Digest

BOXING

Fury ordered to fight Whyte in next defense

Tyson Fury

World heavyweight champion Tyson Fury must face Dillian Whyte in his next title defense following a ruling on Tuesday by the World Boxing Council (WBC).

The WBC said Whyte has now been installed as mandatory challenger to Fury, who retained his crown with a thrilling knockout victory over Deontay Wilder in Las Vegas in October.

"The WBC hereby orders the start of the free negotiations period pursuant to the WBC Rules& Regulations for the mandatory bout between WBC World Heavyweight Champion Tyson Fury and Mandatory Challenger and WBC Interim World Champion Dillian Whyte," the WBC said in a statement on Twitter.

The WBC initially said in October Fury would only have to face Whyte if he was unable to arrange an undisputed world-title fight with Ukraine's Oleksandr Usyk, the unified WBA, IBF and WBO heavyweight champion.

TENNIS

Djokovic in Melbourne field, Serena ruled out

Novak Djokovic was named among the entries for the Australian Open on Wednesday, following intense speculation about his vaccination status, but women's great Serena Williams was missing.

The Serbian had cast doubt on whether he would defend his Melbourne title next month, refusing to reveal whether he was inoculated against coronavirus, a requirement to play.

But after being named on Tuesday as part of the Serbia team for January's ATP Cup in Sydney, he was also listed for the Grand Slam.

Williams, who is marooned on 23 Grand Slam titles－one short of the all-time record held by Margaret Court－had been expected to play, but she is not fully fit.

The American superstar turned 40 in September and may have played her last Australian Open.

She said she had withdrawn following advice from her medical team. "While this is never an easy decision to make, I am not where I need to be physically to compete," Williams said.

Otherwise, all of the women's top 20 were confirmed as playing, headlined by world No 1 Ashleigh Barty and Japanese star Naomi Osaka.

In the men's draw, Spain's Rafael Nadal will challenge Djokovic to be the first man in history to win 21 Grand Slam titles.

SOCCER

Mbappe, Messi in the mood as PSG cruises

Lionel Messi

Kylian Mbappe and Lionel Messi both scored twice as Paris Saint-Germain punished Club Brugge 4-1 in its final Champions League group game on Tuesday.

PSG had already qualified for the knockout phase of Europe's elite club tournament but did not sit back at Parc des Princes.

In the wake of two lackluster draws in the French league, Mauricio Pochettino's star-filled team showed a better face to end Brugge's hopes of clinching a spot in the second-tier Europa League.

The Belgian champion was handed a fourth straight loss in the tournament and finished last in Group A behind RB Leipzig. Manchester City won the group ahead of PSG.

PSG got off to a brilliant start with Mbappe scoring twice within the opening seven minutes, with Messi netting a sublime trademark curling effort before the interval and a late penalty to seal the victory.

"We took this match seriously and delivered a complete performance," Mbappe said.

'Exceptional' Liverpool sends Milan packing

Liverpool made it a perfect six Champions League wins from six on Tuesday with a 2-1 victory at AC Milan which knocked one of Europe's most storied clubs out of the continental competition for another season.

Fikayo Tomori had given Milan－which needed a win and a favorable result between Porto and Atletico Madrid to reach the last 16－with his tap-in just before the half-hour mark at the San Siro.

But a quick reply from Mo Salah and Divock Origi's nodded finish 10 minutes after the break ensured Jurgen Klopp's side, missing a raft of regular starters, finished Group B on 18 points, the first English team to achieve that total.

"It's an exceptional performance...with that many changes, the boys have to be confident enough to show how good they are," Klopp told reporters.

"I saw so many good things tonight it was unbelievable."

Serie A leader Milan, which was missing half its starting back four and other first-team players including forwards Rafael Leao and Ante Rebic, was condemned to last place thanks to Atleti's 3-1 win at Porto which put the La Liga side through in second place behind Liverpool.

BEIJING 2022

Aussie team reaffirms Olympic commitment

The Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) reaffirmed on Wednesday that the country's team for Beijing 2022 is not impacted by their government's diplomatic boycott of the Winter Games.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Wednesday said that Australia will not send government officials or politicians to next year's Winter Olympics but will still allow the country's athletes to compete.

The AOC confirmed it was not impacted by the government's decision, and chief executive Matt Carroll said: "Our Australian athletes have been training and competing with this Olympic dream for four years now and we are doing everything in our power to ensure we can help them succeed."

Xinhua - Agencies