More Sports In Brief

Officials pleased with World Indoors prep

Following a site visit from IAAF competitions and technical delegates, the IAAF has confirmed that they are pleased with the city's preparations for the IAAF World Indoor Championships Birmingham 2018.

On 2-4 March 2018, more than 400 athletes from about 150 countries will compete at Birmingham's indoor arena over three action-packed days of athletics, as the IAAF World Indoor Championships come to the city.

Birmingham was the venue for the World Indoor Championships in 2003 and went on to hold the 2007 European Indoor Championships and 2009 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships. The city also annually hosts an IAAF Diamond League meeting, an IAAF World Indoor Tour meeting and the British Championships.

Nadal beats Chung to guarantee No. 1 spot

PARIS (AP):

Rafael Nadal will finish the year as the top-ranked player for the fourth time.

The 31-year-old Spaniard assured himself the No. 1 ranking by beating Hyeon Chung 7-5, 6-3 yesterday in the second round of the Paris Masters.

Nadal had not finished the year at the top since 2013, with Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray doing so after that.

Nadal, who has 30 Masters titles, has never won the tournament in Paris. He will next face Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay.

Also, fourth-seeded Alexander Zverev lost to Robin Haase 3-6, 6-2, 6-2, and ninth-seeded John Isner beat Diego Schwartzman 7-6 (2), 6-7 (11), 6-3.

Olympic flame arrives in South Korea

SEOUL, South Korea (AP):

The Olympic flame arrived in South Korea yesterday where it will be passed throughout the country by thousands of torchbearers on a 100-day journey to the opening ceremony of the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang.

South Korean figure skating prospect You Young will kick-off the 2,018 kilometre) trip from Incheon yesterday.

Pyeongchang's organisers have designated 7,500 torchbearers to carry the Olympic flame, which arrived at the Incheon International Airport after a handover ceremony in Athens on Tuesday. Retired Olympic figure skating champion Kim Yuna, who is one of the country's most popular sports personalities, joined South Korean Prime Minster Lee Nak-yon in igniting the flame to a ceremonial cauldron at the airport to mark the start of the Olympic torch relay.