant, the Lakers legend was born in Philadelphia while his father

played for the 76ers. The elder Bryant played from 1984 to 1991 in Italy, giving young Kobe a global worldview as he grew up dreaming of following his dad into the NBA.

He would eventually join the ranks of professionals at the age of 17, jumping directly into the NBA, only the sixth player to make such a leap.

At 18, Bryant became, at the time, the youngest player or starter in an NBA game and the youngest winner of the NBA Slam Dunk Contest.

With Bryant paired alongside Shaq-uille O’Neal, the Lakers captured three NBA crowns in a row from 2000-2002, returning the team to glory days unseen since 1988.

Bryant’s career was almost derailed in 2003 when he was arrested in Colorado over a sexual assault complaint filed by a 19-year-old hotel employee where Bryant was staying ahead of knee surgery.

Bryant was accused of rape. He admitted to adultery but said he did not commit rape. The case was dropped in 2004 after the accuser refused to testify in a trial.

A separate civil suit was settled under terms kept private.

After his playing career, Bryant suc-cessfully branched out into the enter-tainment industry. In 2018, he won an Oscar for his animated short film “Dear Basketball”, a love letter to the sport which brought him fame and fortune.

Kobe Bryant FactfileFactfile on 18-time NBA All-Star Kobe Bryant, who died in

a helicopter crash Sunday at age 41 after playing his entire 20-season career with the Los Angeles Lakers:

Name: Kobe BryantFormer Team: Los Angeles Lakers (1996-2016)Position: GuardBirthplace: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USABorn: August 23, 1978Died: January 26, 2020Height: 6feet, 6inches, 1.98mWeight: 212lbs, 96kg - Bryant was the son of Joe “Jelly Bean” Bryant, who played

eight seasons in the NBA- Bryant spent eight years of his childhood with his family

in Italy- Bryant married Vanessa Laine, April 18, 2001. Daughter

Natalia was born in January, 2003; daughter Gianna was born May, 2006; daughter Bianka was born December, 2016 and daughter Capri was born June, 2019

AWARDS/CAREER HIGHLIGHTS

- Bryant won five NBA championships -- 2000, 2001, 2002, 2009, 2010

- Named NBA Finals Most Valuable Player in leading Lakers to titles in 2009 and 2010

- Earned Olympic gold medals with USA at 2008 Beijing Olympics and 2012 London Olympics

- Named NBA regular-season MVP in 2007-08 season and a record-tying four-time NBA All-Star Game MVP -- 2002, 2007, 2009 and 2011

- On January 22, 2006 scored a career-high 81 points in Lakers’ 122-104 victory over Toronto, second-most points in a game in NBA history

- In 2018, his movie “Dear Basketball” won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film.

- Selected with 13th overall choice by Charlotte Hornets in 1996 NBA draft, becoming the 27th player to join NBA straight from high school.

- Acquired by Lakers shortly after draft- Named an NBA All-Star 18 times - 1998 and 2000-2016- Two-time NBA scoring champion - 2006 and 2007- 1997 NBA Slam Dunk Contest winner - Had both his jersey numbers, 8 and 24, retired by the

Lakers, an unprecedented move- Scored 33,643 points, grabbed 7,047 rebounds and passed

off 6,306 assists over 1,346 career NBA games- Scored a season-high 60 points in his last NBA game on

April 13, 2016 in a 101-96 Lakers’ victory over Utah, becoming the oldest player in NBA history to score 60 points at 37 years and 234 days

Bryant left deep legacy in LA sports, basketball worldAP — LOS ANGELES

Kobe Bryant (pictured right) inspired a generation of basketball players worldwide with sublime skills and an unquenchable competitive fire.

He earned Los Angeles’ eternal ado-ration during his two decades as the fierce soul of the beloved Lakers, and he was respected by basketball fans from every place with a hoop and a dream, including his native Philadelphia and in Italy, his other childhood home.

Less than four years into his retirement, Bryant was seizing new chal-lenges and working to inspire his daughters’ generation through sports and storytelling when his next chapter ended shockingly early.

Bryant, the 18-time All-Star who won five NBA championships and became one of the greatest basketball players of his generation during a 20-year career all with the Lakers, died in a helicopter crash Sunday. He was 41.

The crash occurred in the foggy hills above Calabasas, California, about 30 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Bryant was killed, a person familiar with the situation told The Asso-ciated Press, and a different person familiar with the case confirmed Bryant’s 13-year-old daughter Gianna also died.

Authorities said nine people were on the helicopter, and all were presumed dead. No names were released.

Bryant lived south of Los Angeles in coastal Orange County, and he often used helicopters to save time and avoid Southern California’s notorious traffic.

He travelled to practices and games by helicopter before his playing career ended in 2016. He continued to use them after retirement as he attended to his new ventures, which included a bur-geoning entertainment company that recently produced an Academy Award-winning animated short film.

The basketball world and Los Angeles reacted with an outpouring of pain and disbelief. Bryant is all but certain to be elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame this year, when he is eligible for the first time.

“For 20 seasons, Kobe showed us what is possible when remarkable talent blends with an absolute devotion to winning,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said. “He was one of the most extraordinary players in the history of our game with accomplishments that are legendary... but he will be remem-bered most for inspiring people around the world to pick up a basketball and compete to the very best of their ability.”

The crash occurred about 20 miles from Mamba Sports Academy, Bryant’s basketball training complex in Newbury Park, California. A youth basketball tour-nament - the Mamba Cup - was scheduled for a second day of compe-tition Sunday at the facility, and Bryant had attended the opening day Saturday with Gianna. Bryant and his wife, Vanessa, had four daughters. He had been a vocal booster of women’s sports since his retirement, coaching and men-toring basketball players around the world while also backing women’s soccer and other endeavors.

Bryant retired as the third-leading scorer in NBA history with 33,643 points, all scored in Lakers purple and gold. The self-nicknamed Black Mamba was a prolific, gifted shooter with a sublime all-around game and a relentless, hard-edged work ethic that thrilled his fans and almost everyone else, even those who reviled him.

Taking cues from Michael Jordan, one of his idols, Bryant played with a swagger that compelled him to talk trash, to guard the toughest opponents, to play through pain and to demand the ball at the biggest moments of games.

He didn’t always hit them, but Bryant never stopped trying.

“He had zero flaws offensively,” LeBron James said Saturday night. “Zero. You backed off of him, he could shoot the 3. You body him up a little bit, he could go around you. He could shoot from mid-range. He could post. He could make free throws.... He was just i m m o r t a l offensively because of his skill set and his work ethic.”

Bryant held the No. 3 spot in the league scoring ranks until the day before his death, when James passed him during the Lakers’ game in Philadelphia.

On Saturday night, James said he was “happy just to be in any conversation with Kobe Bean Bryant, one of the all-time greatest basketball players to ever play. One of the all-time greatest Lakers.” Bryant always reacted

graciously to the achievements of James, his former on-court rival who joined the Lakers in 2018.

“Continuing to move the game forward @KingJames,” Bryant wrote in his last tweet. “Much respect my brother.” Tim Duncan, the San Antonio Spurs great who also retired in 2016, is also expected to be part of the Hall of Fame class that will be announced at the NBA’s All-Star weekend next month. Duncan, now a Spurs assistant, was visibly emotional on the bench during their game against Toronto on Sunday.

Bryant had been spending more time with his daughters since leaving the league. The Bryants’ first daughter, Natalia, turned 17 a week ago. Bianka Bella Bryant is 3 years old, and Capri Kobe Bryant was born last June.

Gianna, better known as Gigi, had a promising youth career and a compet-itive pugnaciousness that reminded eve-rybody of her dad. Bryant sat with her courtside at a Brooklyn Nets game late last year, clearly passing along his wisdom to his daughter.

