Porsche’s Wehrlein takes Formula E title in London

Porsche’s Wehrlein takes Formula E title in London
: Porsche’s Pascal Wehrlein clinched the electric Formula E championship at the final round of the season in London on Sunday. (TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team)
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Updated 22 July 2024
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Porsche’s Wehrlein takes Formula E title in London

Porsche’s Wehrlein takes Formula E title in London

LONDON: Porsche’s Pascal Wehrlein clinched the electric Formula E championship at the final round of the season in London on Sunday as the hopes of Jaguar duo Mitch Evans and Nick Cassidy were dashed.

The German former Formula One driver had started the day three points clear of Evans and seven ahead of Cassidy but the New Zealanders failed to make up the ground in the season 10 finale.

Wehrlein finished second to Nissan’s race winner Oliver Rowland at London’s ExCel with Evans taking third and Cassidy retiring with a puncture.

Jaguar won the teams’ title, their first, while Porsche took the inaugural manufacturers’ championship.


Leicester’s slide continues in 2-0 loss to West Ham in Premier League

Leicester’s slide continues in 2-0 loss to West Ham in Premier League
Updated 28 February 2025
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Leicester’s slide continues in 2-0 loss to West Ham in Premier League

Leicester’s slide continues in 2-0 loss to West Ham in Premier League

LONDON: West Ham handed relegation-threatened Leicester its fourth straight Premier League loss by beating Ruud van Nistelrooy’s team 2-0 on Thursday.
Leicester failed to score in each of those defeats — and allowed a total of 12 goals — to remain 19th in the standings, five points from safety. The Foxes have lost 11 of their past 12 league games.
Tomas Soucek scored in the 21st minute for the home team at London Stadium and the Hammers doubled the lead when Jarrod Bowen’s strike deflected off Jannik Vestergaard for an own goal just before halftime.
Leicester shook up its coaching staff after last Friday’s 4-0 home loss to Brentford but kept Van Nistelrooy in charge.
In 14 Premier League games under the Dutch manager, Leicester has two wins, one draw and 11 losses.
“We were way too passive,” Van Nistelrooy told TNT Sports. “Of course we’re in a situation where we’re not winning games and we’re in a situation where we are in the bottom three, and the pressure’s on. But I think the way to get out of it is to literally move forward — on the pitch as well. We have to take initiative.”
West Ham moved past Everton into 15th place and has recorded back-to-back Premier League wins for the first time this season.
Graham Potter, who replaced the fired Julen Lopetegui as manager seven weeks ago, said Thursday’s victory was a “professional performance,” following up from a 1-0 victory at Arsenal last Saturday.
“For us, we’re just delighted with two wins, two clean sheets and six points,” he said of the mini-run.


Stephen Curry scores 56 points and makes 12 3-pointers in Warriors’ 121-115 win over Magic

Stephen Curry scores 56 points and makes 12 3-pointers in Warriors’ 121-115 win over Magic
Updated 28 February 2025
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Stephen Curry scores 56 points and makes 12 3-pointers in Warriors’ 121-115 win over Magic

Stephen Curry scores 56 points and makes 12 3-pointers in Warriors’ 121-115 win over Magic

ORLANDO, Florida: Stephen Curry scored a season-high 56 points, making 12 3-pointers and outscoring Orlando by himself in the third quarter of another astounding performance, leading the Golden State Warriors to a 121-115 victory over the Magic on Thursday night.
Curry was 12 for 19 behind the arc in his NBA-record 26th career game with 10 or more 3-pointers. He was 16 of 25 overall and made all 12 of his free throws in Golden State’s fifth straight victory.
Paolo Banchero scored 41 points for the Magic and Franz Wagner added 27.
Curry had 22 points in the third quarter, in which Golden State turned a 14-point deficit into a five-point lead. Orlando managed 21 points in the period.
Quinten Post came off the Golden State bench with 18 points and five rebounds, including 10 straight Warrior points in the second period. Draymond Green had 12 points and 10 rebounds.
With Curry on the bench, the Warriors held the Magic scoreless for the first 3:08 of the fourth quarter, stretching a five-point lead to 12.
Takeaways
Warriors: It was the Warriors’ seventh win in eight games since acquiring Jimmy Butler in a trade on Feb. 6. Butler had five points on 1-of-7 shooting with seven assists in 32 minutes.
Magic: Eighteen Magic turnovers, many of them unforced, kept the Warriors in the game in the first half despite 64 percent Orlando shooting. It was the Magic’s 14th loss in 20 games.
Key moment
Curry ended the first half with a shot from well beyond halfcourt to keep the Warriors within 14 at 66-52, then opened the second half with another 3-pointer.
Key stat
Curry’s career scoring high is 62 points, set on Jan. 3, 2021, against Portland. His career high for 3-pointers in a game is 13.
Up next
The Warriors visit Philadelphia on Saturday. Orlando hosts Toronto on Sunday.


