Digest

SOCCER

Pele mourns death of former teammate

Soccer legend Pele has paid tribute to his former Santos and Brazil teammate Dorval Rodrigues, who died on Sunday aged 86.

Dorval, who was Pele's roommate in the late 1950s, died after being admitted to the Casa de Saude hospital in Santos with respiratory problems, his daughter Sandra told local media.

"Everyone who loves football woke up sad today," Pele wrote on Instagram.

"My great friend, partner and the best right winger in history said goodbye to us. Santos has lost a hero. Football has lost a genius. Rest in peace, my friend," added the 81-year-old, who is widely regarded as one of the best players of all time.

Santos declared seven days of mourning and said a wake would be held at the club's Vila Belmiro headquarters.

Dorval made 612 appearances and scored 194 goals for Santos from 1956 to 1967.

He was capped 13 times for Brazil's national team from 1959 to 1963 and scored one goal.

BEIJING 2022

Olympic champ Hanyu dazzles on comeback

Japan's superstar skater Yuzuru Hanyu will fight for his third successive Olympic crown after winning his sixth national title to qualify for Beijing 2022 in Tokyo on Sunday.

The 27-year-old, competing in his first event in more than eight months, attempted a quadruple axel but narrowly failed to become the first person to complete the move in competition after landing on both feet. His fluent show in the free skate earned him 211.05 points, far ahead of second-placed Shoma Uno, who scored 193.94 points.

Hanyu, who also led the short program, collected a total of 322.36 points to retain the title he won last year. He was also the winner for four years in a row from 2012 to 2015.

The Japanese national champion automatically secures a place for the Beijing Winter Olympics, which begin on Feb 4. Hanyu, a national hero in Japan after his gold-medal exploits at Sochi 2014 and Pyeongchang 2018, proved he is still the man to beat despite ligament damage to his right ankle.

"I can finally breathe a sigh of relief," he said of the quadruple axel, adding that landing on two feet is a result he can "accept at the moment".

"I will continue to practice," he added. Asked if he would perform the quadruple axel again in Beijing, Hanyu replied: "I will try my best."

Dutch legend Kramer may miss out on Games

Speed skating legend Sven Kramer could miss out on a place in the 2022 Winter Olympics after finishing third in the 5,000 meters at Dutch trials for the Beijing Games on Sunday.

Kramer, who won the last three Olympic 5,000m titles, is the most decorated male Olympic speed skater of all time with nine medals.

But the 35-year-old's 6 minutes 12.29 seconds was third best on the day behind Patrick Roest (6:08.64) and Jorrit Bergsma (6:11.14).

Roest, a three-time world all-round champion, is assured of his ticket to Beijing and should be accompanied by Bergsma, but Kramer must now wait until the end of the Dutch trials on Thursday.

While the Netherlands can enter three men in the Olympic 5,000m, a nation cannot enter more than nine speed skaters per gender.

Kramer must now count on certain rivals qualifying for two or three distances to be selected.

Another possibility would be for Kramer to be selected for the team pursuit event in which he won Olympic gold in 2014.

TENNIS

Shapovalov tests positive for COVID-19

Canada's Denis Shapovalov has announced he has tested positive for COVID-19 after arriving in Sydney for the ATP Cup.

The 22-year-old is one of the first overseas players to arrive in Australia and is part of Canada's team for the team-based tournament in Sydney from Jan 1-9, ahead of the Australian Open at Melbourne starting on Jan 17.

Shapovalov played last week at the World Tennis Championship exhibition event in Abu Dhabi, where he beat Rafael Nadal in the third-place playoff match.

Nadal also tested positive for the coronavirus after playing at the tournament, as did Tokyo Olympic gold medalist Belinda Bencic and Tunisian Ons Jabeur.

Former world No 10 Shapovalov said on social media he is in isolation and experiencing only minor symptoms.

Xinhua - Agencies