Bryant told Jimmy Kimmel in 2018 that Gianna wanted to play in the WNBA and recalled how fans would often approach him saying “you gotta have a boy, you gotta someone to carry on the tradition, the legacy.”

Gianna took exception: “She’s like, ‘Oy, I got this,’” Bryant recalled.

News of Bryant’s death inspired an outpouring of grief around the sports world and beyond, but it was felt par-ticularly painfully in Los Angeles, where Bryant was unquestionably the sprawling city’s most popular athlete and one of its most beloved people. Buildings from downtown to Los Angeles International Airport were illuminated in Lakers purple and gold.

The Lakers’ next game is Tuesday night against the crosstown rival Clippers, but hundreds of fans - many in Bryant jerseys and Lakers gear - spon-taneously gathered at Staples Centre and in the surrounding LA Live enter-tainment complex on Sunday, weeping and staring at video boards with Bry-ant’s image before the Grammy awards ceremony.

“I thought he was going to live forever,” Lakers great Magic Johnson told KCBS-TV. “I thought he was invincible.... There was nobody who took more pride in putting on that Laker uniform than Kobe. Nobody. He was just special. We will miss him and we’ll remember him for his greatness, but let’s not forget how he impacted the world, too.”

Bryant retired as the Lakers’ fran-chise leader in points, games played, 3-pointers and steals - no small feats on a franchise that has employed many of the greatest players in basketball history.

The NBA kept its games on as scheduled when the news broke. The Spurs and Raptors both took voluntary 24-second shot clock violations at the start of their

game in honour of Bryant, who wore No. 24 for the second half of his career. Several other teams followed up by deliberately taking delays of 24 and 8 seconds, hon-oring both of his jersey numbers. Many players were seen crying before their games, and James looked emotional on the tarmac when he got off the Lakers’ team plane from Philadelphia.

Bryant’s future appeared to be lim-itless in retirement, whether in sports or entertainment. He opened a pro-duction company shortly after leaving

the Lakers, saying he was just as pas-sionate about storytelling as he had been about his sport. He won an Oscar in 2018 for his contributions to “Dear Basketball, ” an animated short about his rela-tionship to the game. He also produced content for ESPN.

Bryant went on to become one of the NBA’s most popular players and the face of the Lakers. Winning a record four NBA All-Star Game MVP awards, he was the overall league MVP in 2008 and a two-time NBA scoring champion, but he also earned 12 selections to the NBA’s All-Defensive teams.

He teamed with Shaquille O’Neal in a combustible partnership to lead the Lakers to NBA titles in 2000, 2001 and 2002. He later teamed with Pau Gasol to win two more titles in 2009 and 2010.

A two-time Olympic gold medallist with the dominant US team, Bryant retired in 2016 after scoring 60 points in his final NBA game. In December 2017, the Lakers hung banners retiring his No. 8 and No. 24 jerseys in the Staples Centre rafters in an unprecedented double honor.

Bryant looms large over the current generation of NBA players, most of whom grew up either idolising Bryant or absorbing his work ethic and com-petitive spirit in the same way Bryant’s generation learned from Jordan. Bryant exemplified and passed on that men-tality to James, Stephen Curry and the NBA’s current wave of high-scoring superstars.

After James passed Bryant on Sat-urday, he remembered listening in awe to Bryant when the superstar came to speak at a childhood basketball camp.

“I remember one thing he said: If you want to be great at it, or want to be one of the greats, you’ve got to put the work in,” said James, who later teamed up with Bryant on the 2008 US Olympic team in Beijing.

Bryant was a basketball superstar for his entire adult life, and he grew up from a teenager to a respected veteran in the unforgiving Hollywood spotlight.

He entered the NBA draft straight out of suburban Philly’s Lower Merion High School in 1996 after a childhood spent partly in Italy, where his father, former NBA player Joe “Jellybean” Bryant, played professionally. Bryant was occasionally estranged from his now-65-year-old father, but reconciled.

Bryant spoke four languages and played a major role in the NBA’s inter-national growth over his two decades in the league, travelling the world and connecting with athletes in other sports and celebrities. The Lakers acquired the 17-year-old Bryant in a trade shortly after Charlotte drafted him, and he immediately became one of the most exciting and intriguing players in the sport alongside O’Neal, who had signed

with the Lakers as a free agent. Bryant won the Slam D u n k Contest as a rookie, and the Lakers gradual ly grew into a team that won three consecutive champion-

ships. Bryant and Gasol, the Spanish star, formed the nucleus of another champi-onship team in 2008, reaching three straight NBA Finals and winning two more titles. Between those title runs and before the quiet final years of his career, Bryant accomplished innumerable feats including an 81-point game against Toronto in January 2006. Bryant’s final NBA seasons were dogged by injuries, but he still went into retirement with that jaw-dropping 60-point per-formance against Utah.

Michael Jordan mourns death of ‘little brother’ Michael Jordan mourned the death of Kobe Bryant yesterday, saying the Los Angeles

Lakers icon was “like a little brother” to him. Six-time NBA champion Jordan said in a statement Bryant would be remembered as one of basketball’s greatest players.

“I am in shock over the tragic news of Kobe’s and Gianna’s passing. Words can’t describe the pain I’m feeling. I loved Kobe - he was like a little brother to me. We used

to talk often and I will miss those conversations very much. He was a fierce competitor, one of the greats of the game and a creative force. Kobe was also an amazing dad

who loved his family deeply - and took great pride in his daughter’s love for the game of basketball.”

In this file photo taken on February 05, 2013, Los Angeles Lakers’ Kobe Bryant drives the ball past Brooklyn Nets Gerald Wallace during their NBA game at the Barclays Centre in the Brooklyn borough of New York City.

Bryant’s death draws tributes from Asian fans and politicians

AP — BEIJING

Kobe Bryant was a hugely popular figure in Asia, no more so than in China where basketball rivals soccer as the most popular sport.

However, his death Sunday in a helicopter accident comes at an awkward time between the country and the league.

National broadcaster CCTV pulled all NBA games off the air following a tweet in October from Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey expressing support for Hong Kong’s pro-democracy protests.

The Chinese Basketball Association, led by former Rockets MVP Yao Ming, announced it would suspend all cooperation with the Texas-based team.

Yao and the association have yet to comment on the crash Sunday in California that killed Bryant, his daughter Gianna and seven other people.

However, Yi Jianlian, the other Chinese player to find major success in the NBA, took to China’s Weibo micro-blogging site to praise Bryant for teaching him the value of persistence.

“Thank you! Kobe! Hope father and daughter continue to enjoy basketball in heaven! We will always remember you!,” wrote Yi, who signed with six different NBA teams, including briefly the Lakers in 2016. “Rest in peace to the legend,” he added in English.

Bryant’s popularity among Chinese fans was rivaled only by Yao, LeBron James and Michael Jordan.

His playing appearances, including the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics won by the US, were far exceeded by his promotional appearances in the country, both on behalf of his own brand and basketball generally.

At a 2013 Lakers preseason game against Golden State in Beijing, the arena rang out with chants of “Kobe! Kobe!” despite the injured superstar not even having suited up for the game.

Commemorations begin rolling in online, many of the

accompanied by photos of Bryant and his daughter Gianna with the letters R.I.P. Others showed the two dressed in uniform walking away into clouds under a basketball net.

“For our generation, our memories of the NBA begin with Jordan, and move through Kobe and Yao Ming. You were a part of our youth. Already missing the bright sun of Kobe. Go well,” wrote commentator “ZhanHao” on the popular Twitter-like Weibo messaging service.

“Your willpower has inspired a generation. Thank you,” wrote “Teacher Kai Ting.” “I hope there is basketball in heaven. Kobe just went to another world to play basketball with his daughter,” wrote “Cici’s green paper.”

