[attach id=400807 size="medium"][/attach]
Basketball, NBA: Kobe Bryant’s (picture) NBA season effectively ended on Wednesday after he had surgery to repair a torn rotator cuff in his right shoulder that will sideline him for nine months. The five-time National Basketball Association champion, who injured his shoulder last week in a loss to the Pelicans in New Orleans, underwent a procedure lasting two hours, the team said in a statement. “I expect Kobe to make a full recovery and if all goes as expected, he should be ready for the start of the season,” Dr Neal ElAttrache, who performed the surgery, said.
Cricket: Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara added another milestone to his already storied career when he broke the world record for the most dismissals by a wicketkeeper in one-day internationals against New Zealand in Wellington yesterday. The 37-year-old Sangakkara, who is expected to retire from international cricket after the World Cup, passed Adam Gilchrist as the most successful wicketkeeper with the dismissal of Corey Anderson in the seventh and final one-dayer. The former Sri Lanka captain took his career tally to 473 dismissals when he caught New Zealand all-rounder Anderson off the bowling of Shaminda Eranga.
Rugby Union: England lock Geoff Parling is joining Exeter on a two year deal from Premiership rivals Leicester. The 31-year-old, who is battling to be fit for England’s Six Nations opener against Wales on Feb. 6, has 21 caps and played in all three British and Irish Lions tests against Australia in 2013. “It’s an exciting move for me and a new challenge at the Chiefs that I’m very looking forward to,” said Parling. “They have a great set-up and a young, enthusiastic bunch of boys who play a grand brand of rugby.”
Tennis: Former Wimbledon and US Open champion Lleyton Hewitt has announced his intention to retire from tennis after playing his 20th Australian Open next year. However, the 33-year-old will remain involved in the game by taking over as Australian Davis Cup captain at some point in the future. Current captain Pat Rafter stood down with immediate effect yesterday, with interim skipper Wally Masur taking charge of the team for their World Group tie in the Czech Republic in March. “I’ve thought long and hard,” Hewitt said in a press conference at Melbourne Park. “I plan to play the Aussie Open next year and most likely finish then.”
Golf: Australia’s former British Open winner Kel Nagle died yesterday, aged 94. Tributes began flowing in after the PGA of Australia released a statement saying golf’s oldest-living major winner had passed away at a Sydney hospital. “I heard the news this morning... and it’s always very sad when one of the legends of the game passes away,” world number one Rory McIlroy said. “I do know a little bit of his Open win at St. Andrews in 1960 when he beat Arnold Palmer so it will be sad occasion this year for everyone heading back to the Old Course,” added McIlroy, who won last year’s British Open at Hoylake. “But then I’m sure there will be a few glasses raised in Mr Nagle’s memory at the Former Champions Dinner.”
Olympics 2016: The 2016 Olympic torch relay will pass through nearly 250 cities in Brazil, giving 90 per cent of the population the chance to see it, before finishing in Rio. “The torch will go to all corners of Brazil, to the furthest and most difficult points, to allow the Brazilian people to participate,” organising committee president Carlos Nuzman told reporters. The relay will pass through the capitals of all the 26 states, plus the federal district of Brasilia, via a route of 20,000 kilometres and last about 100 days. Nuzman said work was being carried out to ensure the relay was safe.