Digest

SOCCER

Solskjaer vows not to release internationals

Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said it "doesn't make sense" for his players to travel for international duty later this month if they have to quarantine on their return and miss games as a result.

Arrivals into Britain from "red list" countries are subject to 10 days' hotel confinement.

South American countries and Portugal are among the nations on that list, meaning United stars Bruno Fernandes of Portugal and Uruguayan striker Edinson Cavani could be missing for World Cup qualifiers.

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp said his club will also withdraw players if they are forced to quarantine, casting the participation of Brazilian trio Alisson, Roberto Firmino and Fabinho and Portugal's Diogo Jota into doubt.

"It doesn't make sense to travel, when we are paying them, if they come back and are away for 10 days," said Solskjaer. "That's a chat we'll have with the players."

Barcelona digs deep to reach Copa final

Barcelona eased some of the pressure on the club by rallying late to force extra time and defeat Sevilla 3-0 on Wednesday, reaching its ninth Copa del Rey final in 11 seasons.

Barcelona trailed 2-0 from the first leg but pulled even in the fourth minute of stoppage time, when Gerard Pique scored with a header. Martin Braithwaite then netted early in extra time to give the Catalan club a 3-2 aggregate win.

Goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen had kept Barca in the tie by saving a 73rd-minute penalty that would have practically ended Ronald Koeman's team's chances of advancing.

The final will be on April 17 at La Cartuja Stadium in Seville.

Barcelona made it to the Copa final for sixth straight seasons before being eliminated by Athletic Bilbao in last year's quarterfinals.

BASKETBALL

7 NBA players test positive in past week

Seven NBA players have tested positive for COVID-19 among the 456 players tested by the league in the past week, the NBA announced Wednesday.

The league does not identify players' results, but any player who tests positive is isolated or quarantined until they are cleared under NBA health and safety guidelines.

Protocols also require those identified as having been in close contact to an infected person to quarantine.

The most recent outbreak issue came when the NBA postponed Toronto's scheduled home game at Tampa, Florida, on Sunday against the Chicago Bulls because the Raptors didn't have the minimum eight players available for the contest.

The Raptors listed five players out on Wednesday evening due to COVID-19 health and safety protocols－Pascal Siakam, Fred VanVleet, OG Anunoby, Malachi Flynn and Patrick McCaw.

Zhejiang Lions upset high-flying Liaoning

Zhao Yanhao scored a game-high 32 points to lead the Zhejiang Lions to a 114-94 CBA victory over the Liaoning Flying Leopards on Tuesday.

It was just the sixth loss of the season for second-ranked Flying Leopards, which was without its overseas players due to injury.

Guo Ailun scored a team-high 20 points for Liaoning. Kay Felder notched 14 points for Zhejiang, while teammate Hu Jinqiu added 28 points and 12 rebounds.

"It was our worst game of the season. We should have played better. We need to learn from the loss," said Liaoning coach Yang Ming.

In Tuesday's other games, the Guangzhou Loong Lions edged the Fujian Sturgeons 124-118, the Guangdong Southern Tigers beat the Qingdao Eagles 135-122, and the Shanghai Sharks devoured the Jiangsu Dragons 112-97.

SWIMMING

Ledecky returns with 'milestone' triumph

Like everyone else, Katie Ledecky was forced to shelve her plans when the coronavirus pandemic took hold. Instead of looking far into the future, the five-time Olympic champion switched to a more immediate mindset.

Forget that the four-year cycle leading to the 2024 Paris Olympics is already underway. Ledecky is still working toward making a big splash at this summer's delayed Tokyo Games.

Ledecky returned to national competition on Wednesday for the first time in a year, winning the 1,500-meter freestyle at the TYR Pro Swim Series meet in San Antonio, Texas.

She led by a half-pool length for most of the 30-lap race before touching in 15 minutes, 42.92 seconds. Ashley Twichell finished well back in second at 16:04.29.

"I didn't set too many expectations coming into this first race," Ledecky said afterward. "I knew getting the first race out of the way would kind of be a milestone in this journey back into real racing."

TENNIS

Medvedev and Zverev crash to early exits

Top-seeded Daniil Medvedev's 12 aces weren't enough as the Australian Open runner-up lost 7-6(4), 6-4 to Dusan Lajovic in the first round of the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament on Wednesday.

It wasn't the day's only upset in Rotterdam, with third-seeded Alexander Zverev also losing.

Medvedev had 25 unforced errors against Lajovic's 12, along with eight double faults, and he broke his racket in frustration. It was the third-ranked Russian's first match since his straight-sets loss to Novak Djokovic in the Australian Open final.

Alexander Bublik beat Zverev 7-5, 6-3 to set up a second-round meeting with Tommy Paul.

Three-time Grand Slam champion Andy Murray's tournament run ended with a second-round loss to fourth-seeded Andrey Rublev, who won 7-5, 6-2.

Xinhua - Agencies