At the Australian Open, Americans Coco Gauff and Caty McNally wore written tributes to Bryant on their shoes during their doubles match. The tour-nament tweeted its condolences to the grieving families, and Romania’s Simona Halep said after winning her fourth round

match that Bryant’s death was a “huge loss for the world, for the sport.” Australian tennis legend Rod Laver tweeted he was “terribly sad to wake up to this news.”

In Taiwan, where the NBA also is an enormous draw, Pres-ident Tsai Ing-wen tweeted that her “thoughts go out to the Bryant family & the families of all those who lost loved ones today.”

“Kobe inspired a generation of young Taiwanese basketball players, & his legacy will live on through those who loved him,” Tsai wrote.

Philippine presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo noted that Bryant had been a frequent visitor to the Philip-pines. “He was well-loved by his Filipino fans,” Panelo said in a statement. “On the hard court, he was a sight to behold with his dexterity and accuracy in sinking that ball in the ring. He was a master of his craft. The basketball world has lost one of its legendary greats,” Panelo said.

People gather around a makeshift memorial for former NBA and Los Angeles Lakers player Kobe Bryant after learning of his death, at LA Live plaza in front of Staples Center in Los Angeles yesterday.

Bryant’s helicopter flew in fog that grounded other choppersAP — CALABASAS

The helicopter carrying Kobe Bryant and eight others that crashed into a rugged hillside outside Los Angeles was flying in foggy condi-tions considered dangerous enough that local police agencies grounded their choppers.

The helicopter plunged into a steep hillside at about 9:45am Sunday with an impact that scat-tered debris over an area the size of a football field and killed all aboard.

The accident unleashed an out-pouring of grief from admirers around the world who mourned the sudden loss of the all-time bas-ketball great who spent his entire 20-year career with the Los Angeles Lakers.

Thousands of fans, many wearing Bryant jerseys and chanting his name, gathered outside the Staples Centre in downtown Los Angeles, home of the Lakers and site of Sunday’s Grammy Awards where Bryant was honored.

The 41-year-old Bryant, who perished with his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, was one of the

game’s most popular players and the face of the 16-time NBA champion Lakers. The cause of the crash was unknown, but conditions at the time were such that the Los Angeles Police Department and the county sheriff’s department grounded their helicopters.

The Los Angeles County medical examiner, Dr. Jonathan Lucas, said the rugged terrain complicated efforts to recover the remains. He estimated it would take at least a couple of days to complete that task before identifications can be made.

Bryant’s helicopter left Santa Ana in Orange County, south of Los Angeles, shortly after 9am and circled for a time just east of Inter-state 5, near Glendale.

Air traffic controllers noted poor visibility around Burbank, just to the north, and Van Nuys, to the northwest.

After holding up the helicopter for other aircraft, they cleared the Sikorsky S-76 to proceed north along Interstate 5 through Burbank before turning west to follow U.S Route 101, the Ventura Highway.

Shortly after 9:40am, the heli-copter turned again, toward the

southeast, and climbed to more than 2000 feet (609 meters). It then descended and crashed into the hillside at about 1400 feet (426 meters), according to data from Flightradar24.

When it struck the ground, the helicopter was flying at about 160 knots (184 mph) and descending at a rate of more than 4000 feet per minute, the data showed.

The chopper went down in Cal-abasas, about 30 miles (48 kilom-eters) northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Bryant’s Mamba Sports Academy in nearby Thousand Oaks was holding a basketball tour-nament on Sunday.

Federal transportation safety investigators were on their way to the scene.

Among other things, they will look at the pilot’s history, the chop-per’s maintenance records and the records of its owner and operator, said NTSB board member Jennifer Homendy at a news conference.

Kurt Deetz, a pilot who used to fly Bryant in the chopper, said the crash was more likely caused by bad weather than engine or mechanical issues.

Show host Alicia Keys speaks about the passing of NBA basketball player Kobe Bryant (seen on large screen).

Bryant hailed as ‘true Olympic champion’ by IOC President BachAP — LAUSANNE

Kobe Bryant was as “an outstanding and true Olympic champion,” IOC President Thomas Bach said yesterday.

The basketball great, who was killed in a helicopter crash near Los Angeles on Sunday, helped the United States win Olympic gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Games and the 2012 London Games.

Bryant also worked with the Olympic hosting bid for Los Angeles, the city where he won five NBA titles with the Lakers. When Los Angeles hosts the 2028 Olympics, men’s basketball will be played at the Staples Center, where Bryant played with the Lakers.

“He embraced the power of sport to change peo-ple’s lives,” Bach said in a statement published by the International Olympic Committee.

“After retiring from the game he loved so much, he continued to support the Olympic Movement and was an inspiration for the Olympic Games LA 2028.”

Bryant narrated the final filmed segment of the LA bid team’s presentation in July 2017. He was a member of the bid’s board of directors.

The 41-year-old Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, were among nine people who died in the crash.

“We will all miss his energy and his humble nature,” Bach said. “Our thoughts are with his family and friends and all the other victims.”

International basketball federation secretary general Andreas Zagklis described Bryant as a “sun in the bas-ketball universe, shining on and off the court.”

09TUESDAY 28 JANUARY 2020 SPORT

If you just continue fighting, things can go your way. And I just told myself, ‘Keep fighting, keep fighting'": Sagstrom

Aussie Leishman wins at Torrey Pines AFP — LOS ANGELES

Australia’s Marc Leishman fired eight birdies in a seven-under par 65 on Sunday to win the US PGA Tour title at Torrey Pines by one stroke from overnight leader Jon Rahm.

Leishman started the day four shots behind Spain’s Rahm, but his storming run on Torrey Pines’ South Course gave him a 15-under total of 273.

Rahm, meanwhile, fired a two-under 70 for 274, two shots in front of American Brandt Snedeker and Rory McIlroy -- the Northern Ireland star who could have regained the world number one ranking with a victory.

“Playing well helps,” said Leishman, who has come from behind in all five of his PGA Tour victories.

“I didn’t actually hit it that well off the tee today, so I don’t know what the knack is. Putting, always, you’re not going to win tour events if you’re not putting well.

“I putted probably as good as I’ve ever putted today,” added Leishman, who had five birdies on the front nine.

He drained par-saving putts

at the 12th and 14th, and rebounded from his ony bogey of the day at 17 with a birdie at the last that proved enough for victory.

Leishman’s victory came on Australia Day -- also the same day that fellow Aussie Lucas Herbert claimed his first pro victory at the Dubai Desert

Classic. McIlroy and Rahm struggled in the final group, Rahm playing his first five holes in four-over with two bogeys and a double-bogey. An eagle

and four of his five birdies on the back nine -- including three birdies to end his round -- w e r e n ’ t e n o u g h t o compensate.

McIlroy, meanwhile, began bogey-bogey on the way to 69.

Tiger Woods missed the green on his opening approach and began with a bogey but dropped his approach inches from the cup at the second to set up a birdie and added another tap-in birdie at the par-5 sixth to pull within three strokes of the lead.

The 15-time major champion finished with four birdies in a two-under 70 that left him tied for ninth on 279.

He remains in search of a record 83rd career PGA Tour victory -- having tied Sam Snead’s mark at the Zozo Championship in Japan in October.

As he came off the course Woods learned of the death in a helicopter crash of Kobe Bryant -- the NBA great who started his pro career the same year as Woods.

“People were yelling, ‘Do it for Mamba.’ Now I under-stand,” Woods said. “Unbe-lievably sad.”

Marc Leishman of Australia poses with the Torrey Pines trophy after winning the final round of the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines South in San Diego, California, on Sunday.

