Olympics: Germany is to bid to host the 2024 Summer Games in Berlin or Hamburg, the country’s Olympic sports confederation (DOSB) said this week. The DOSB added that a decision will be made on March 21, 2015 on which of the two cities will be picked. “Olympic and Paralympic Games are the most important events for German sports,” said president Alfons Hoermann in a statement. “Sustainable Olympic and Paralympic Games are a chance for the entire country and especially for the city hosting the Games and its region.” The 2016 Summer Games will be held in Rio de Janeiro while Tokyo is to host the 2020 Olympic Games.
Snooker: Ronnie O’Sullivan and Mark Williams – two players with seven world titles and 44 ranking events between them – will clash in the quarter-finals of the International Championship in Chengdu today. O’Sullivan won 6-1 for the second consecutive day, beating China’s Li Hang with top breaks of 59, 90, 50, 63 and 53. Williams scored a 6-4 win over Sam Baird, who missed the chance to reach the quarter-finals of a ranking event for the first time. Robert Milkins came from 2-1 down to beat Xiao Guodong 6-4 and last year’s beaten finalist Marco Fu top scored with 91 in a 6-4 defeat of Rod Lawler.
[attach id=378680 size="medium"][/attach]
Swimming: Fran Halsall (picture) continued her fine form yesterday by picking up a gold and a silver on day two of the FINA Swimming World Cup event in Tokyo. The Southport-born 24-year-old, victorious in the 50m freestyle and backstroke on Tuesday, won gold in the 100 metres freestyle and followed that up with silver – in a new British record of 25.29 seconds – in the 50m butterfly.
Basket, NBA: Los Angeles Lakers fell to a 108-90 defeat to Houston Rockets in the NBA season opener at the Staples Center but the game was overshadowed after rookie Julius Randle broke his right leg in the fourth quarter. The 19-year-old forward collided with two Rockets players under the basket and collapsed to the court in agony before leaving in a wheelchair. Kobe Bryant returned for the Lakers for the first time in 10 months but he was unable to stop the defeat to the Rockets, as James Harden scored 32 points and Dwight Howard added 13 points and 11 rebounds.
Horse Racing: Connections of Red Cadeaux highlighted the popular stayer’s love of Flemington as being a major factor behind his superb record in the Melbourne Cup. Ed Dunlop’s eight-year-old will next Tuesday run in his fourth consecutive renewal of the great race, having twice finished second. Red Cadeaux has not been sighted on a racetrack since finishing seventh in the September Stakes at Kempton, but he is reportedly giving off enough strong vibes to anticipate yet another bold show in the Melbourne Cup. “He’s been fantastic, and has got a constitution that helps him a lot,” Dunlop’s head lad, Robin Trevor-Jones, said. “The two-mile Flemington track suits him, that’s one of the reason we keep coming back.”
Basketball: Former NBA player Josh Childress, of the United States, has shut down his Twitter account after being subject to racial abuse for flooring an opponent during a local league match in Australia. The 31-year-old Childress, who plays for Sydney Kings in Australia’s National Basketball League, was suspended for one game for unduly rough play after rushing at and striking Perth Wildcats forward Jesse Wagstaff with his forearm in an ugly incident during a game on Saturday. The former Atlanta Hawks, Phoenix Suns and Brooklyn Nets player was subject to a torrent of abuse on Twitter, some of it racial, with several posters telling him to leave the country.