Digest

SOCCER

Ronaldinho 'fine' after positive COVID-19 test

Brazil and Barcelona great Ronaldinho has reassured fans that he is feeling well despite testing positive for COVID-19.

The 40-year-old was diagnosed with the virus after a routine test in the southeastern Brazilian city of Belo Horizonte, where he had been scheduled to participate in a promotional event.

"I took the test and tested positive for COVID. I'm fine, asymptomatic until now. A big hug to all. I hope everything goes well," Ronaldinho said in an Instagram video posted on Sunday.

Ronaldinho had been keeping a low profile following his August release from house arrest in Paraguay. The 2002 World Cup winner and his brother, Roberto Assis, spent nearly six months in custody for using fake passports to enter the South American country.

E-SPORTS

SN springs surprise to reach LOL world final

SN defeated TES 3-1 in the all-Chinese semifinal of the 2020 League of Legends World Championship in Shanghai on Sunday.

In their four previous meetings this year, SN had only beaten TES once.

"The two teams are close to each other competitively, so neither could crush the other. We lost more games against TES before because we did not prepare fully, but today we were well prepared," said SN team member Chen Zebin, aka Bin.

In the other semifinal, South Korea's DWG defeated European top seed G2 3-1.

Shanghai's newly opened Pudong Football Stadium will host the best-of-five-set final on Oct 31, with free admission for 6,312 spectators.

WEIGHTLIFTING

Yang dominates with hat-trick at nationals

Yang Zhe swept three golds in the snatch, clean and jerk and overall in the 109-kilogram category as the China's men's weightlifting national championships concluded on Sunday in Quzhou, Zhejiang province.

Nine national records－three of which surpassed world records－were shattered during the four-day championships, prompting national team coach Yu Jie to describe the results as "ideal".

"The performance of the athletes was well beyond my expectations. Training behind closed doors for 10 months without competition, they did well in terms of success and results," Yu said.

Yang, who finished fourth in the 105kg at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, now competes at 109kg after changes were made to the competition categories.

On Sunday, he improved his own national snatch record to 198kg and also set a total record (421kg) after securing gold with a 223kg lift in the clean and jerk, where he failed in a bid to break the 227kg barrier.

BASKETBALL

Jilin surges to fourth straight CBA victory

Five players scored in double digits as the Jilin Northeast Tigers claimed their fourth straight CBA triumph with a 105-97 win over the Tianjin Pioneers in Zhuji, Zhejiang province, on Sunday.

Tianjin center Marko Todorovic posted a game-high 41 points and 11 rebounds as the Pioneers edged the first half 55-47.

"We did not do a good job on our defense and rebounds in the first half, especially not for Todorovic's return," Jilin coach Wang Han admitted.

Jilin, though, kept Todorovic quieter in the second half to gradually gain control of the contest, extending their advantage to 10 points in the final quarter.

"Our defensive quality improved after the break, which earned us more fast breaks," Wang said.

Jiang Weize had 27 points and eight assists for Jilin.

AMERICAN FOOTBALL

Cards sink Seahawks in Zane-y OT thriller

Zane Gonzalez made a 48-yard field goal with 20 seconds left in overtime to give the Arizona Cardinals a 37-34 victory over the previously undefeated Seattle Seahawks in a Sunday night NFL thriller.

Seattle led all of regulation until Gonzalez made a 41-yard field goal as time expired to tie it at 34.

The Cardinals stopped the Seahawks' opening drive in OT and Gonzalez made the 41-yarder, but Arizona coach Kliff Kingsbury called a timeout just before the snap because the play clock was winding down. Gonzalez missed wide left on the next attempt.

Seattle quarterback Russell Wilson then threw an interception before Gonzalez nailed the winner. Arizona's Kyler Murray threw for 360 yards, three touchdowns and one interception.

Xinhua - Agencies