WINTER SPORTS

Double delight for China at World Cup

China's Qi Guangpu and Xu Mengtao claimed their second gold medals in as many days at the FIS Freestyle Aerials World Cup at Shimao Lotus Mountain Ski Resort on Sunday.

Having scooped both titles on Saturday, the Chinese pair repeated the feat in Sunday's session, with Qi finishing best of 21 competitors in the men's competition and Xu again dominating the women's final.

"I just performed as usual, hoping to improve gradually," said Qi, who scored 128.05 points for a routine rated 4.525 for difficulty. Russia's Maxim Burov (126.70) took second, while China's Jia Zongyang, a silver medalist at the 2018 Winter Olympics, was third (123.90).

Xu scored 110.77 points to top the women's podium ahead of Aliaksandra Ramanouskaya (97.07) of Belarus and China's Kong Fanyu (92.35).

BASKETBALL

Lin-sanity prevails as Beijing batters Shanxi

Jeremy Lin shook off recent sluggishness as the Beijing Ducks sailed to a 93-78 road victory over the Shanxi Brave Dragons on Sunday.

Lin's 5-for-21 figures in Friday's defeat to the Zhejiang Golden Bulls was his worst shooting performance of the season. But the American bounced back in style to convert 12 of 18 shots against Shanxi for a game-high 32 points.

Beijing went 14 of 29 from behind the arc, with Zhu Yanxi draining seven 3-pointers to bag 22 points; Zhai Xiaochuan and Fang Shuo added 15 and 12 points respectively.

The Ducks led 23-15 after the first quarter and 45-31 at halftime, while a 12-point streak from Lin in the third and four 3s from Zhu in the final period easily kept Shanxi at bay.

Elsewhere, the Shenzhen Aviators snapped the Shandong Heroes' eight-game winning streak by triumphing 104-95.

Isaiah suspended over Sixers fan clash

Washington Wizards guard Isaiah Thomas was suspended by two games without pay by the NBA on Sunday for entering the spectator stands to confront hecklers, the league announced.

Thomas was ejected with 2:53 remaining in the fourth quarter of Washington's 125-108 loss at Philadelphia on Saturday after confronting 76ers' fans in the stands for what he later said were obscene comments and gestures.

"I said: 'Don't be disrespectful. I'm a man before anything. Be a fan.' His response was, 'I'm sorry, I just wanted a Frosty,'" Thomas said, referring to the frozen dessert Sixers fans are awarded if an opposing player misses two free throws in the second half.

Thomas later greeted the news of his suspension with a foulmouthed one-word tweet. Two spectators involved in the incident have been banned by the 76ers from their arena for one year and had their season tickets revoked.

SOCCER

Milan mauled in worst defeat for 21 years

AC Milan slumped to its biggest Serie A defeat in 21 years as it was humiliated 5-0 at local rival Atalanta on Sunday.

It was only the fourth occasion Milan had lost a Serie A game by a five-goal margin, with the last time coming in May 1998 against Roma.

"We got our whole interpretation of the match wrong, we faced it in the wrong way and it became difficult to change our attitude," Milan coach Stefano Pioli said. "On a tactical level, a technical level and a physical level, Atalanta was better than us.

"This is a defeat which really hurts. We are responsible for our performance and today we played well below our level. A game like this should not be allowed to happen. We have to put in performances on the pitch worthy of the shirt that we wear."

Atalanta moved into fifth place, four points behind Roma and the final Champions League berth, heading into the winter break. Milan is 11th, 10 points behind Atalanta.

NFL

Thomas breaks catch record in Saints win

Drew Brees threw three touchdown passes, and Michael Thomas set an NFL single-season record for pass receptions as the visiting New Orleans Saints overcame a 14-0 deficit and beat the Tennessee Titans 38-28 on Sunday.

Brees, who became the NFL's career leader in touchdown passes six days earlier, increased his career total to 544 and upped his lead over New England's Tom Brady and the retired Peyton Manning by five.

Thomas caught Brees' third touchdown pass on the day and finished with 12 receptions for 136 yards, giving him 145 catches, two more than Marvin Harrison had in 2002.

With the win, the NFC South champion Saints (12-3) remained in contention for a first-round playoff bye and the top overall seed in the NFC. They finish the regular season at Carolina on Sunday.

Xinhua - Agencies