Basket, NBA: Orlando Magic caught fire in the fourth quarter to stun Los Angeles Lakers 113-103 and get the better of former player Dwight Howard. In their first meeting since trading Howard to Los Angeles in the off-season, struggling Magic surprised the Lakers by scoring 40 fourth-quarter points to snatch the victory away from home. Arron Afflalo led the way with 30 points while Glen Davis added 23 to help Orlando (6-10) snap a three-game losing streak and win the battle against Howard.
Tennis: Ukraine tennis player Sergei Bubka said he is lucky to be alive after suffering multiple fractures in a horrifying fall from a fourth-floor Paris apartment. The 25-year-old son of Ukraine’s former Olympic and world champion polevault legend, and boyfriend of current women’s number one Victoria Azarenka, plunged to the ground from the flat in the French capital’s plush 16th arrondissement last month. “The circumstances leading to the fall were all so unlucky, but since the accident I feel I have been really lucky,” Bubka said.
Horse Racing: Legendary jockey Frankie Dettori will today learn his fate for failing a drugs test when French racing’s ruling body France Galop issue their verdict at a disciplinary hearing. The England-based Italian failed a dope test after riding in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe trials at Longchamp on September 16. Through his lawyer, Christopher Stewart-Moore, the jockey admitted to testing positive for a non-performance enhancing product. British media have reported that it was a recreational drug.
Alpine Skiing: Another race at Lake Louise, another win for Lindsey Vonn, who triumphed in a women’s alpine World Cup super-G on Sunday to complete another three-race sweep in the Canadian Rockies. Vonn was timed in 1:22.82, beating fellow American Julia Mancuso by 43-hundredths of a second. Vonn hopes her continued domination on the women’s circuit will convince skiing’s officials to grant her request to race against the top men in the world.
Cricket: South Africa confirmed their no.1 ranking in Test cricket by thrashing Australia by 309 runs in the third Test at the WACA Ground yesterday to claim a series win and spoil Ricky Ponting’s farewell. Set a mammoth target of 632 runs to win, Australia lost their first wicket on the second ball of the fourth day and never recovered, eventually dismissed for 322 as the Proteas retained the no.1 ranking in Test cricket. In his 168th and final Test, retiring Australian champion Ponting made just eight runs in his last innings at the top level.
Golf: Prize money for the 2013 World Match Play Championship will rise to three million euros, Per Ericsson, president of event management for sponsors Volvo said yesterday. The figure marks a nine per cent increase over the 2012 total of €2.75 million. Bulgaria will host a European tour event for the first time when the 2013 World Match Play Championship is staged at the Black Sea resort of Thracian Cliffs from May 16-19. The elite World Match Play Championship, celebrating its 50th year in 2013, will gather 24 of the world’s best players to compete for the title.
Sports Awards: Tennis star Samantha Stosur received the award for Australia’s most outstanding player of the year for a third consecutive year at the Australian Tennis Awards in Melbourne, organisers said. The former US Open champion won the prestigious Newcombe Medal, defeating Australia’s top-ranked male player Marinko Matosevic, former world number one Lleyton Hewitt and 2011 French Open mixed doubles champion Casey Dellacqua.