Digest

GOLF

Woods 'very excited' to compete with son

Tiger Woods

Tiger Woods, who is unsure when he will return to the PGA Tour after sustaining serious leg injuries in a car crash, said on Wednesday he will compete with his 12-year-old son Charlie at next week's PNC Championship in Orlando, Florida.

The Dec 18-19 event is a 36-hole tournament with a field typically comprising major champions and their parents or children.

"Although it's been a long and challenging year, I am very excited to close it out by competing in the @PNCchampionship with my son Charlie," Woods wrote on Twitter. "I'm playing as a Dad and couldn't be more excited and proud."

Last month, Woods posted a video on social media showing him swinging a club, accompanied by the caption "Making progress". Last week he logged practice time at the Hero World Challenge event that he hosts in the Bahamas.

Woods suffered serious injuries to his right leg and foot when he lost control of his car in Los Angeles in February, and faced the possibility of having his leg amputated during a three-week hospital stay.

SOCCER

Pele readmitted to hospital to treat tumor

Brazilian soccer legend Pele has returned to hospital to continue his treatment for a colon tumor.

The 81-year-old underwent surgery to remove a tumor in September and doctors said upon his release that he would require chemotherapy.

"The patient is in a stable condition and the forecast is that he will be discharged in the coming days,"Sao Paulo's Albert Einstein hospital said in a statement on Wednesday, without providing details.

Pele said last month that he was feeling "better every day", having been released from hospital on Sept 30. Doctors detected the tumor during routine medical tests.

The three-time World Cup winner has rarely been seen in public since undergoing hip replacement surgery in 2012.

He has since battled a series of prostate and kidney problems that have often required treatment in hospital. Last year, Pele's son Edinho said his father was battling a "kind of depression" because of his fragile health and waning mobility.

TENNIS

No vaccine exemptions for Australian Open

Novak Djokovic

No players hoping to compete at the Australian Open have yet been granted medical exemption from vaccination, tournament director Craig Tiley said on Thursday, as he reiterated that everyone at Melbourne Park would need to be fully inoculated.

Tiley also said that Novak Djokovic being named on the Australian Open entry list on Wednesday implied nothing about his COVID-19 vaccination status, which the world No 1 has so far declined to disclose.

"To be clear upfront, no one can play the Australian Open unless they are vaccinated," Tiley told broadcaster ABC.

"The only condition at which, outside of being vaccinated, that you could compete is if you receive a medically approved exemption from Australian authorities.

"I've seen reports this morning. There's been no medical exemptions that have been granted at this point."

Tiley added that appearing on the entry list had no bearing on whether Djokovic would actually be in Melbourne from Jan 17-30 seeking a record 21st men's Grand Slam singles title.

"It's not a commitment list about exactly who's in the draw," Tiley said. "That comes in several weeks' time when the actual list and draw get finalized for the Australian Open."

BASKETBALL

Lillard nearing return, blasts exit reports

Portland Trail Blazers superstar Damian Lillard is set to be reevaluated at the end of the week and could return to action Sunday, Yahoo Sports reported Wednesday.

Lillard, 31, missed his fifth straight game and sixth overall on Wednesday night with abdominal tendinopathy. Lillard received a cortisone injection for the heightened pain last week, per the report. The team announced Dec 1 that Lillard would be sidelined at least 10 days.

Lillard's projected return comes amid a report that the six-time All-Star wants out of Portland. ESPN reported Tuesday that Lillard is seeking a two-year, $107-million extension, a demand that would likely force the team to trade him.

Lillard was adamant on Wednesday he is "not asking for a trade", adding: "I am working with these people every day to try and find solutions, so why would I be a part of trying to find solutions if I am planning an exit?"

SWIMMING

Olympian alleges she was sexually abused

An Australian swimmer who pulled out of the Tokyo Olympics to protest "misogynistic perverts" said Wednesday she was molested from the age of 13 by someone still working in the sport.

Butterfly specialist Madeline Groves, who won two silver medals at the 2016 Rio Olympics, said in an interview with broadcaster ABC that she was sexually abused by a swimming official as a teenager.

She said she was speaking up after learning of an unrelated ABC investigation in October into former elite swimming coach John Wright, who has been accused of sexually abusing teenage boys in the 1980s and 1990s.

Wright was arrested in October on child sex abuse charges and remanded in custody. She declined to identify the alleged perpetrator but said he still works in swimming and said the abuse continued until she was 18.

Xinhua - Agencies