Farmers Insurance Open Leading scores after

Sunday's final round of

the US PGA Tour Farmers

Insurance Open at Torrey

Pines in La Jolla, California

(USA unless noted, par-72):

273 - Marc Leishman (AUS) 68-72-68-65274 - Jon Rahm (ESP) 68-71-65-70276 - Brandt Snedeker 69-67-72-68, Rory McIlroy (NIR) 67-73-67-69277 - Tom Hoge 71-71-67-68278 - Bubba Watson 67-73-69-69, Patrick Reed 69-69-70-70, Tony Finau 70-70-68-70279 - Max Homa 73-68-71-67, Patrick Rodgers 70-69-72-68, Beau Hossler 72-66-73-68, Charley Hoffman 69-74-71-65, Tiger Woods 69-71-69-70, Harry Higgs 70-68-69-72280 - Maverick McNealy 71-71-69-69281 - Jason Day (AUS) 73-67-72-69, Keegan Bradley 66-72-73-70, JB Holmes 68-69-71-73, Kang Sung (KOR) 69-71-67-74, Cameron Champ 71-68-68-74

Gainbridge LPGA

Leading scores after Sunday's final round of the Gainbridge LPGA at Boca Rio in Boca Raton, Florida (USA unless noted, par-72):

271 - Madelene Sagstrom (SWE) 72-62-67-70272 - Nasa Hataoka (JPN) 72-64-67- 69,273 - Danielle Kang 72-67-65-69275 - Celine Boutier (FRA) 71-67-67-70277 - Kim Sei-young (KOR) 68-69-67-73278 - Moriya Jutanugarn (THA) 72-67-67-72, Cydney Clanton 72-64-69-73279 - Klara Spilkova (CZE) 72-68-68-71, Jessica Korda 66-73-69-71, Yui Kawamoto (JPN) 68-73-69-69280 - Charley Hull (ENG) 75-68-69-68, Cristie Kerr 72-71-69-68, Lin Xiyu (CHN) 69-72-67-72, Jennifer Song 72-64-72-72281 - Carlota Ciganda (ESP) 69-66-75-71, Georgia Hall (ENG) 70-71-68-72, Brooke Henderson (CAN) 72-68-68-73, Lexi Thompson 73-68-69-71

Sweden’s Sagstrom captures first career LPGA victoryAFP — MIAMI

Madelene Sagstrom earned her first career LPGA Tour title on Sunday with a closing round of two-under 70 to capture the Gainbridge LPGA by one stroke.

The 27-year-old turned pro in 2016 and won in her 69th start on the LPGA Tour, edging out runner-up Nasa Hataoka of Japan and finishing with a 17-under 271 total.

Hataoka shot a final round three-under 69 to finish alone in second.

American Danielle Kang closed with a 69 for sole pos-session of third at 15-under while Celine Boutier (70) was two strokes back in fourth with a 13-under 275. South Korea’s Kim Sei-Young (73) rounded out the top five by finishing at 11-under, six strokes back of Sagstrom.

Sagstrom became the 12th different player from Sweden

to win on the LPGA Tour and the first to win since Pernilla Lindberg won the 2018 ANA Inspiration.

She had shot a third-round 67 to seize a 54-hole lead for the first time in her young career.

The three-time Symetra Tour winner got off to a rocky start Sunday at the Boca Rio Golf Club course with bogeys on two of her first four holes.

“It doesn’t matter how you

start,” Sagstrom said. “If you just continue

fighting, things can go your way. And I just told myself, ‘Keep fighting, keep fighting."

She got her putter going with a birdie on the par-five eighth hole, the fourth straight day she birdied the hole.

Sagstrom then rolled in two straight birdies on Nos. 10 and 11 to get to 16-under. She drained her fourth and final birdie of the day on the par-three 17.

She won by parring the final hole as Hataoka missed a three footer on 18.

Hataoka finished with five birdies and two bogeys. He second bogey came on the par-four 18 which prevented her from getting into a playoff.

“Missing the win gives me more motivation to keep on going for the next many tour-naments coming,” Hataoka said.

Madelene Sagstrom of Sweden poses with the trophy after winning the Gainbridge LPGA at Boca Rio in Boca Raton, Florida on Sunday.

NBA: Lillard scores 50 as Blazers down PacersREUTERS — LOS ANGELES

Damian Lillard continued his scoring spree with 50 points, matched his season high of 13 assists and grabbed six rebounds to lead the Portland Trail Blazers to a 139-129 victory over the visiting Indiana Pacers on Sunday night.

Lillard made 14 of 23 shots from the field -- including 8 of 12 from 3-point range -- to become the first player in fran-chise history to record three straight efforts of 40 points or more.

Lillard has scored 158 points in the three games, beginning with a franchise-record 61 against Golden State today and 47 against Dallas on Thursday.

Lillard has made at least eight 3-pointers in each game and has 27 during the stretch.

CJ McCollum scored 28 points and made six 3-pointers for the Trail Blazers after missing the previous three games because of an ankle injury.

Jeremy Lamb scored 28 points and Domantas Sabonis had 27 points, 14 rebounds and a career-best 11 assists for the Pacers, who lost for just the second time in their past nine games.

Indiana dropped its 11th straight game at Portland.

NBA legend Kobe Bryant died in a helicopter crash earlier Sunday at the age of 41, and both teams remembered him at the outset of the game.

The Trail Blazers won the tip and let the 24-second clock run out without attempting a shot. The Pacers took possession and did not cross midcourt in the

mandatory eight seconds -- the numbers 24 and 8 representing what Bryant wore during his stellar 20-year career with the Los Angeles Lakers.

The Pacers trailed by 17 early in the fourth quarter before Justin Holiday connected on a 3-pointer to complete a 13-4 burst and bring his club to 116-108 with 8:18 remaining.

Indiana later was within seven points before Lillard scored eight straight points -- including two 3-pointers -- to give the Trail Blazers a 129-114 lead with 4:22 remaining.

The Pacers made one last push to cut the deficit to nine points. But Lillard made two free throws to reach 50 points

for the night and make the score 137-126 with 1:26 left en route to Portland closing out the victory.

Hassan Whiteside con-tributed 21 points, 14 rebounds and six blocked shots and Carmelo Anthony had 14 points and eight rebounds for the Trail Blazers, who shot 54.4 percent from the field and 20 of 35 from 3-point range.

Doug McDermott made six 3-pointers while scoring 19 points for Indiana.

Indiana was without Malcolm Brogdon (concussion) and Myles Turner (illness).

Lillard scored 23 first-half points on 7 of 8 shooting from the field as the Trail Blazers held

a 66-56 lead at the break. Sabonis scored 18 before halftime for Indiana.

Meanwhile, Zion Wil-liamson had his first double-double as an NBA player, and the New Orleans Pelicans won for the first time with him in the lineup, 123-108 over the visiting Boston Celtics on Sunday.

Williams, the top pick in the 2019 NBA draft, had 21 points and 11 rebounds in his third game after his debut following preseason knee surgery.

Jrue Holiday scored a team-high 25 points, and Derrick Favors added 15 points and 10 rebounds. Lonzo Ball had a career-high 15 assists to go with eight points.

All-Star guard Kemba Walker led the Celtics with 35 points, Gordon Hayward scored 23, and Jaylen Brown, returning from a two-game absence due to an ankle injury, added 20.

Before the singing of the national anthem, the Pelicans held a 24-second moment of silence in honor of Bryant, who died along with one of his daughters, Gianna, and seven others in a helicopter crash near Los Angeles on Sunday morning.

When the game began, the teams followed the lead of the Spurs and Raptors earlier in the day by dribbling out the shot clock in Bryant's honor on their first possessions.

