Connor Wickham gave the unfancied Eagles, 29 points adrift of Spurs in the Premier League, a ninth-minute lead before a penalty by former Tottenham winger Andros Townsend made it 2-0.

Spurs’ Kieran Trippier missed with a penalty before half-time as Tottenham suffered more spot-kick woe following Thursday’s shoot-out defeat by Chelsea, another of their London rivals, in a League Cup semi-final.

FA Cup-holders Chelsea had no such problems later on Sunday as they marked Argentina striker Gonzalo Higuain’s club debut with a 3-0 win at home to Championship side Sheffield Wednesday.

Willian scored twice either side of a goal from highly-rated English teenager Callum Hudson-Odoi, linked with a transfer window move to German giants Bayern Munich.

There was no goal for Higuain, signed on loan until the end of the season from Juventus on Wednesday.

But Gianfranco Zola, Chelsea’s assistant manager and himself a former Blues striker, told the BBC: “We are pleased with Gonzalo Higuain’s performance, he was trying to find the space and get on the ball.

“It wasn’t easy as they had a lot of players round him.”

Earlier, Tottenham’s reverse left Mauricio Pochettino still searching for his first trophy as their manager since the Argentinian joined from Southampton in 2014, with Spurs’ last piece of silverware the 2008 League Cup.

Spurs were without injured England stars Harry Kane and Dele Alli, while the in-form Son Heung-Min had still to return from international duty with South Korea at the Asia Cup.

Pochettino, however, decided to omit Christian Eriksen, with the influential playmaker not even among Spurs’ substitutes at Selhurst Park.

For all they are third in the Premier League, Spurs are nine points adrift of leaders Liverpool.

– ‘So painful’ –

The Champions League is now Tottenham’s only realistic hope of a trophy this season, with Pochettino’s men playing Borussia Dortmund in the last 16.

“It was so painful to lose the game like this,” Pochettino told BT Sport.

“We have to look forward to the Premier League and Champions League. We cannot complain and just try in the two competitions to give our best.”

It took Palace a mere nine minutes to open the scoring, Wickham following up after a Jeff Schlupp shot was blocked by Spurs goalkeeper Paulo Gazzaniga.

Palace doubled their lead when Townsend slammed a home a penalty after Spurs’ Kyle Walker-Peters handled a cross into the box.

But at the other end, after Patrick van Aanholt brought down Juan Foyth, Trippier blasted a penalty well wide of the post.

Chelsea did not have things all their own way against second-tier Wednesday, who thought they had been awarded a penalty in the 22nd minute.

Joey Pelupessy tried to meet Steven Fletcher’s pass, with Ethan Ampadu sliding in to win the ball before being kicked by the Wednesday midfielder.

Referee Andre Marriner awarded a penalty but this was overturned by VAR, being trialled in some English cup fixtures this season.

“It’s crazy,” said Owls’ caretaker boss Steve Agnew, holding the fort ahead of Steve Bruce’s imminent arrival.

“Obviously the VAR decisions are correct but what baffled me was surely it’s a corner if it came off their player. The referee gave a drop ball. And a minute later they have a penalty.”

Wednesday’s woe was compounded soon afterwards when Willian scored from the spot after Sam Hutchinson trod on Cesar Azpilicueta inside the box.

VAR was called into action again but this time Marriner’s decision was upheld and Willian, after appearing to offer the spot-kick to Higuain, made no mistake.

Chelsea had to wait until midway through the second half for Hudson-Odoi to make it 2-0 before Willian, playing a neat one-two with Olivier Giroud, completed the scoring seven minutes from time.

The new three-day festival offers a wide range of activities, races and concerts aiming to raise funds to support domestic and wild elephants throughout Thailand.

Located next to Anantara Riverside Bangkok, the festival will be a fun-filled weekend of sporting and cultural events with something to suit everyone.

On-land entertainment includes the digital dry dock rowing tournament, which is open to all on Friday and Saturday, the Old Siam themed Ladies Day on Saturday with a chance to win a luxury holiday to mini concerts from famous Thai artists, champagne tents, beer gardens and much more family fun to come.

The country’s No 1, who fell out of the world top 80 this week after failing to make it beyond the first round in Melbourne, faces a daunting challenge from fifth seed Zhang, who celebrated her first Major trophy with Samantha Stosur of Australia on Friday.

The two Asians have met twice before, with the Thai victorious in China in 2015 before the Chinese returned the favour in Japan a year later.

