Author: Reuters

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Australia’s Jack Doohan to make Formula One debut at Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

  • Son of motorcycle great Mick replaces Esteban Ocon at Alpine
  • Esteban Ocon released early to join Haas for post-season test

Australian Jack Doohan, son of motorcycle great Mick, will make his Formula One debut for Alpine in Sunday’s season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix after departing Esteban Ocon was released early.

Ocon has signed for Haas and the switch will allow him to take part in the post-season test at Yas Marina next week, while also preparing Doohan for next season when he graduates from reserve to full race driver.

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European football: McTominay boosts Napoli title bid, Real Madrid sink Getafe

  • Midfielder nets winner in 1-0 victory at Torino
  • Bellingham and Mbappé on target for Madrid

Scott McTominay’s first-half goal earned leaders Napoli a 1-0 win at Torino as Antonio Conte’s side opened a four-point gap at the top of the Serie A standings.

The Scotland midfielder found the net around the half-hour mark when he struck a shot powerfully inside the near post after receiving a precise pass from Khvicha Kvaratskhelia. Napoli move on to 32 points, with four teams level on 28 points: Atalanta, Lazio, Inter and Fiorentina.

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Halep hits out at ‘difference’ in anti-doping cases after one-month Swiatek ban

  • Halep was given four-year ban in 2022, later reduced
  • World No 2 Swiatek given one-month ban for violation

Simona Halep questioned the “big difference” in how doping cases are treated after world No 2 Iga Swiatek was handed a one-month drugs ban while the Romanian was out of action for more than 18 months following two separate anti-doping violations.

The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) said on Thursday that Swiatek had accepted a one-month suspension after testing positive for the banned substance trimetazidine (TMZ).

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Champions League roundup: Bayern’s Kim Min-jae leaves PSG in trouble

  • PSG outside playoff places after 1-0 defeat by Bayern Munich
  • Inter top after beating Leipzig; Barcelona best Brest 3-0

Bayern Munich battled past 10-man Paris Saint-Germain 1-0, thanks to Kim Min-jae’s winner, to improve their chances of automatic qualification and leave the visitors in trouble after a third defeat in the competition.

With PSG’s only win so far coming against Girona in their opener they were desperate for points, but Bayern struck first with South Korea’s Kim heading home from close range after the goalkeeper Matvei Safonov fluffed a corner in the 38th minute.

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Real Madrid’s Vinícius Júnior to miss Liverpool clash with leg injury

  • Brazilian out of Wednesday’s Champions League match
  • Fears that forward could miss up to seven games

Vinícius Júnior will miss Real Madrid’s Champions League game at Liverpool on Wednesday after sustaining a leg muscle injury in Sunday’s 3-0 La Liga win at Leganés, the Spanish club have said.

Sources close to the player said that Vinícius is expected to be sidelined for three to four weeks. It means he could miss up to seven games before the winter break.

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European football: Kylian Mbappé and Jude Bellingham on target as Real cruise

  • Madrid beat Leganés to move four points off Barcelona
  • Lukaku takes Napoli back to top spot in Serie A

Kylian Mbappé ended his goal drought and England’s Jude Bellingham scored too as Real Madrid thrashed Leganés 3-0 in La Liga on Sunday.

Leganés’ defence kept Real at bay in the first half but the visitors took the lead three minutes before the break when Vinícius Jr teed up Mbappé, who slotted home for seventh league goal this season. Real enjoyed most of the possession in the second half and the Uruguayan midfielder Federico Valverde scored with a powerful low free-kick after Bellingham had been fouled at the 66th minute.

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European football: Celta fight back to stun Barcelona; Inter thrash Verona

  • Barça blow two-goal lead after Marc Casadó is sent off
  • Simeone wins 700th game at Atléti; Inter 5-0 Verona

Celta Vigo fought back with two late goals in quick succession to hold Barcelona to an-action-packed 2-2 draw. It looked as though Barça were cruising towards victory after the La Liga leaders opened a two-goal lead thanks to strikes by Raphinha in the first half and by Robert Lewandowski after an hour’s play, but the script changed when Marc Casadó was sent off due to a second yellow card for a foul in the 82nd minute.

With Barcelona down to 10 men, the home side piled on the pressure and managed to score twice, through Alfonso González then Hugo Álvarez in the 84th and 86th minutes respectively.

