Reuters Sports News Summary

The battle for the top four places looks set to be a close one with Tottenham Hotspur also leaving it very late for a 1-0 win at Watford and West Ham United enjoying a 3-2 victory at Crystal Palace. Tennis-Tsitsipas skips ATP Cup singles clash due to elbow issue, wins in doubles rubber World number four Stefanos Tsitsipas pulled out of his ATP Cup singles match with Poland's Hubert Hurkacz on Saturday due to a niggling right elbow issue before returning to partner Michail Pervolarakis to win their doubles rubber.

Following is a summary of current sports news briefs.

Olympics-Team Canada CEO "worried" if Beijing Games can go ahead as planned

With just over a month until the Beijing Winter Olympics opening ceremony the CEO of the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) said he is increasingly concerned if the Games can go ahead as planned. "We're worried," COC CEO David Shoemaker told the CBC in a New Year's eve interview. "We're confident that these Games can still be scheduled safely.

Soccer-City march on as Spurs and Hammers keep in up chase for fourth

Manchester City moved 11 points clear at the top of the Premier League after a last-gasp goal from Rodri gave them a 2-1 victory at fourth-placed Arsenal on Saturday in a controversy packed game at the Emirates stadium. The battle for the top four places looks set to be a close one with Tottenham Hotspur also leaving it very late for a 1-0 win at Watford and West Ham United enjoying a 3-2 victory at Crystal Palace.

Tennis-Tsitsipas skips ATP Cup singles clash due to elbow issue, wins in doubles rubber

World number four Stefanos Tsitsipas pulled out of his ATP Cup singles match with Poland's Hubert Hurkacz on Saturday due to a niggling right elbow issue before returning to partner Michail Pervolarakis to win their doubles rubber. Tsitsipas and Pervolarakis defeated Hurkacz and Jan Zielinski 6-4 5-7 10-8 in the doubles match but Greece suffered a 2-1 loss to Poland after losing both their singles match.

Rallying-Qatar's al-Attiyah takes the lead after Dakar prologue

Qatar's Nasser Al-Attiyah won the prologue to the Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia on Saturday as last year's overall runner-up made a strong start to his bid for a fourth victory in the endurance event. The Toyota Hilux driver was 12 seconds quicker than Spain's three-times winner Carlos Sainz, driving the electric Audi RS Q e-tron, over the 19km timed sprint stage 1A before a 595km liaison between Jeddah and Ha'il.

Tennis-Spain, Argentina secure easy wins at ATP Cup, Serbia down Norway

Spain and Argentina both won their ATP Cup ties with some ease as men's professional tennis returned for the 2022 season in the lucrative team tournament at Sydney's Olympic Park on Saturday. Spain's Roberto Bautista Agut and Pablo Carreno Busta made light of the absence of Rafa Nadal with contrasting victories over Chileans Cristian Garin and Alejandro Tabilo.

Dan Reeves, former NFL head coach and player, dead at 77

Dan Reeves, a longtime NFL head coach and former player, died Saturday at the age of 77, his family said in a statement. Reeves died "due to complications from dementia," the statement read. He was "surrounded by his loving family at his home in Atlanta," according to the statement.

Soccer-Sanchez header seals late win for Spurs at Watford

Tottenham Hotspur's top-four ambitions received a New Year's Day boost as defender Davinson Sanchez proved an unlikely match-winner deep into stoppage time to hand his side a 1-0 win at struggling Watford in the Premier League on Saturday. The visitors had looked like being frustrated for the second match in succession but Sanchez broke the deadlock in the sixth minute of time added on to send Tottenham fifth in the table, at least until West Ham United play Crystal Palace later.

Soccer-Barcelona boss Xavi says Mallorca game should have been postponed

Barcelona manager Xavi Hernandez said it was "ludicrous" that their game at Mallorca on Sunday was going ahead despite the Catalan club missing up to 18 players due to COVID-19, injuries and suspensions. Barcelona have 10 players in isolation after they all tested positive for COVID-19, while Sergio Busquets is suspended for the game. Ansu Fati, Memphis Depay, Pedri, Sergi Roberto and Martin Braithwaite are all recovering from injuries.

NBA-I was a misfit when I joined the Nuggets, says MVP Jokic

Nikola Jokic struggled in the fledgling stages of his National Basketball Association's (NBA) career when he joined the Denver Nuggets and had to change his diet to become the league's most valuable player in 2021, the Serbian centre said. The 26-year old joined the Nuggets from modest Serbian side Mega Basket in 2015 and last season he became the lowest NBA draft pick to win the MVP regular season award averaging 26.4 points, 10.8 assists and 8.3 assists per game.

Tennis-Raducanu pulls out of Australian Open warm-up event in Melbourne

U.S. Open champion Emma Raducanu has withdrawn from this week's Australian Open warm-up tournament in Melbourne having just come out of isolation after testing positive for COVID-19, she said on Saturday. Raducanu, who became the first qualifier to win a Grand Slam when she triumphed at Flushing Meadows in September, had pulled out of the Mubadala World Tennis Championship exhibition event in Abu Dhabi last month after contracting the virus.