Play-off push ramps up as NHL returns to actionREUTERS — MIAMI

The NHL playoff race can turn upside down during the stretch run, as the St. Louis Blues proved last season.

The Blues rallied from last place in the league in January to reach the playoffs and rolled through four postseason rounds to win the Stanley Cup. That run provides fuel for this season’s race, which still includes most of the league.

“With the Blues, they found their groove and they kept going last year and rode that wave,” said Toronto Maple Leafs forward Mitch Marner, whose team sat four points out of the playoffs entering this season’s All-Star break.

“We need to find that groove and keep pushing. The teams right behind us and right in front of us are doing the same thing.”

Only the Detroit Red Wings, New Jersey Devils and Ottawa Senators are out of the Eastern Conference race. Only the Anaheim Ducks and Los Angeles Kings appear to be done in the Western Conference, though the San Jose Sharks are sinking fast.

Otherwise, postseason berths are up for grabs for teams that can gain traction and sustain it into April.

For instance, the surprising Columbus Blue Jackets won six consecutive games coming into the All-Star break. They currently sit in the first wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.

Buildings around the Staples Center display screens paying tribute to former NBA and Los Angeles Lakers player Kobe Bryant on Sunday following his death in a helicopter crash near Los Angeles.

10 TUESDAY 28 JANUARY 2020SPORT

Struggling Napoli shock Serie A leaders Juventus

AFP — MILAN

Piotr Zielinski and Lorenzo Insigne scored in the second half as struggling Napoli shocked champions Juventus 2-1 to spoil coach Maurizio Sarri’s return to the Stadio San Paolo on Sunday.

Sarri had not been back to Naples since being sacked in May 2018 after three suc-cessful campaigns, and before moving to Chelsea.

This season he has taken over eight-time reigning champions Juve, a move seen as a betrayal by his former team, the two-time Serie A runners-up.

Juve missed the chance to open up a six-point lead on Inter Milan at the top of the table, after Antonio Conte’s side were earlier held 1-1 by Cagliari, their third consec-utive draw.

“It’s a victory for the whole of Naples,” said Insigne after his team’s first home win in the league since October 19.

Inter are three points behind Juve with Lazio a further two points adrift in third after city rivals Roma ended Simone Inzaghi’s side’s 11-match winning streak.

In Naples, Zielinski broke the deadlock after 63 minutes finishing off a rebound after Insigne was denied by Juve goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny.

Real Madrid go top with victory over ValladolidAFP — VALLADOLID, SPAIN

Real Madrid moved top of La Liga for the first time since October on Sunday after grinding out a 1-0 win away at Real Valladolid to make Barcelona pay for their surprise defeat to Valencia.

It is 16 weeks since Madrid last finished a round top of the pile and it looked like a scrappy contest at the Jose Zorilla would end goalless until Nacho headed in the winner with 12 minutes remaining.

Victory means Zinedine Zidane’s side pull three points ahead of Barca, whose 2-0 loss away at the Mestalla on

Saturday under new coach Quique Setien could prove a turning point in a nip-and-tuck title race.

Madrid now have the luxury of hosting their strug-gling city rivals Atletico Madrid, who are 10 points back after a goalless home draw with Leganes earlier on Sunday, with a cushion next weekend, not to mention on the back of a 19-game unbeaten run.

That streak included them drawing a game they arguably should have won at Camp Nou in December and then lifting the Spanish Super Cup earlier this month in Saudi Arabia.

Neymar dedicates goal to Bryant as PSG go 10 points clearAFP — PARIS

Neymar dedicated his second goal in Paris Saint-Germain’s 2-0 win at Lille to basketball legend Kobe Bryant, whose death in a helicopter crash earlier on Sunday shocked the world, as his double shot the French champions 10 points clear at the top of Ligue 1.

The world’s most expensive player slotted home the 52nd-minute penalty and went over to television cameras by the side of the Stade Pierre Mauroy pitch to make the number 24 with his fingers in honour of Bryant’s shirt number.

“It’s deeply saddening for the world of sport

and for all of us,” said Neymar to Canal+ after the win, which put PSG 10 points clear at the top of the league.

“Not just for basketball fans, but for every-thing he did for sport.” He had already put his side ahead with a fine strike in the first half before putting the game out of reach and increasing the gap between them and second-placed Marseille.

His 12th league goal of the season tipped the balance in the Parisians’ favour after a pos-itive start for the home side, who were unbeaten at home ahead of the match.

The Brazilian almost immediately slipped through Mbappe but the onrushing Mike Maignan stopped the France World Cup winner from clinching his 14th top-flight effort of the campaign.

Mbappe was stopped again by Maignan when he got his body in the way of a fierce close-range effort, but the away side were given a penalty soon after for a clear Gabriel handball just before the forward’s shot.

Neymar squeezed his spot-kick just beyond Maignan, who got his hand to the shot but looked on in horror as it made its way in off the post.

Lille stay seventh after the defeat, two points away from the European places.

Neymar’s tribute came on what was already an emotional day in French football, with Nantes and Bordeaux also honouring their former striker Emiliano Sala, a year after his death in a plane crash.

The clubs remembered Argentine forward Sala before the Derby de l’Atlantique at the Stade de la Beaujoire.

Bordeaux won 1-0 courtesy of a late goal by Jimmy Briand as Nantes played most the second half with 10 men after the dismissal of Andrei Girotto.

Real Madrid’s Nacho celebrates scoring their first goal with team-mates in the La Liga match against Real Valladolid at the Estadio Jose Zorrilla in Valladolid, Spain on Sunday.

Neymar dedicates his second goal to Kobe Byrant in the Ligue 1 match against Lille, on Sunday.

England register thumping winAFP — JOHANNESBURG

Ben Stokes and Mark Wood made a double strike shortly before tea, breaking stubborn South African resistance and setting up a 191-run win for England on the fourth day of the fourth and final Test at the Wanderers Stadium yesterday.

The win clinched a 3-1 series victory for England.

Set to make a world record 466 to win, South Africa reached 181 for two before Stokes bowled home captain Faf du Plessis for 35.

In the next over man-of-the-match Wood dismissed Rassie van der Dussen for 98. He went on to claim four for 54 to finish with match figures of nine for 100.

Quinton de Kock and Temba Bavuma shone briefly but South Africa were bowled out for 274.

Van der Dussen and Du Plessis batted for all but 13

minutes of an extended two-and-a-half hour afternoon session to give South Africa some hope, making the England bowlers toil on a hot afternoon.

But Stokes bowled a ball which hit a crack and kept low, deflecting off the toe of Du Plessis’ bat into the stumps.

Van der Dussen looked set for a maiden Test century but in the next over he fell to Wood two short of the landmark.

He had batted impressively, hitting 15 fours and two sixes in a 133-ball innings but both he and Du Plessis were given a torrid time by Wood, bowling at express pace on a pitch

where the bounce was grad-ually becoming more unpredictable.

With tea looming, England set a field which suggested a short-pitched barrage was likely. But Wood then bowled a full-length delivery which Van der Dussen drove awk-wardly to short cover where Stuart Broad held a good diving catch.

It was the second wicket for Stokes -- both which came at crucial times shortly before an interval. His first victim was opening batsman Dean Elgar, who was caught and bowled playing an awkward pull shot

in the penultimate over before lunch. Stokes finished with two for 47. De Kock and Bavuma batted brightly in a fifth wicket stand of 48 before Broad bowled a vicious bouncer which Bavuma gloved to wicketkeeper Jos Buttler.

Broad had Dwaine Pretorius caught at fine leg in his next over and the rest followed.

Vernon Philander, playing in his last Test, struck a couple of beefy blows before falling to Wood who supplied the coup de grace, another lifting ball flicking Anrich Nortje’s glove on its way through to Buttler down the legside.

