Reuters Sports News Summary

Following is a summary of current sports news briefs.

Tennis-Cirstea hits out at Adidas over player contracts

Romania's Sorana Cirstea has lamented how brands value players' "looks" more than performance while drawing up contracts, saying that Adidas told her "it's better to look good and be in Top-20 than to not look that good and be number one".

Cirstea, who is currently ranked 38th in women's singles, made the comments on Romanian podcast "La Fileu" last week while discussing advertising contracts handed out to tennis players.

NHL roundup: Tage Thompson's 6 points help Sabres blast Wings

Tage Thompson recorded his second career hat trick and had three assists while Jeff Skinner scored the 300th goal of his career as the Buffalo Sabres beat the visiting Detroit Red Wings 8-3 on Monday night. Thompson is one of six players in franchise history to tally six points in a game, becoming the first to accomplish the feat since Pat LaFontaine did so on Feb. 10, 1993. The franchise record is seven points, set by Gilbert Perreault on Feb. 1, 1976. Skinner also had two assists while Rasmus Dahlin added a goal and an assist for Buffalo during its highest-scoring game since a 9-2 win over the Ottawa Senators on Nov. 3, 2018. Jack Quinn also found the net, and Kyle Okposo notched two assists.

NBA-Nets part ways with head coach Nash after tough start to season

The Brooklyn Nets have parted ways with head coach Steve Nash after a two-win and five-loss start to the season, the team said on Tuesday. Nash, who was twice named the National Basketball Association (NBA) MVP during his playing career, was hired in 2020 despite a lack of coaching experience and brought the team to the playoffs in back-to-back seasons.

Cricket-England trump New Zealand to stay alive, Afghanistan exit

England survived Glenn Phillips's late onslaught to beat group leaders New Zealand by 20 runs in a major boost to their semi-final hopes at the T20 World Cup in Brisbane on Tuesday. England skipper Jos Buttler led by example and smashed 73 while Alex Hales made 52 to power the 2010 champions to 179-6 after electing to bat in the crucial Super 12 contest.

Soccer-NWSL averages record 915,000 viewers on CBS for championship match

An average of 915,000 viewers tuned in to watch the Portland Thorns collect their third National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) Championship against Kansas City on Saturday, setting a record for the most-watched game in league history, broadcaster CBS said. It marked a 71% increase over last year's audience at a critical time for the women's sport, after FIFA said late last month it had rejected a number of bids for the 2023 Women's World Cup broadcast rights for being too low. The quadrennial tournament is less than nine months away.

Soccer-Belgium is hopeful Lukaku will be fit for World Cup after 'setback'

Belgium coach Roberto Martinez says the absence of "irreplaceable" Romelu Lukaku from the World Cup would force his side to change the way they play, but the striker has not been ruled out of the tournament yet, team officials confirmed. Lukaku is struggling with a hamstring injury having only recently returned from two months on the sidelines and is a doubt for the finals in Qatar, with Belgium opening their tournament against Canada on Nov. 23.

Soccer-'This is not our national team' - why some Iranians want their own country banned from World Cup

A group of current and former Iranian sportspeople say they have no choice but to turn on their own country, citing what they called state-sponsored violence and discrimination against ordinary Iranians, especially women. The group, containing former champions in sports such as karate, judo and wrestling, including those living in exile and based in their homeland, are taking a stand.

Tennis-Djokovic starts Paris defence with win, Rublev and Hurkacz also through

Defending champion Novak Djokovic opened his Paris Masters campaign with a routine 7-6(1) 6-4 win over Maxime Cressy on Tuesday, while Andrey Rublev and Hubert Hurkacz stayed in the hunt for a place at the ATP Finals with straight-sets victories. Djokovic, a six-times winner at the ATP Masters 1000 event in the French capital, was made to toil in the opening set by Cressy but emerged unscathed after the American double-faulted twice in the tiebreak.

NBA roundup: Clippers end skid, win on late Paul George shot

Paul George made a contested 15-foot baseline jumper with 6.2 seconds left to give the Los Angeles Clippers a 95-93 victory over the visiting Houston Rockets on Monday night. George had 35 points, nine rebounds, eight assists and six steals for the Clippers, who scored the game's final seven points to break a four-game losing streak. Los Angeles never led in the fourth quarter until George sank his tiebreaking basket in the final seconds.

Soccer-Two pub owners in Germany to boycott screening World Cup games

Two pub owners in Germany will not be showing matches from the Qatar World Cup, saying they took the decision from "an ethical standpoint" given the Gulf state's record on human rights. Qatar, the first Middle Eastern country to host the World Cup, has come under intense international pressure for its treatment of foreign workers and restrictive social laws.