After ending her 2018 season with two WTA 125K titles in Mumbai and Taiwan, Luksika has yet to get into the groove, having lost both her matches this year, in Shenzhen and Melbourne. Zhang, by contrast, has been in impressive form, also reaching the Australian Open singles third round.

“It’s going to be very tough, no matter who I play. She’s just won the Australian Open doubles and must be quite confident. She has a good defensive and offensive game,” said the 25-year-old Luksika whose best results at the WTA International level are two semi-finals, in Osaka in 2014 and Seoul in 2017.

“Since the Australian Open, I have tried to fix some of my shots but playing against Zhang is different. I need to figure out a way to play her,” said the Chanthaburi native, who still believes she can cause an upset.

“All I have to do is to play at my standard and stick to my game plan. As long as I can play my own game, I have a chance,” said the country’s lone hope in the singles in the home WTA event.

Garbine Muguruza 

Other first-round highlights include a clash of the titans between top seed and former world No 1 Garbine Muguruza of Spain and former Wimbledon finalist Sabine Lisicki of Germany. Another to watch is the showdown between former doubles No 1 Hsieh Su-wei of Taiwan, finalist in a WTA 125K Series here two years ago, and Monica Niculescu of Romania, a three-time WTA winner.

The opening ceremony featuring a muay thai show and traditional Thai drums is due today at 6pm.

The absolute best in local and international martial arts talent took to the ONE Championship cage at ONE: HERO’S ASCENT to showcase their incredible skills. In the main event, Adriano Moraes of Brazil was crowned the new ONE Flyweight World Champion with a unanimous decision victory over Geje Eustaquio of the Philippines.

Brazil’s Adriano “Mikinho” Moraes put together a comprehensive grappling performance, upsetting hometown hero and now former titleholder Geje “Gravity” Eustaquio to win by unanimous decision, capturing the ONE Flyweight World Championship. Although Eustaquio connected on the cleaner, stronger punches throughout the five-round title tiff, it was Moraes who dominated the grappling exchanges. At one point, Moraes caught Eustaquio in a dangerous leglock that almost finished the bout, but the Filipino refused to tap. In the end, all three judges scored the bout in favor of Moraes.

The undefeated Lowen Tynanes retained his perfect record with a first-round finish of former ONE Featherweight World Champion Honorio “The Rock” Banario in a ONE Lightweight World Grand Prix Quarter-Final matchup. After a brief exchange on the feet, Tynanes drove Banario to the mat with a single leg. On the ground, the American quickly took the mounted crucifix position and pounded Banario with sharp punches and elbows to earn the technical knockout victory.

In a spirited clash between two top flyweight contenders, former ONE World Title challenger Danny “The King” Kingad of the Philippines turned in a well-rounded performance, defeating Tatsumitsu “The Sweeper” Wada of Japan by unanimous decision. For three full rounds, it was Kingad who got the better of the standup exchanges. When the action hit the mat, Kingad also displayed superior grappling skills. In the end, all three judges scored the bout in favor of Kingad who earned a spot in the highly-anticipated ONE Flyweight World Grand Prix with the win.

Rodtang “The Iron Man” Jitmuangnon of Thailand remained impressive in his ONE Super Series campaign, running through newcomer Fahdi Khaled of Tunisia to win via unanimous decision. The multiple-time Muay Thai World Champion gave the Filipino fans a show as he pushed the action with an unending flurry of strikes that kept the Tunisian newcomer at bay. Khaled had no answer for Rodtang as the Thai star cruised to a clear decision win.

Dutch grappler Reinier De Ridder made quick work of China’s Fan Rong, winning via submission in the first round. The undefeated European mixed martial arts World Champion wasted little time in bringing the action to the ground as he took Fan down with ease. On the mat, De Ridder showed off his Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu pedigree as he locked in a deep D’Arce Choke to put Fan to sleep in just under two minutes, announcing his arrival in ONE Championship’s stacked middleweight division.

Japanese striker Hiroki Akimoto overcame a knockdown in the first round to defeat Australian Josh “Timebomb” Tonna via unanimous decision in his ONE Super Series debut. The WFKO Karate Champion put on a striking clinic, picking Tonna apart with an array of thunderous kicks and powerful punches. A pair of knockdowns in the final round secured the win for Akimoto, who was dominant in his first ONE Championship appearance.

Thailand’s Bangpleenoi Petchyindee Academy was impressive in his ONE Super Series debut as he overwhelmed Brown Pinas of the Netherlands en route to a unanimous decision victory. The two-division WMC Muay Thai World Champion controlled the pace of the match as he punished Pinas with a relentless barrage of punches and kicks. Bangpleenoi scored a knockdown midway through the third round to seal the deal and earn his first win on the ONE Championship stage.