Pakistan and Bangladesh T20 rained off

AFP — LAHORE

The third Twenty20 interna-tional between Pakistan and Bangladesh was abandoned without a ball being bowled yesterday because of bad weather in Lahore, giving the home side a 2-0 series victory.

Murky conditions and drizzle delayed the scheduled 13:00 pm (0830 GMT) toss at the Gadaffi stadium pitch, but play was called off three hours later.

Pakistan won the first match by five wickets on Friday and the second by nine wickets the next day.

The series win helped Pakistan hang on to their number one ranking in Twenty20 internationals with 270 points, leading Australia by just one point.

Pakistan skipper Babar Azam said the series win will help the team’s confidence.

“Our bowling was out-standing in both the games... helped us keep them down to low totals,” said Babar who lost 2-0 in Australia last year in his first series as skipper.

Bangladesh skipper Mah-mudullah said the loss was disappointing.

Bangladesh will fly out but return on February 5 to play the first of two Tests, in Rawalpindi.

They play a one-day inter-national on April 3 in Karachi, and the second Test starting April 7.

Zimbabwe (I innings) P Masvaure c N Dickwella b L Kumara ..

9 Kevin Kasuza b Suranga Lakmal .....38

C Ervine c O Fernando b D de Silva .... 12

B Taylor lbw S Lakmal .........................62

S Williams b D de Silva ...................... 107

S Raza c A Mathews b L Embuldeniya 72

Regis Chakabva (batting) .................... 31

Tinotenda Mutombodzi (batting) ....... 10

Extras (8B 2LB 1NB) ............................ 11

Total (90.0 overs) ..................352-6Fall of Wickets: 1-21, 2-49, 3-114,

4-133, 5-292, 6-324

Bowling: Suranga Lakmal 17-6-31-2 1nb

Vishwa Fernando 14-1-45-0; Lahiru Ku-

mara 15-3-46-1; Lasith Embuldeniya 30-

3-153; Dhananjaya de Silva 14-0-67-2

SCOREBOARD

Williams century gives Zimbabwe upper hand against Sri Lanka

AFP — HARARE

A fine second Test century by Sean Williams enabled Zimbabwe to dominate the opening day of the second Test against Sri Lanka in Harare yesterday, as they reached 352 for six at the close.

The Zimbabwe captain, who won the toss and chose to bat first, made 107 from 137 balls, an innings which swung between the swashbuckling, with 10 fours and three sixes, and the pragmatic. He was well backed up by Brendan Taylor who made a run-a-ball 62 and Sikandar Raza who hit two sixes and four fours in his 72.

Looking to bounce back

from last week’s 10-wicket defeat at the same venue in the first Test, Zimbabwe pressed on in the evening with Regis Chakabva on 31 and debutant Tinotenda Mutombodzi on 10.

After the early losses of Prince Masvaure and Craig Ervine, Taylor began the counter-attack, hitting 10 fours and one six over long-off from left-arm spinner Lasith Embuldeniya in his brisk knock.

Taylor scored the lion’s share of the runs in a 65-run partnership with opener Kevin Kasuza who played in spite of being ‘substituted’ for the second innings in last week’s first Test after being hit on the head while fielding at short leg.

Kasuza batted through the morning before losing his off stump to Suranga Lakmal for 38. Lakmal, who bowled superbly in the first Test, pro-duced another fine delivery to remove Taylor, nipping one back to peg him leg before.

Williams began swiftly gal-loping to 36 from just 36 balls. He slowed slightly to reach his third Test half-century and found a handy partner in Raza.

Together they added 159 for the fifth wicket as the Sri Lankans struggled to plug the gaps in the field. The break-through came when Raza, on 72, miscued a pull off Embuldeniya and dollied up a catch to Angelo Mathews.

Zimbabwe’s captain Sean Williams celebrates after scoring a century against Sri Lanka at the Harare Sports Club in Harare, yesterday.

Visitors outplay South Africa in fourth Test to clinch a 3-1 series victory

England (I Innings) ...................400South Africa (I Innings) ..............183England (II Innings) ...................... 248South Africa (II Innings) P Malan c Ben Stokes b C Woakes .....22

Dean Elgar c&b Ben Stokes ................24

Dussen c S Broad b M Wood ..............98

Faf du Plessis b B Stokes .................... 35

Q de Kock c C Woakes b M Wood ......39

T Bavuma c Jos Buttler b S Broad ...... 27

D Pretorius c Sam Curran b S Broad ..... 2

V Philander c Jos Buttler b M Wood . 10

A Nortje c J Buttler b M Wood ..............4

B Hendricks run out D Sibley ................4

Extras (4B 2LB 3W) .............................9

Total (all out) ............................. 274 Fall of Wickets: 1-39, 2-89, 3-181,

4-187, 5-235, 6-239, 7-260, 8-267,

9-273, 10-274

Bowling: Stuart Broad 10-1-26-2; Sam

Curran 11-2-38-0 1w; Mark Wood 16.1-3-

54-4 1w; Chris Woakes 14-3-47-1; Ben

Stokes 16-4-47-2 1w; Joe Root 7-1-37-0

Joe Denly 3-0-19-0

SCOREBOARD

England’s Ben Stokes and Joe Root hold the respective Man-of-the-Series and Basil D’Oliveira trophies as they pose for a photograph with team-mates after winning the Test series at the Imperial Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg, South Africa, yesterday.

11TUESDAY 28 JANUARY 2020 SPORT

Spain’s Rafael Nadal celebrates after victory against Australia’s Nick Kyrgios during their singles match on day eight of the Australian Open in Melbourne yesterday.

Nadal beats Kyrgios to reach Australian Open quarter-finalsREUTERS — MELBOURNE

Rafa Nadal suffered his first lost set of the tournament but rode out a challenge from a wholly committed Nick Kyrgios to move into the quarter-finals of the Australian Open for the 12th time with a 6-3 3-6 7-6(6) 7-6(4) victory yesterday.

Kyrgios was a match for the 19-times Grand Slam champion in the second set and for much of the third but the muscle-bound Spaniard looked like the most likely winner once he got his nose back in front.

The Australian, however, broke back when Nadal was serving for the match in the fourth set, reigniting the contest and bringing the partisan Rod Laver Arena crowd back into the equation.

The world number one gritted his teeth and went again in the tiebreak and moved through to a last-eight meeting with Austrian Dominic Thiem when Kyrgios netted a forehand after three hours and 38 minutes.

“It was a very tough match, it seemed like I had control at the start, but against Nick you are never in control,” said Nadal, who hit 64 winners to Kyrgios’s 50.

Kyrgios showed once again he has the skills to be a Grand Slam champion and will console himself at having shown more of the mental for-titude and discipline he will need to win major prizes.

“When he is playing like today with this positive attitude, he gives a lot of positive things

to our sport,” said Nadal, who has previously criticised Kyr-gios’s behaviour. “He is one of the best talents we have. I like the Nick Kyrgios of this tournament.”

The match was preceded by a ceremony honouring the 50th anniversary of the Grand Slam achieved by Margaret Court, once adored by Australians for her tennis prowess but now a more divisive figure because of her opposition to same-sex marriage.

Kyrgios has proved divisive himself due to his on-court antics, but has earned praise in recent weeks for kickstarting the Tennis Australia bushfire relief appeal which has raised

more than A$5.6m ($3.8m)There was a more recent

tragedy on his mind yesterday and he sported an LA Lakers shirt in the warm-up.

A basketball fanatic, Kyrgios appeared to be close to tears as he walked out on court only a few hours after the death of Kobe Bryant.

“It’s horrible news,” said Kyrgios. “(But) if anything, it motivated me. If you look at the things he stood for, what he wanted to be remembered by, it helped me tonight.