Jake Knapp shoots a 59 at the Cognizant Classic, 15th sub-60 round in PGA Tour history

Jake Knapp shoots a 59 at the Cognizant Classic, 15th sub-60 round in PGA Tour history
Updated 28 February 2025
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Jake Knapp shoots a 59 at the Cognizant Classic, 15th sub-60 round in PGA Tour history

Jake Knapp shoots a 59 at the Cognizant Classic, 15th sub-60 round in PGA Tour history
  • Knapp finished one shot off the tour scoring record of 58, done by Jim Furyk in the final round of the 2016 Travelers Championship
  • There was barely any wind, which is rare for South Florida, and PGA National was largely defenseless in the morning session

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Florida: Jake Knapp knew he was on the verge of something special early on Thursday, with a run of five straight birdies to open his round at the Cognizant Classic.

In the end, he joined one of golf’s most elite clubs.

Knapp — the 99th-ranked player in the world — joined the PGA Tour’s sub-60 club on Thursday, shooting a bogey-free 59 in the opening round at PGA National. It was the 15th time that someone has broken 60 in a PGA Tour event.

“It’s just one of those days where everything was kind of clicking,” Knapp said.

Knapp finished one shot off the tour scoring record of 58, done by Jim Furyk in the final round of the 2016 Travelers Championship. Knapp became the 14th player to shoot a sub-60 round; Furyk is the only one to do it twice. The feat has become more frequent, with nine such rounds since 2016.

Knapp had a putt for eagle at the par-5 18th that would have tied Furyk’s mark of 58 — 18 feet, 8 inches was the measurement given by the PGA Tour. The putt didn’t have the speed and he tapped in for birdie.

And yes, he was thinking about 58 — especially after a long birdie putt at the 15th put him at 11 under for the round.

“I stepped up on the 16 tee and just kind of told my caddie, ‘Let’s play 2 under in the last three,’” Knapp said. “‘Let’s do what we’re supposed to do.’”

He had to settle for 59, if a 59 can ever actually be settled for.

“I thought I played well,” said Daniel Berger, who had a bogey-free round of 8-under 63, highlighted by a par on the par-5 10th — after his tee shot was lost in a tree and he played a provisional. “But then someone shot 59.”

Knapp’s 12-birdie round on the par-71 course also broke the previous Cognizant scoring record of 61, first done in 2012 by Brian Harman and matched in 2021 by Matt Jones. There are three rounds of 62 in tournament history — Tiger Woods in the final round in 2012 on his way to a tie for second, Brandon Hagy in the second round in 2021 and eventual winner Chris Kirk in the second round of the 2023 event.

There was barely any wind, which is rare for South Florida, and PGA National was largely defenseless in the morning session. The closest there was to any trouble was around the seventh hole, where Billy Horschel — a Florida Gator from his college days — used a club to poke at an actual alligator that was catching some sun near the green and got it to retreat back to its watery home.

Even wildlife didn’t deter scoring in Round 1. Berger, Russell Henley and Sami Valimaki all shot 63, Rickie Fowler was among those at 64, Jordan Spieth — continuing his comeback after wrist surgery — shot 65, and Horschel, Zach Johnson and Camilo Villegas were among those who opened with a 66.

For the day, the average score was 68.62, the lowest ever for a tournament round at PGA National.

And nobody had an easier time than Knapp, who finished no better than a tie for 17th in any of his first seven starts of 2025 — and then played his way into golf history at PGA National, a course that players have said has been less punitive in recent years. He needed to make only 98 feet of putts, a tribute to a day of excellent ball-striking.

“You still have to hit shots. You have to make putts,” Fowler said. “Yeah, 59 anywhere is hard to do. I don’t care if you go play from 6,500 yards. You still have to make putts. You still have to hit it close enough to have those opportunities. With this place, we’ve seen some low scores, guys get after it when the conditions are right. But obviously no one has shot 59 before out here.”

Knapp has one PGA Tour win, that coming at last year’s Mexico Open. He’s played the Cognizant only once before, tying for fourth last year after shooting three rounds of 68 or better and finishing at 13 under.

