French League Game Abandoned after Firework Lands Next to Goalkeeper

Clermont-Ferrand's French goalkeeper #99 Mory Diaw injured by a firecracker lies on the ground during the French L1 football match between Montpellier Herault SC and Clermont foot 63 at Stade de la Mosson in Montpellier, southern France on October 8, 2023. (Photo by Pascal GUYOT / AFP)
Clermont-Ferrand's French goalkeeper #99 Mory Diaw injured by a firecracker lies on the ground during the French L1 football match between Montpellier Herault SC and Clermont foot 63 at Stade de la Mosson in Montpellier, southern France on October 8, 2023. (Photo by Pascal GUYOT / AFP)
TT

French League Game Abandoned after Firework Lands Next to Goalkeeper

Clermont-Ferrand's French goalkeeper #99 Mory Diaw injured by a firecracker lies on the ground during the French L1 football match between Montpellier Herault SC and Clermont foot 63 at Stade de la Mosson in Montpellier, southern France on October 8, 2023. (Photo by Pascal GUYOT / AFP)
Clermont-Ferrand's French goalkeeper #99 Mory Diaw injured by a firecracker lies on the ground during the French L1 football match between Montpellier Herault SC and Clermont foot 63 at Stade de la Mosson in Montpellier, southern France on October 8, 2023. (Photo by Pascal GUYOT / AFP)

A French league game between Montpellier and Clermont was abandoned on Sunday after a firework thrown from the stands landed next to Clermont goalkeeper Mory Diaw, who was then stretchered off.
Montpellier was leading 4-2 when the firework was thrown in the first minute of six minutes of injury time, and Diaw fell to the ground and received treatment before being taken off.
A few minutes later, the players went back to their dressing rooms. The match was then definitively called off without the remaining stoppage time being played.
After Diaw fell, Clermont defender Neto Borges was shown a red card after a video replay showed him making a gesture toward the Montpellier fans.



Paul Waring's Record 61 Opens Huge Lead in Abu Dhabi

The Emirati capital, Abu Dhabi (WAM)
The Emirati capital, Abu Dhabi (WAM)
TT

Paul Waring's Record 61 Opens Huge Lead in Abu Dhabi

The Emirati capital, Abu Dhabi (WAM)
The Emirati capital, Abu Dhabi (WAM)

Englishman Paul Waring carded a course-record 61 Friday to open a five-shot lead midway through the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship in the United Arab Emirates.

Waring's tap-in birdie at the 18th hole at Yas Links moved him to 19-under-par, the lowest 36-hole score to par in the history of the European tour.

Denmark's Niklas Norgaard (65 on Friday) and Thorbjorn Olesen (67), American Johannes Veerman (67) and first-round leader Tommy Fleetwood (68) of England are tied for second at 14 under, Reuters reported.

Waring, who opened the tour's first playoff event with a 64 on Thursday, posted nine birdies and an eagle at the par-4 sixth hole during a bogey-free performance.

Waring delivered his best shot of the day and secured the lowest round of his career at the par-5 18th. Following a wayward drive and a free drop, he chopped his second shot back to the fairway before launching a 250-yard blast to within 4 feet of the cup.

"That was the best shot I've ever hit in my life, to be honest," Waring said of his fairway wood at No. 18.

Waring, 39, is ranked No. 229 in the world and has just one win on the European tour at the 2018 Nordea Masters.

"Obviously feel great, swinging it great. Putter is behaving," Waring said. "That's I'd say a weak spot for me now and again, but I've done a lot of work on it, and since moving over to Dubai I'm very used to this style of greens as well.

"I've got a nice lead at the moment but even before I tee off tomorrow, someone might have caught me. So, if I'm going to be involved on Sunday afternoon I've still got to keep going the way I am."

Olesen's eventful round Friday included two eagles, four birdies, a double bogey and a bogey. He pitched in at the 18th for his second eagle.

"It was a bit of a battle there on the back nine," Olesen said. "I probably got what I deserved, and that's what golf does. You get some good breaks but then you know you're probably going to get some bad breaks, also."

Race to Dubai leader Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland is nine shots behind Waring after a second straight 67 that included a triple-bogey at the par-3 17th.

"I played quite nice up to that point and I feel like I hit a nice shot into 17, just trundled into the bunker," McIlroy said.

"There wasn't a lot of sand where the ball was and I just sort of made a mess of it from there, but bounced back well to birdie the last."