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Jannik Sinner overpowers Alex de Minaur to put Italy into Davis Cup final

  • Italy beat Australia 2-0 in repeat of last year’s final
  • They will face Netherlands, who beat Germany 2-0

Italy moved into the Davis Cup final after a 2-0 win over Australia on Saturday as Jannik Sinner defeated Alex de Minaur in straight sets to follow up Matteo Berrettini’s victory over Thanasi Kokkinakis for the defending champions.

A repeat of last year’s final ended with the same result and with Sinner, the world No 1, again seeing off De Minaur. That sent Italy into Sunday’s final where they will meet the Netherlands, who have reached the decider for the first time after a 2-0 win over Germany.

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France see off Argentina to round off their perfect autumn

  • France 37-23 Argentina
  • Les Bleus run in four tries for third straight victory

France wrapped up their Autumn Nations Series in style with a 37-23 victory against Argentina for their third win in as many Tests at the Stade de France.

Six days after beating New Zealand 30-29, Fabien Galthié’s side were never in real trouble against the Pumas, with a penalty try and tries by Thibaud Flament, Gabin Villière and Louis Bielle-Biarrey while Thomas Ramos had another perfect kicking day with 15 points.

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‘I started crying’: emotional Jorge Martín clinches MotoGP world title

  • Spaniard wins by 10 points after third-place finish
  • Francesco Bagnaia earns victory in Solidarity Grand Prix

Prima Pramac Racing’s Jorge Martín was crowned the 2024 MotoGP world champion after he finished third at Sunday’s season-ending Solidarity Grand Prix, which was won by his title rival Francesco Bagnaia of Ducati.

Martín led by 19 points heading into the final race of the season and the Spaniard needed to finish in the top nine to clinch the title if the polesitter and double champion Bagnaia won the race. Gresini Racing’s Marc Márquez finished second in Barcelona. The original venue was Valencia, but it was changed after the recent floods.

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Darcy Graham equals record as Scotland run in nine tries despite Portugal grit

  • Autumn Nations Series: Scotland 59-21 Portgual
  • Wing takes try total to 29 in 41 appearances

Wing Darcy Graham equalled the record for the most tries for Scotland as they ran in a total of nine in a dominant 59-21 victory over Portugal in their Test at Murrayfield on Saturday.

Graham scored the third of Scotland’s five first-half tries to bring his total to 29 in 41 international appearances and equal Duhan van der Merwe’s record.

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Monaco Grand Prix’s long-term future resolved with F1 extension until 2031

  • Race remains on F1 calendar after six-year deal agreed
  • Contest has been part of motor sport scene since 1950

Formula One’s iconic Monaco Grand Prix will remain on the calendar until at least 2031 after a six-year extension was announced on Thursday, with a date change to June that also avoids future clashes with the Indianapolis 500.

The race around the streets of Monte Carlo was part of the first world championship season in 1950 and has been present since, with the exception of 2020 during the global pandemic.

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South Korean president practising golf to prepare for future meetings with Donald Trump

It is estimated that Trump played hundreds of rounds of golf during his first term as president of the United States

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol is practising golf – for the first time in eight years – in preparation for future meetings with US president-elect Donald Trump, Yoon’s office has confirmed.

South Korean media said Yoon had visited a golf course on Saturday for a sport his office said he had last played in 2016.

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US tennis analyst taken off-air for derogatory comment about Barbora Krejcikova

  • Tennis Channel removes Jon Wertheim from WTA Finals line-up
  • Wertheim sorry for being ‘neither professional nor charitable’

American journalist Jon Wertheim has been removed as an on-air analyst for the Tennis Channel for a derogatory comment he made about Barbora Krejcikova’s forehead.

Covering the WTA Finals in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Wertheim said in a statement on Sunday that his comment “inadvertently” made it on air after he joined the Tennis Channel broadcast via Zoom.

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European football: Barcelona suffer shock defeat against Real Sociedad

  • Roma sack coach Ivan Juric after just 12 games in charge
  • Scott McTominay scores as Napoli hold Inter 1-1

Barcelona suffered a shock 1-0 La Liga defeat at Real Sociedad on Sunday that ended their seven-match winning streak in all competitions as Sheraldo Becker scored for the Basque side in the first half. It was also notable as it was the first time since September 2014 that Barça had failed to get a shot on target in a league game.

The league leaders got their first taste of defeat in over a month and only their second in their domestic season after they were dominated throughout the match by the home side, who wasted several chances. Becker’s strike in the 33rd minute was enough to secure Real Sociedad the win as he beat the offside trap to race on to a Luka Sucic header before slotting a tidy finish just inside the post.

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