And this year, so far, he’s even better.

“You’ve got to tip your hat to him,” Horschel said. “He shot a 12-under-par 59 at PGA National, which no one ever thought.”

Horschel and Knapp crossed paths after the round, and Horschel — offering congratulations — told him he would have wagered “a lot of money ... like, a lot of money” on nobody ever shooting 59 at PGA National.

“I feel like I shot 4 over after seeing what you shot,” Horschel told Knapp as he walked away.

Knapp started Thursday with five straight birdies, that stretch highlighted by a 60-foot chip-in at the par-4 second hole. The birdies kept coming in bunches; three in a row on holes 9 through 11, three more coming on holes 13 through 15 — the last of those a big breaking putt from 31 feet, going across the green before dropping dead center into the cup.

Mike Stephens, Knapp’s caddie, said they were not afraid to talk about the chances that awaited on the final three holes.

“I think if anything, maybe your playing competitors try to give you a little distance or whatnot, but he likes to talk,” Stephens said. “So, we’d kind of go over things on the last couple (holes), to try to fill the time. Just to keep it the same. ... Just another day.”

Well, not quite. A 59 is not just another day.

“Whether I shot 89 or 59, I’m going to come back out and do my job tomorrow,” Knapp said.


Mourinho gets four-match ban for ‘monkeys’ and referee blast

Mourinho gets four-match ban for ‘monkeys’ and referee blast
Updated 28 February 2025
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Mourinho gets four-match ban for ‘monkeys’ and referee blast

Mourinho gets four-match ban for ‘monkeys’ and referee blast
  • After Monday’s game ended in a 0-0 stalemate, the 62-year-old Mourinho said the home bench had been “jumping like monkeys“
  • The Turkish football federation (TFF) disciplinary council handed down a two-match suspension for his comments against the fourth referee and two additional matches for his blast at the Galatasaray bench

ISTANBUL: Fenerbahce coach Jose Mourinho was handed a four-match ban and fined more than €40,000 by the Turkish football federation on Thursday for comments he made after an explosive Istanbul derby against Galatasaray.

After Monday’s game ended in a 0-0 stalemate, the 62-year-old Mourinho said the home bench had been “jumping like monkeys.”

He also reportedly repeated his criticism of Turkish referees.

Fenerbahce said that Mourinho’s comments were taken out of context.

On Thursday the Turkish football federation (TFF) disciplinary council handed down a two-match suspension for his comments against the fourth referee and two additional matches for his blast at the Galatasaray bench.

They were judged “contrary to sporting ethics.”

Mourinho, whose team trail leaders Galatasaray by six points in the table, was also fined just over €42,000.


Team UAE take first place in men’s team competition at GCC Golf Championship

Team UAE take first place in men’s team competition at GCC Golf Championship
Updated 27 February 2025
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Team UAE take first place in men’s team competition at GCC Golf Championship

Team UAE take first place in men’s team competition at GCC Golf Championship
  • UAE’s Ahmad Skaik, Qatar’s Daniel Sokolov, Jonathan Silvaraj from UAE are first, second, third in individual category
  • Team Oman top in under-18 competition

JEDDAH: Teams from the UAE, Qatar, and Bahrain claimed first, second and third place, respectively, in the men’s team competition at the GCC Golf Championship that concluded in Jeddah amid an electrifying atmosphere on Thursday.
Following fierce competition among some of the region’s top golfers, the UAE’s Ahmad Skaik demonstrated exceptional skills to secure first place and claim the men’s individual championship. Qatar’s Daniel Sokolov finished in second place, while Jonathan Silvaraj from the UAE took third.
In the under-18 individual category, Kuwait’s Salem Al-Abkal was crowned champion after an outstanding performance. Oman’s Adam Al-Barwani secured second place, while Emirati Mohammed Thabet finished third.
Team Oman claimed first in the under-18 team competition, with Team Kuwait second and Team UAE third.
Noah Alireza, Saudi Golf Federation’s CEO, said that the event had marked a significant milestone in the development of golf in the Gulf region as he spoke during the closing ceremony of the championship, which was hosted at the Royal Greens Golf Club in Jeddah.
He praised the high technical level at the championship and extended his gratitude to all participating teams and players.
He added: “This championship is not just a sporting competition but a platform for strengthening the fraternal bonds between GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) nations and solidifying golf as a key sport in the region.”
It was announced that Oman would host the next edition of the championship and the tournament flag was officially handed over to the Omani delegation, marking the beginning of the countdown to the upcoming event.