Digest

BOXING

Former NBA, NFL stars to rumble in the ring

Retired three-time NBA All-Star and two-time Olympic champion Deron Williams will fight former NFL rusher Frank Gore in a Dec 18 boxing card in Tampa, Florida, promoters have announced.

The four-round heavyweight bout, a boxing debut for both men with a contractual 215-pound (98-kilogram) limit, will be on the undercard of internet sensation Logan Paul's cruiserweight fight against Tommy Fury, the half-brother of WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury.

Gore, 38, played an NFL running back-record 241 games, including a 10-year run with the San Francisco 49ers starting in 2005 and stints with Indianapolis, Miami, Buffalo and last year with the New York Jets.

He stands third on the NFL all-time rushing yardage list.

Gore rejected overtures for an NFL return to focus on boxing.

Williams, 37, helped the United States win Olympic gold at Beijing in 2008 and London in 2012.

He played 845 NBA games with the Utah Jazz, New Jersey/Brooklyn Nets, Dallas Mavericks and Cleveland Cavaliers.

BASKETBALL

Franklin leads Sharks to seventh straight win

CBA powerhouses the Shanghai Sharks and Zhejiang Lions extended their win streaks in the bio-secure bubble in Zhuji, Zhejiang province, on Thursday.

Jamaal Franklin finished with 23 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds to lead Shanghai to a 115-97 victory over the Sichuan Blue Whales for the Sharks' seventh straight win.

Shanghai, which opened up a 20-point advantage late in the first quarter, led by as many as 26 points midway through the third. Sichuan cut the deficit to 14 points with its all-homegrown squad heading into the final quarter, but that was as close as it would get.

Wang Zhelin notched 21 points and 13 rebounds for Shanghai. Sichuan's Li Honghan had a team-high 22 points.

Zhejiang overcame the Shanxi Loongs 113-103 to match the league-leading Liaoning Flying Leopards'10-1 win-loss record.

SOCCER

Legend Formiga calling time on Brazil career

The most-capped player in Brazil's history, 43-year-old Formiga, will play her final match for the national team this month after a storied career including seven World Cup and Olympic appearances, officials said on Tuesday.

The iconic midfielder will don the Selecao's yellow-and-green jersey for the last time in a friendly against India on Nov 25 in the northern city of Manaus, said the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF).

"With 233 caps to her name, the 43-year-old midfielder will return to the team for a farewell to the jersey she has so honored," the CBF said in a statement.

"Formiga is one of the greatest players Brazil has ever had," women's national team coordinator Duda Luizelli told a news conference.

Formiga, who left Paris Saint-Germain in June to sign with Sao Paulo until December 2022, is the only player to have taken part in all seven editions of the women's Olympic soccer tournament.

TENNIS

Qualifier Wang stuns Raducanu in Austria

Chinese qualifier Wang Xinyu upset US Open champion Emma Raducanu 6-1, 6-7(0), 7-5 in the second round of the Upper Austria Ladies Linz tournament on Tuesday.

The 18-year-old Briton, who was the top seed at a WTA event for the first time, held serve in the opening game but lost the next six, while winning just two points on the 106th-ranked Wang's serve.

Raducanu lost a 4-2 lead in the second set but won it in the tiebreaker. She took a medical timeout before saving two match points on Wang's serve at 5-4 in the third, but the qualifier broke Raducanu again and closed out the win in her next service game.

Playing in just her third tournament since her Flushing Meadows success, the British teenager, now ranked 20 in the world, struggled against the 20-year-old Chinese who galloped through the first set as Raducanu battled to keep her service together.

Wang next plays eighth-seeded American Alison Riske.

Xinhua - Agencies