World No. 1 cruises past Australian Open finalist to reach semis of season opener
MEN’S BASKETBALL: Newcastle will face London in the British Basketball Trophy final after the north easterners earned a 205-201 aggregate victory over defending champions Cheshire Phoenix. Jonathan Williams and Chasson Jermar Randle both netted 16 points as last year’s runners-up London held off Bristol 77-76 in Sunday’s second leg of their semi final for a 154-134 aggregate win. Newcastle have won the trophy a record seven times.
ICE HOCKEY: Nottingham Panthers top the Elite League by three points after edging past Guildford 2-1 in overtime and coming from behind to beat Glasgow
4-1 on Sunday evening. Second-placed Cardiff saw off Dundee 5-2 as Sheffield in third eased past bottom club Fife 4-1. Defending champions Belfast beat Manchester 6-4 before going down 4-3 in Coventry while Manchester hit back with a 5-4 shoot-out success at Fife.
MEN’S FOOTBALL: Barcelona scored twice in the last four minutes to win their local derby with Espanyol 2-0 and maintained a four point lead in La Liga. Gonzalo Garcia bagged a hat-trick, his first goals in the competition, as second-placed Real Madrid cruised past Betis 5-1 and Villarreal won 3-1 at Elche to remain seven points further back in third with two games in hand. Bottom club Oviedo drew 1-1 at Alaves.
AMERICAN FOOTBALL: Tyler Loop missed a last minute 44-yard field goal as Baltimore Ravens lost out 24-26 at Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday morning to crash out of this year’s race to the Super Bowl. The Steelers claimed the AFC North Title, fourth seed spot in the AFC and a home game in next week’s conference wild card round against the Houston Texans, who had beaten Indianapolis 38-33 on Sunday.



