Nawalparasi triumph:

LALITPUR: Santosh Sahukhala scored a hat-trick as Kathmandu beat Sindhupalchowk 5-1 in the day’s match of the Central-level ANFA-Mayos Inter-school Football Tournament here at ANFA Complex today. Sandip Rai and Gyanendra Ale also scored for the winners. In other matches, Krishna Shrestha scored a hat-trick as Nawalparasi beat Lamjung 3-1; Jhapa beat Udaypur 5-1; Siraha beat Bhaktapur 6-2. At JYC, Syangja beat Surkhet 5-0; and Dhankuta beat Morang 6-5 in tie-breaker. At Buddhi Bikash Mandal, Bara beat Dang 2-0; Mahottari beat Kailali 2-1; and Banke beat Panchthar 3-2. — HNS

Gyan Niketan basketball:

KATHMANDU: Gyan Niketan School is organising the 4th Gyan Niketan Inter-school Running Shield Basketball Tournament from February 6-14. In all, 26 teams — 15 in senior boys, seven in junior boys and four in girls section — are participating. The organisers said that the boys events will be played on league-cum-knock out format, whereas the girls tournament will be played on round-robin league basis. The senior boys and the junior boys teams are divided into four and two pools respectively. — HNS

Clarke wins AB Medal:

Melbourne: Outstanding young batsman Michael Clarke won the Allan Border Medal as Australia’s cricketer of the year here on Monday. The 23-year-old New South Wales right-hander polled 54 votes from team-mates, media and umpires to beat fellow batsman Damien Martyn (51). Vice-captain Adam Gilchrist was third on 41 votes. Clarke is the youngest winner of the award. His victory was only the second occasion, after Steve Waugh won in 2001. Martyn, who scored six centuries in 2004, won the Test award, while Clarke was pipped by Andrew Symonds for the one-day award. — AFP

Koech, Kovpotina win:

LAS VEGAS: Gilbert Koech of Kenya won the 39th Las Vegas International Marathon, while Olga Kovpotina of Ukraine won the women’s race. Koech finished in 2 hours, 13 minutes, 44 seconds. The runner-up was Henry Serem of Kenya in 2:14:30, and countryman Elly Rono was third in 2:15:43. Kovpotina finished in 2:31:53, breaking the women’s course record of 2:32:22 set in 1997. About 4,300 runners competed in sunny, windy conditions. — AP

Russia join Euro race:

MOSCOW: Russia has joined the race to host the 2012 European football championships. The last-minute bid to host the tournament was one of the last moves of Russian Football Union (RFU) chief Vyacheslav Koloskov, who steps down after 25 years in the job. Koloskov said the RFU has prepared a stronger bid than when losing its bid for Euro 2008 which was awarded to Alpine duo Switzerland and Austria. — AFP

LeBron James sidelined:

CLEVELAND: Cavaliers forward LeBron James missed Sunday’s game against Milwaukee, the second straight contest he’s sat out because of a sprained left ankle. James is still experiencing some soreness in the ankle, which he rolled in a win over Memphis last Wednesday. He sat out Friday’s loss in New York, but Cleveland coach Paul Silas expects his star to be ready for Tuesday’s game in Orlando. — AP