“When I was down a break in the fourth, I was definitely thinking about it. I fought back.”

After the match Nadal described Bryant as “one of the

g r e a t e s t sportsmen in history” - an elite he would surely also rank among.

He has always found Kyrgios a tricky propo-sition, however, and held only a 4-3 career record a g a i n s t t h e Australian.

The Spaniard looked well on the way to making that 5-3 when he raced through the first set against a s l o w - s t a r t i n g Kyrgios in cool, blustery condi-tions. Kyrgios n e e d e d 1 4 minutes to hold at the start of the second set but

two games later had a break when his forehand pass at the end of an 18-shot rally just kissed the baseline.

The Australian served out the set with two aces and, with the crowd roaring his every point, the contest moved into a blockbuster of a 72-minute third set.

The pair slugged it out through one intense game after another and on to an equally tough tiebreak, which Nadal, also feeling the pressure, sealed despite passing up one set point with a double fault.

The Australian handed Nadal an early break for 2-1 lead in the fourth with a double fault, but the “new” Nick

Spain’s Rafael Nadal (right) shakes hands with Australia’s Nick Kyrgios after their match at the Australian Open in Melbourne.

Kyrgios was not about to lie down and took the set to its dramatic conclusion in the tiebreak.

“I’m shattered to have lost

tonight,” said Kyrgios. “(But) I feel like I’ve made progress as a human (this summer)... I want to keep going in this direction, for sure.”

Wawrinka edges Medvedev in Melbourne battleAP — MELBOURNE

As the fourth-set tiebreaker ended, Stan Wawrinka tapped his right temple with his index finger, his signature cele-bration. He probably figured he had his Australian Open opponent right where he wanted him.

Heading to a fifth set.Wawrinka came back to beat US

Open runner-up Daniil Medvedev 6-2, 2-6, 4-6, 7-6 (2), 6-2 yesternday to reach the quarterfinals at Melbourne Park, where he won the 2014 championship.

This was Wawrinka’s 51st career five-setter, which is tied for the sixth-most on record in men’s tennis history, and his 29th such victory.

The No. 4-seeded Medvedev, mean-while? He is now 0-6 when going the distance.

“Of course,” Medvedev said, “feels not good to never win one.”

Consider this a win for age and experience.

“I still have only - I don’t know how many, but not many years left,” Wawrinka said. “I want to do the maximum with it.”

Wawrinka is 34, Medvedev 23. Wawrinka owns three Grand Slam

titles in all and now is on his way to his 18th major quarter-final.

Medvedev’s lone run to that stage at a Slam came at Flushing Meadows last September, when he eliminated Wawrinka along the way to eventually losing in the final against Rafael Nadal in -- yep, you guessed it -- five sets.

This one hinged on the conclusion of the fourth set, when Wawrinka came through by taking the last three points of the tiebreaker.

Medvedev began to wilt right then, part of a portion of the match when he ceded 12 of 13 points. That stretch included a break in the final set’s initial game when Medvedev sent a forehand long.

The 15th-seeded Wawrinka will meet No. 7 Alexander Zverev, who put an end to No. 17 Andrey Rublev’s 15-match winning streak by beating him 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 yesterday night.

Zverev, a 22-year-old German, is into his first quarter-final in Australia and third at a major tournament.

The men’s quarter-finals today will be defending champion Novak Djokovic

against No. 32 Milos Raonic of Canada, and Roger Federer against 100th-ranked Tennys Sandgren of the United States.

After beating No. 10 Gael Monfils 6-2, 6-4, 6-4 yesterday, Thiem said he planned to kick back and watch Nadal vs. Kyrgios on TV.

For scouting purposes, sure, but also for its expected entertainment value.

After losing a second consecutive final at Roland Garros to Nadal in June, Thiem didn’t win another match at a Grand Slam tournament in 2019, losing first-rounders at Wimbledon and the US Open. But now he’s into his first quar-terfinal at Melbourne Park.

There was an Australian Open debut quarter-finalist on the women’s side, too: No. 28 Anett Kontaveit of Estonia rallied from a set and a break down to beat 18-year-old Iga Swiatek of Poland 6-7 (4), 7-5, 7-5, despite being broken twice while serving for the match.

“Absolutely delighted that she found a way to get through. I mean, it wasn’t the easiest to watch,” said Kontaveit’s coach, Nigel Sears. “A bit of an emo-tional roller-coaster. Certainly put me through the ringer today.”

Kontaveit, who had been 0-3 in the fourth round at majors, next plays two-time major champion and 2018 Aus-tralian Open runner-up Simona Halep.

“Mentally,” Halep said after her 6-4, 6-4 win over Elise Mertens, “I think I did a great job today.”

Another two-time Grand Slam title winner advanced to the quarter-finals when Garbiñe Muguruza eliminated No. 9 seed Kiki Bertens 6-3, 6-3.

Muguruza won the 2016 French Open and 2017 Wimbledon. She is unseeded at a Grand Slam tournament for the first time since the 2014 French Open. Now she’ll face the 30th-seeded Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who defeated three-time major champion Angelique Kerber 6-7 (5), 7-6 (4).

Kerber won the 2016 Australian Open, and her departure means that there will be a first-time champion at Melbourne Park this year.

Nadal praises Kyrgios after weathering storm to make Open quarters

AFP — MELBOURNE

World number one Rafael Nadal praised showman Nick Kyrgios yesterday after weath-ering a fierce storm to reach the Australian Open quarter-finals and keep alive his quest for a 20th Grand Slam title.

The Spanish top seed came through a riveting clash on Rod Laver Arena 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (8/6), 7-6 (7/4) to end the gallant hopes of the bas-ketball-mad Australian, who came on court wearing an LA Lakers shirt in honour of Kobe Bryant.

He will now face fifth seed Dominic Thiem after the Aus-trian swept past Gael Monfils 6-2, 6-4, 6-4.

“When he wants to play tennis, when he’s focused on what he’s doing, I think he’s a very important player for our sport because he has a big talent,” said Nadal, the 2009 champion.

“I am never against his way or style to play. When I criticised him in the past it’s because I think he did a couple of things that are not right and are not the right image of our sport and for the kids. But when he’s doing the right things, I am the first one who supports this.”

Their clash was billed as a grudge match after a series of bad-tempered exchanges last year when Nadal accused Kyrgios of lacking respect and the Australian fired back that the Spaniard was “super salty”. But Kyrgios struck a concili-atory tone beforehand, and the match was played with respect.

The Australian said he was “shattered to lose” but hailed Nadal for “the champion he is, the player he is” and said he was working hard to keep up his new-found positivity.

“The trouble for me is being able to actually just produce the same attitude over and over again,” he said. “I mean, hopefully I can keep doing it. I’m just taking it day by day, trying to be positive, just bring positive vibes.”

RESULTS YESTERDAY FROM AUSTRALIAN OPEN AT MELBOURNE PARK (SEEDINGS IN PARENTHESES):

Men's Singles - 4th RoundDominic Thiem (5), Austria, def. Gael Monfils (10), France, 6-2, 6-4, 6-4.Stan Wawrinka (15), Switzerland, def. Daniil Medvedev (4), Russia, 6-2, 2-6, 4-6, 7-6 (2), 6-2.Alexander Zverev (7), Germany, def. Andrey Rublev (17), Russia, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4.Rafael Nadal (1), Spain, def. Nick Kyrgios (23), Australia, 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (6), 7-6 (4).

