Digest

VOLLEYBALL

Tianjin and Shanghai seize semifinals edge

Tianjin and Shanghai took the early lead in the semifinals of the Chinese Women's Volleyball Super League on Tuesday.

Ace spiker Zhu Ting looked fully recovered from the right wrist injury she sustained at the Women's Club World Championship two weeks ago as she led Tianjin with a game-high 23 points in a 3-0(25-15, 25-19, 25-23) triumph over Beijing.

Li Yingying scored 17 points for Tianjin while Rachel Rourke and Michelle Bartsch-Hackley had eight points each for Beijing.

The night's other semi was a much closer contest, with Shanghai Bright Ubest overcoming visitor Guangdong Evergrande 3-1 (25-23, 29-27, 24-26, 31-30).

Both Game 2s are scheduled for Saturday.

BASKETBALL

Lance leads Liaoning to win over Zhejiang

The Liaoning Flying Leopards rallied from 19 points down to beat the Zhejiang Lions 114-111 in Hangzhou on Tuesday.

Lance Stephenson was unstoppable for Liaoning in the fourth quarter with 16-of-36 shooting, while Guo Ailun and Zhao Jiwei added 16 points each for the visitor.

New signing Dezmine Wells scored a game-high 38 points for Zhejiang, but the American failed to force overtime when he missed his final attempt from beyond the arc.

Zhejiang led 94-75 at one point before a 39-15 Liaoning run tied the game at 99-all as Stephenson moved up the gears with 16 points.

Liaoning edged ahead with 7.5 seconds remaining on the clock as Wells failed to drain his last-ditch 3-point attempt.

Celtics rookie Tacko conducts orchestra

Boston Celtics player Tacko Fall made his debut as a guest conductor during the renowned Boston Pops Orchestra's holiday concert.

The 7-foot-6 center took the stage to lead the orchestra in a rendition of the song Sleigh Ride at Boston's Symphony Hall on Monday night. Fall was wearing a custom-made extra-long tuxedo.

Fall used a baton that was given to him by conductor Keith Lockhart, who wrote "Congratulations to Tacko!" on it in green marker, the Boston Globe reported.

Lockhart called Fall "the tallest person to ever conduct the Boston Pops" before inviting him on stage.

The audience cheered during Fall's performance as he did a spin and wiggled his arms in time with the music.

TENNIS

Record prize money for Australian Open

The world's best players will compete for a record $49.1 million at the 2020 Australian Open, officials announced on Tuesday.

Tournament champions in both the men's and women's singles will take home $2.84 million, while runners-up will receive $1.42 million.

"This year, as we do every year, we worked with the tours to establish the weighting for prize money which increases round by round, and we pushed to reward players competing early in the tournament in both singles and doubles," said tournament director Craig Tiley.

Players exiting in the first round will now receive $62,000, while those who make it to the semifinals will earn $719,000.

Additionally, those bowing out early in the first round of qualifiers will walk away with $13,800, a 33.3 percent year-on-year increase from 2018. Next year's tournament will take place at Melbourne Park from Jan 20 to Feb 2.

BASEBALL

Mets and Betances agree to one-year deal

The New York Mets have reached an agreement with free-agent reliever Dellin Betances on a one-year contract with a player option for 2021.

The Mets announced the deal with the four-time All Star on Tuesday. Betances is guaranteed $10.5 million under the contract.

The 31-year-old New York native spent his first eight seasons in the majors with the Yankees.

He missed most of 2019 because of injuries. Betances' season ended after just eight pitches. He tore an Achilles tendon in his first appearance back from a lat injury that had sidelined him since spring training.

Betances was the first reliever in MLB history to have 100 or more strikeouts in five consecutive seasons (2014-2018). The right-hander led all major-league relievers in strikeouts in each year from 2014-2016.

Xinhua