Digest

SWIMMING

Sun shines as golds flow for host in Beijing

Sun Yang delighted the home fans as he led China's charge at the two-day FINA Champions Swim Series' Beijing stop over the weekend.

The three-time Olympic champion stormed to victory in the men's 200m freestyle in a time of one minute and 45.55 seconds on Saturday and then won the 400m freestyle on Sunday in 3:44.98.

Sun had to settle for 200 silver behind Rapsys at the series' opening meet in Shenzhen last Tuesday.

"I did not think of it as revenge since I lost to Danas in Shenzhen by 0.03 seconds. It is a good competition with the strongest rivals in the world. To me, Danas is very tough and also a respected friend," said Sun, who is expecting a verdict to be delivered in his Court of Arbitration for Sport case this month.

China won five golds on Saturday, with two-time world champion Xu Jiayu tying for first place in the men's 100m backstroke with longtime idol Ryosuke Irie of Japan in 52.97. Matt Grever of the United States finished third in 53.71.

BASKETBALL

Africa to produce more stars, says Biyombo

The National Basketball Association's investment in Africa will result in more star players from the continent shining in the NBA, Charlotte Hornets center Bismack Biyombo said on Friday.

The Congolese player will feature in the first NBA game in France as the Hornets face the Milwaukee Bucks in Paris next Friday.

"I think we will soon have an NBA match in Africa," the 27-year-old told a conference call.

The NBA and the sport's governing body FIBA have set up the Basketball Africa League, which is due to tip off in March.

"The most important thing is to get that new league started," said Biyombo.

Cameroon's Pascal Siakam helped the Toronto Raptors win the NBA Finals last year and Biyombo believes there is more to come from Africa."Now the young African players won't necessarily need to go play in China or Europe to show themselves, the NBA scouts are going to come to Africa," he said.

Teague happy to help Hawks as Trae's backup

Jeff Teague said he couldn't be happier to be back with his adopted hometown team.

Teague, in his 11th NBA season, was hoping to return to his original club as a free agent this summer, but a trade from Minnesota two days ago landed him back with the Atlanta Hawks earlier than expected.

No longer a starter, Teague entered Saturday's game against the Detroit Pistons midway through the first quarter to a modest standing ovation, playing alongside fellow point guard Trae Young, the NBA's third-leading scorer. The Hawks' plan, though, is to mostly use 31-year-old Teague as Young's primary backup.

"I always wanted to come back,"Teague said."Those things just kind of run through your head. I looked at their team, their need and things like that. I thought they might need me, a backup veteran that can help a little bit and try to help lead the guys. I thought that would be my role."

SOCCER

Gattuso 'scared' for free-falling Napoli

Gennaro Gattuso said he was "worried and scared" as Napoli fell 2-0 at home to Fiorentina on Saturday, leaving last season's Serie A runner-up scrambling to save its season.

A third consecutive defeat saw the southern giant slump to 13th position. Napoli sits closer to the relegation zone than the Champions League places. The club is without a league win at its Stadio San Paolo home since Oct 19 ahead of hosting Barcelona in the Champions League in a month's time.

For Gattuso the "soulless, unwatchable and embarrassing" defeat was his fourth in five league games since replacing Carlo Ancelotti on Dec 11, when the team was in seventh spot.

"I'm very worried," admitted the 42-year-old former AC Milan coach.

"We have hit rock bottom and we need to understand what we are going towards. We're not looking at the Champions League, we're looking at the scary ranking. We're playing with fire."

Haaland hits hat-trick on Dortmund debut

Norwegian rising star Erling Braut Haaland came off the bench to claim a hat-trick inside 20 minutes on his Borussia Dortmund debut and inspire a 5-3 comeback win at Augsburg on Saturday.

The 19-year-old, who was heavily linked with Manchester United before choosing Dortmund, showed why the German team paid Red Bull Salzburg 20 million euros ($22 million) for him last month when he came on in the 56th minute with his new team 3-1 down.

"I am pretty relaxed about it... I don't really know why," said Haaland, who is not even deemed fully fit by Dortmund.

"I'm at a fantastic club with great teammates and good people around me. I came here to score goals and it was a good debut for me."

Dortmund's victory left them fourth in the Bundesliga standings, level on points with defending champion Bayern Munich and Schalke, but seven points behind leader RB Leipzig, which opened a five-point gap at the top with a 3-1 win over Union Berlin.

Xinhua - Agencies