Sports News Roundup: Freddie Freeman leads Dodgers to home-opening win; Raducanu wins on Billie Jean King Cup debut to level tie for Britain a nd more

One source close to the talks told Reuters the deal to buy the seven-times European champions from current owner Elliott Management Corporation was near to completion. MLB roundup: Freddie Freeman leads Dodgers to home-opening win Freddie Freeman had two hits and scored a pair of runs, including the go-ahead score in the eighth inning, to help the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 9-3 victory over the visiting Cincinnati Reds on Thursday.

Following is a summary of current sports news briefs.

Surfing-Dominant Florence into Bells quarter-final as mid-year cut prompts protest

Hawaii's two-time world champion John John Florence notched up the highest score of the day to storm into the quarter-finals of the Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach on Friday, as a new mid-season cut prompted a protest from top surfers. Bells, professional surfing's longest-running contest now in its 59th year, enjoyed some classic conditions with long, clean waves allowing the surfers to showcase a range of powerful turns and explosive hits.

Cricket-Root says time is right to step down as England captain

Joe Root stepped down as England test captain on Friday, saying the job had taken a heavy toll on him recently, after dispiriting tours of Australia and the Caribbean capped a string of poor results. England have won just one of their previous 17 tests and the pressure had been mounting on Root even before their 1-0 series defeat by the West Indies last month, which came on the heels of a 4-0 Ashes series thrashing by Australia.

Golf-DeChambeau undergoes wrist surgery, likely to miss PGA Championship

Bryson DeChambeau said on Thursday he has had surgery on his left wrist and expects to return to competition within the next two months, which is likely to see him miss the PGA Championship in May. The American fractured the hamate bone in his wrist when he slipped on marble floors while playing ping pong in Saudi Arabia. He also injured his hip in the fall.

Ricketts consortium pulls out of Chelsea bid race

A consortium led by Chicago Cubs owners the Ricketts family has pulled out of the running to buy Premier League club Chelsea, the family said on Friday, leaving three bidders remaining. Final bids for the club, which was put up for sale by owner Roman Abramovich following Russia's invasion of Ukraine before sanctions were imposed on the oligarch by the British government, were submitted on Thursday.

Soccer-Barca president Laporta 'embarrassed' after Eintracht fans flood Camp Nou

Barcelona President Joan Laporta said he was "embarrassed and ashamed" after a reported 30,000 Eintracht Frankfurt fans made it into the Camp Nou for Thursday's Europa League quarter-final despite away fans only being allocated 5,000 tickets. Barca were sensationally knocked out of the competition by the Germans after winger Filip Kostic scored twice in a 3-2 victory that saw Eintracht advance 4-3 on aggregate.

Tennis-Raducanu wins on Billie Jean King Cup debut to level tie for Britain

Emma Raducanu won on her Billie Jean King Cup debut to give Britain a crucial point in their qualifier against the Czech Republic with a hard-fought 7-5 7-5 win over Tereza Martincova in windy conditions in Prague on Friday. U.S. Open champion Raducanu, 19, was playing her first professional match on clay and gradually adjusted to the surface as she battled back in both sets to level the best-of-five tie after Harriet Dart lost 6-1 6-0 to Marketa Vondrousova.

Cycling-Mentalities are changing, says women's Tour de France director

The first edition of the women's Paris-Roubaix race last year silenced most of the sceptics and attitudes to women's cycling are changing, the race director of the Tour de France Femmes said on Friday. On a rainy, muddy day in October 2021, Lizzie Deignan emerged as the first winner of the women's Paris-Roubaix after mastering the slippery cobbled roads in northern France that men have raced on for more than one hundred years.

Soccer-Investcorp in exclusive talks to buy AC Milan - sources

Bahrain-domiciled asset manager Investcorp has entered into exclusive talks to purchase Serie A club AC Milan, sources said on Friday, in what would be the first takeover of a top Italian team by Middle East investors. One source close to the talks told Reuters the deal to buy the seven-times European champions from current owner Elliott Management Corporation was near to completion.

MLB roundup: Freddie Freeman leads Dodgers to home-opening win

Freddie Freeman had two hits and scored a pair of runs, including the go-ahead score in the eighth inning, to help the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 9-3 victory over the visiting Cincinnati Reds on Thursday. Playing in his first regular-season game at Dodger Stadium since signing a free agent deal with the club in the offseason, Freeman doubled to left-center to lead off the eighth inning. He scored on a single to right by Trea Turner off Reds right-hander Tony Santillan to snap a 3-3 tie.

In latest gaming crackdown, China bans livestreaming of unauthorised titles

China said on Friday the livestreaming of unauthorised video games was banned, signalling stricter enforcement of rules as part of its broad crackdown on the gaming industry aimed at purging content the government does not approve of. The National Radio and Television Administration said platforms of all kinds must not livestream games that are not approved by related authorities.