Women's Singles - 4th RoundSimona Halep (4), Romania, def. Elise Mertens (16), Belgium, 6-4, 6-4.Anett Kontaveit (28), Estonia, def. Iga Swiatek, Poland, 6-7 (4), 7-5, 7-5.Garbine Muguruza, Spain, def. Kiki Bertens (9), Netherlands, 6-3, 6-3.A Pavlyuchenkova (30), Russia, def. Angelique Kerber (17), Germany, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (4), 6-2

Men’s singles quarter-finals line-upRafael Nadal (Spain x1) vs Dominic Thiem (Austria x5),Tennys Sandgren (US) vs Roger Federer (Switzerland x3)Milos Raonic (Canada x32) vs Novak Djokovic (Serbia x2)Stan Wawrinka (Switzerland x15) vs Alexander Zverev (Germany x7)

Women’s singles quarter-finals line-up Ashleigh Barty (AUS x1) vs Petra Kvitova (CZE x7)Sofia Kenin (USA x14) vs Ons Jabeur (TUN)Anett Kontaveit (EST x28) vs Simona Halep (ROU x4) Garbine Muguruza (ESP) vs A Pavlyuchenkova (RUS x30)

Switzerland’s Stanislas Wawrinka gives a hug to Russia’s Daniil Medvedev (left) after their singles match on day eight of the Australian Open in Melbourne.

Germany’s Alexander Zverev (left) embraces Russia’s Andrey Rublev after victory during their match at the Australian Open.

SPORT | 09

Sagstrom captures first career LPGA

victory

SPORTEngland register thumping win

SPORT | 10

TUESDAY 28 JANUARY 2020

Al Rayyan face Esteghlal hurdle as Al Sailiya eye upset in ACL play-offsARMSTRONG VAS THE PENINSULA

Qatar’s Al Rayyan and Al Sailiya are among 16 teams which will be vying for the eight places up for grabs in the AFC Champions League (ACL) main draw when they take to the field today in the play-off matches.

Today’s matches will decide on the final eight teams which will make it to the 2020 AFC Champions League group stage as the teams fight for their passage to the Continental tour-nament in the one-legged Play-off Round.

Four games will take place in the East and a further four in the West, with former Asian champions Kashima Antlers, Al Ain and Esteghlal among those competing to secure a place in the 18th edition of the competition.

Qatar fortunes will revolve around Al Rayyan and Al Sailiya, who aim to join Al Sadd and Al Duhail, the top two teams in the 2018-19 QNB Stars League (QSL), who have qual-ified directly for the group stage of Asia’s premier club competition.

Al Sailiya and Al Rayyan qualified for the play off by virtue of finishing the third and fourth in last season’s QSL.

Al Rayyan take on Iran’s

Esteghlal at the Al Sadd Stadium with a 6.15pm kick-off.

Al Rayyan are aiming to qualify for the 10th time although they have never been able to make it beyond the group stage.

The pair last faced off in the 2018 group stage, with the

game in Doha ending 2-2 and Esteghlal winning 2-0 in Tehran as the Iranian side advanced and Al Rayyan exited.

Esteghlal qualified to play Al Rayyan after they defeated Kuwait SC 3-0 in Dubai in the preliminary round on January 25. The winners of the Al

Rayyan vs Esteghlal match will join Group A, which includes the UAE’s Al Wahda, Iraq’s Al Shorta and the winners of another play-off between Saudi Arabia’s Al Ahli and Tajikistan’s FC Istiklol, also be played today.

The other QSl side Al Sailiya, making their debut in the championship after having their best-ever finish in the Qatar League under Tunisian coach Sami Trabelsi last season are eyeing a upset in today’s match. The match is one of the more intriguing clashes of the Play-offs Round as Al Sailiya take on Iran’s Shahr Khodro.

Al Sailiya finished third in the Qatar Stars League last year to move within a game of advancing to the Continental competition and boast Iranian international Karim Ansarifard within their ranks.

Shahr Khodro, meanwhile, came fourth in the Iranian Pro League and edged past Bah-rain’s Riffa 2-1 in Preliminary Round 2 on Saturday.

The Al Sailiya-Shahr Khodro kick-off is at 18:10 at the Al Duhail Stadium. The winners of the Al Sailiya vs Shahr Khodro game will join Group B, which includes Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal, Shabab Al Ahli Dubai and Uzbekistan’s Pakhtakor.

Al Rayyan players train in Doha on the eve of their today's AFC Champions League play-off match against Iran's Esteghlal in Doha.

FIFA Technical Experts’ Workshop kicks off in DohaTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

A FIFA workshop for Technical Experts was opened yesterday by Mansoor Al Ansari, Secretary General of Qatar Football Asso-ciation (QFA), with the partici-pation of 100 experts and coaches - including Arsene Wenger.

Fahd Thani, Director of the Development Department of QFA was also present at the opening ceremony of the workshop that will last for five days.

Stephane Martinez, the FIFA coach who heads the workshop was also present.

World-class coaches such as Germany’s Erik Reutemüller, April Dawn Heinrichs of the US and Englishman Stephen McLaren were also present.

The opening ceremony kicked off with remarks from Al Ansari, who welcomed the participants on behalf of Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa bin Ahmed Al Thani, President of QFA.

Al Ansari said Qatar remains proud to host the workshop for the second year in running. He thanked FIFA for taking such events to Qatar where QFA underlines great importance in contributing positively to the game’s development on and off

the field. The QFA Secretary General said Qatar’s rapid progress to stage the 2022 FIFA World Cup also includes hosting workshops and technical courses to help new entrants learn the game from the top experts around the world.

For his part, FIFA coach Martinez thanked the QFA for hosting the workshop and for putting in effort to take the game forward through help of the game’s experts.

He said that the important thing is that all the federations

work closely with FIFA so that the development of the game away from the field bears fruit in quick time. Former Arsenal coach Wenger stressed the importance of continuous work towards developing the football s y s t e m a n d i t s

affiliates, especially coaches. The activities of the workshop will continue on a daily basis from 11:00am until 7:3opm, QFA said yesterday. Last year Doha hosted the first workshop across 4 seminars attended by dozens of experts and coaches.

Qatar win fourth consecutive Asian titleARMSTRONG VAS — THE PENINSULA

Qatar crushed South Korea 33-21 to win the 19th Asian Championship in Kuwait, their fourth continental title in a row.

Yesterday win in the final further stamped Qatar dominance in the region as it was their fourth successive Asian title having earlier won in 2014, 2016 and 2018.

South Korea are the record winners of the continental event, having won it nine times, but their last success was in 2012.

It is the Qataris who have estab-lished themselves as the dominant Asian force since then, besides winning the Asian title thrice and reaching the World Championship final on home soil in 2015.

Qatar meant business right from the kick off and had no trouble in taking a

firm grip over the proceedings. They started on a flourish and went into the half time break with the scores leading 14-11.

In the second half, Qatar stepped up the pace and widen the gap and wrapped up the proceedings in an emphatic fashion registering a facile win. This is the second defeat South Korea suffered at the hands of Qatar at the Championship in Kuwait.

The winners of the last three edi-tions saw off the last bronze medallists 37-24 in the group match.

Bahrain, who lost to Qatar in the semi-final, have been runners-up at four out of the last five Asian Championships, including all of the last three behind Qatar. Besides the finalists, the other two losing semi-finalists also qualified for the 2021 World Men’s Handball Cham-pionship to be held in Egypt.

Al Annabi overcome South Korea to clinch 19th Asian Handball Championship in Kuwait

Mourners arrive at a makeshift shrine at Staples Center after retired Los Angeles Lakers basketball star Kobe Bryant was killed in a helicopter crash, in Los Angeles, California, on Sunday. (See pages 26, 27 and 28 for related news)

Qatar winners of the 19th Asian Championship pose for a group picture.

Former Arsenal coach Arsene Wenger, delivering a talk during the FIFA workshop for Technical Experts in Doha yesterday. RIGHT: Participants pose for a group picture.