BASKETBALL

Guangdong survives scare to tame Lions

Victory belonged to the home teams in all seven of Thursday's CBA matches, including the league-leading Guangdong Southeast Tigers.

Ren Junfei's buzzer-beater earned Guangdong its 12th straight triumph with a 108-106 win over the Zhejiang Lions. He finished with 19 points while teammate Marshon Brooks starred with 28 points and nine rebounds. Marcus Denmon had a game-high 29 points for Zhejiang. Zhu Xuhang added 18.

Despite the defeat, Zhejiang coach Liu Weiwei praised the Lions' defensive performance against a team that has averaged over 120 points per game this season, thanks to the prolific scoring of Brooks and captain Yi Jianlian.

"We had a good game," Liu said. "We did not give up when we were behind and managed to tie the game, but we were not experienced enough and left a player unguarded at the crucial moment."

SOCCER

Australia, NZ confirm Women's World Cup bid

Australia and New Zealand have submitted a joint bid to host the 2023 Women's World Cup.

Football Federation Australia and New Zealand Football announced the co-confederation bid on Friday in Melbourne, hours before the official bid book was to be submitted to FIFA.

Soccer's world governing body has plenty of contenders to host the first 32-team Women's World Cup, with other bids expected to be submitted from Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Japan and South Korea, which could be a joint project with DPR Korea.

FIFA will conduct inspections of all bids in January and February ahead of a FIFA Council vote expected in May.

Veteran Ribery to undergo ankle surgery

French midfielder Franck Ribery will undergo surgery after suffering serious ligament damage to his right ankle, his club Fiorentina confirmed on Thursday.

Ribery, 36, had to be helped off the pitch after a clash with Lecce midfielder Panagiotis Tachtsidis on Nov 30.

"In order to solve the problem, a joint-stabilization surgical treatment has been proposed which will be performed in the next few hours," Fiorentina said.

"At the end of the procedure, the times for resuming competitive activity will be announced."

Some Italian media said the former Bayern Munich star will be sidelined for two months.

Fiorentina is on a run of four consecutive defeats and is 13th in Serie A, just five points above the relegation zone.

TENNIS

Murray's preseason stalled by groin injury

Britain's Andy Murray has canceled his training block in Miami because of a groin injury that has left him unable to practice on the court, according to a report on Thursday.

The former world No 1 suffered a bruise to his pelvic bone during Britain's Davis Cup campaign in Madrid last month, The Times newspaper said. He played one singles match before missing the rest of the event.

Murray's Grand Slam comeback at next month's Australian Open, which starts on Jan 20, is apparently not in doubt, however.

The three-time Grand Slam champion, currently ranked 126 in the world, will likely receive a wild card to compete in Melbourne.

The 32-year-old Scot is due to travel to Australia in late December to prepare for the new ATP Cup team competition, which starts on Jan 3.

GOLF

Saudi Arabia to stage first women's pro event

Saudi Arabia will host its first professional women's golf tournament in 2020 with a prize fund of $1 million, the Ladies European Tour (LET) announced.

The Jeddah Royal Greens Golf and Country Club will stage the March 19-22 tournament, featuring three-time Tour winner Carly Booth.

The Briton and four of her fellow professionals have agreed to act as ambassadors for the tournament despite the divisive issue of women's rights in the conservative kingdom.

"I'm looking forward to being part of history with the other ladies on the tour," said the 27-year-old Booth.

"I have visited Saudi Arabia on a number of occasions and been lucky enough to spend some time teaching local women and girls how to play."

The men's European Tour made its first foray into Saudi Arabia this year.

However, superstars Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy have both refused to play in the 2020 edition.