Digest

SNOOKER

O'Sullivan fightback downs Ding at Masters

Ding Junhui lost a first-round thriller to six-time world champion Ronnie O'Sullivan at the Masters in Milton Keynes, England, on Wednesday.

Chinese No 1 Ding looked to be headed for victory when he led 5-3 thanks to two 120-plus breaks. However, the world No 9 had no answers to a resurgent O'Sullivan in the next three frames.

"It was nice to make a bit of a game of it," O'Sullivan, a seven-time Masters winner, told the World Snooker Tour's website."I played well and didn't do a lot wrong. Ding played strongly, I'm just pleased to get over the line."

Ding, who won the prestigious invitational event in 2011, rued missing an easy red in the ninth frame to kill off his opponent. The Chinese was also knocked out in the tournament's first round last year, going down 6-3 to Joe Perry.

O'Sullivan's next opponent is John Higgins, who beat Mark Allen 6-5 later on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, China's Yan Bingtao came from behind to edge Australian ace Neil Robertson 6-5. The 20-year-old Yan, who is making his Masters debut, will take on Stephen Maguire in the quarterfinals. Scotland's Maguire accounted for three-time world champion Mark Selby.

SOCCER

Bayern reeling after 'brutal' loss to minnow

Bayern Munich head coach Hansi Flick was "shocked" as the holder crashed out of the German Cup at second-tier Holstein Kiel on Wednesday.

"It's a shock. We are enormously disappointed," Flick told Sky after the game ended 2-2 before Kiel won a nail-biting penalty shootout 6-5.

"It's all the more annoying that we conceded an equalizer which made it 2-2 in the last second (of normal time). Congratulations to Kiel.

"We have to put it behind us and do things better."

Bayern forward Thomas Mueller said the defeat was "brutal".

This is the first time Bayern has been knocked out of the cup by a non-Bundesliga club since losing to then fourth-tier Magdeburg in 2000/01.

After Bayern midfielder Marc Roca was the first player to miss with his team's sixth penalty, Kiel's Fin Bartels converted the winning spot-kick to spark wild celebrations.

The upset also marks the first time European champion Bayern has been eliminated from a cup competition since Flick took charge in November 2019.

Mourinho angered by Tottenham's latest slip

Jose Mourinho slammed Tottenham Hotspur's "avoidable" mistakes and lack of killer instinct after Ivan Cavaleiro rescued a 1-1 draw for Fulham on Wednesday.

Harry Kane had put the host ahead in the first half, but Cavaleiro struck in the closing stages to leave Mourinho frustrated.

Tottenham has won just two of its last eight Premier League matches and sits in sixth place.

A win against third-bottom Fulham could have taken Spurs into third place above Manchester City, which made it four successive league victories when Phil Foden earned a 1-0 win over Brighton earlier on Wednesday.

"Once more we concede a goal that is completely avoidable. You have to keep a clean sheet, not make mistakes. The markers are there. There wasn't even an advantage in terms of numbers," Mourinho said.

"We have lots of opportunities to kill off matches. In other cases, especially away, we are winning but then don't have that ambition to get the goal and kill the game.

"There are things that are individual mistakes. We have bad results and we should avoid these results."

Atletico adds firepower with Dembele signing

Atletico Madrid announced the loan signing of French striker Moussa Dembele from Lyon on Wednesday.

Dembele will join Atletico until the end of the season when the club will have the option to buy him permanently for around 35 million euros ($42 million).

Atletico has paid an initial fee of 1.5 million euros after Dembele passed a medical on Wednesday morning in Madrid.

In a statement, the La Liga club described him as a "powerful striker" with "a knack for goal".

The 24-year-old's arrival follows Diego Costa's contract being terminated at the end of December.

Dembele will compete with Luis Suarez, Joao Felix and Angel Correa for a place up front as he looks to boost Atletico's hopes of winning La Liga and earn a place in the France squad at the European Championship this summer.

MOTOR SPORTS

Peterhansel on course for historic Dakar win

Stephane Peterhansel looks set to win a record-extending eighth Dakar Rally car title after holding off main rival Nasser Al-Attiyah on the 10th stage in the Saudi Arabia desert on Wednesday.

The 55-year-old Frenchman conceded only 49 seconds to Al-Attiyah and remained 17 minutes ahead overall after the rally left Neom on the Red Sea and headed toward the finish on Friday in Jeddah.

Peterhansel is the most successful racer in Dakar history with 13 wins, six on a motorbike. To win his first car title since 2017, he recruited co-driver Edouard Boulanger, a navigation expert, and the two compatriots have hardly made a mistake despite winning only one stage.

"The pressure never goes away, from the moment you wake up until you go to bed," said Peterhansel."When you do well in a stage, you know it would be a real pity to see all that effort go down the drain."

TENNIS

Thiem's coach tests positive for COVID-19

World No 3 and US Open champion Dominic Thiem has had to travel to the Australian Open without his coach, Nicolas Massu, who tested positive for the coronavirus, Austrian media reported on Wednesday.

"Before flying out we got the surprising news that Massu had received a positive test result," Thiem's father, Wolfgang, was quoted as saying by the Kurier daily.

"Nico will get tested again in a few days. We hope it then comes back negative and he can follow on after," said Wolfgang. But he added that Chilean Massu was expected to be unavailable for "one to two weeks".

Wolfgang said that in the meantime he would train with Dominic and fellow Austrian Dennis Novak.

Also on Wednesday, Rafael Nadal's coach, Carlos Moya, announced he would not be traveling Down Under due to current coronavirus restrictions.

Xinhua - Agencies