Algeria’s Elias Mahmoudi outstruck Japan’s Yukinori Ogasawara over the course of three rounds. Mahmoudi was on point in the opening frame, unloading a storm of thunderous kicks and pinpoint-accurate elbows on his opponent. Mahmoudi proved to be the faster and stronger man and was constantly a step ahead of his opponent in the succeeding rounds. In the end, all three judges scored the bout in favor of Mahmoudi.

Tang Kai of China left a lasting impression in his promotional debut, pulling off a statement victory over South Korea’s Sung Jong Lee. Living up to his reputation as a knockout artist, Tang got the job done in the second round, shutting the lights off on Lee with a thunderous high kick.

Japan’s Hiroaki Suzuki claimed his second-straight victory on the ONE Super Series stage, stopping Mohammed “Jordan Boy” Bin Mahmoud in the final seconds of the third round. Suzuki utilized his speed and power to connect on a handful of thudding strikes on Mahmoud, who responded with solid hooks and knees to the body. In the closing moments of the final frame, Suzuki stunned Mahmoud with a combination, earning him a technical knockout victory.

Setting the tone for an action-packed evening was a strawweight encounter between India’s Himanshu Kaushik and Indonesia’s Egi Rozten. Driven to claim his first victory in ONE Championship, Kaushik made quick work of Rozten, knocking out the Indonesian warrior with a barrage of punches in the first round.

Official results for ONE: HERO’S ASCENT

ONE Flyweight World Championship bout: Adriano Moraes defeats Geje Eustaquio by Unanimous Decision (UD) after 5 rounds

ONE Lightweight World Grand Prix Quarter-Final bout: Lowen Tynanes defeats Honorio Banario by TKO (Strikes) at 4:46 minutes of round 1

Flyweight bout: Danny Kingad defeats Tatsumitsu Wada by Unanimous Decision (UD) after 3 rounds

ONE Super Series Muay Thai Flyweight bout: Rodtang Jitmuangnon defeats Fahdi Khaled by Unanimous Decision (UD) after 3 rounds

Middleweight bout: Reinier De Ridder defeats Fan Rong by Submission (D’arce Choke) at 1:51 minutes of round 1

ONE Super Series Kickboxing Flyweight bout: Hiroki Akimoto defeats Josh Tonna by Unanimous Decision (UD) after 3 rounds

ONE Super Series Muay Thai Featherweight bout: Bangpleenoi Petchyindee Academy defeats Brown Pinas by Unanimous Decision (UD) after 3 rounds

ONE Super Series Muay Thai Flyweight bout: Elias Mahmoudi defeats Yukinori Ogasawara by Unanimous Decision (UD) after 3 rounds

Featherweight bout: Tang Kai defeats Sung Jong Lee by Knockout (KO) at 1:14 minutes of round 2

ONE Super Series Muay Thai Bantamweight bout: Hiroaki Suzuki defeats Mohammed Bin Mahmoud by TKO at 2:53 minutes of round 3

Strawweight bout: Himanshu Kaushik defeats Egi Rozten by Knockout (KO) at 3:33 minutes of round 1

AFP Photo

The Serbian world number one dominated the Spanish second seed to win his 15th Grand Slam title in just 2hr 4min on Rod Laver Arena.

It put Djokovic, 31, out on his own ahead of Roger Federer and Roy Emerson, who both won six Australian Open men’s singles titles.

Djokovic dropped to his knees and kissed the ground after vanquishing his greatest rival.

“I’m just trying to contemplate on the journey in the last 12 months,” said an emotional Djokovic, pausing for breath to compose himself and not become tearful.

“I had the surgery exactly 12 months ago,” he added, referring to an elbow operation that saw him slump out of the world’s top 20 before bouncing back to win Wimbledon and the US Open.

“To be standing now here in front of you today and managing to win this title and three out of four Slams, this is amazing. I am speechless.”

The pair’s only previous final in Australia, in 2012, developed into a record-breaking 5hr 53min slugfest — the longest in Grand Slam history.

A repeat of that epic never materialised with Nadal uncharacteristically nervous at the start and Djokovic taking an immediate advantage that he would never relinquish.

– ‘Fighting spirit’ –

“Even if tonight was not my best day of course I had someone that played a lot better than me tonight,” said Nadal.

“I have been going through tough moments in the last year. I was not able to play until the first round here. Even if tonight was not my night it’s so important for me to be where I am coming back from injury.”

Djokovic noted that the duo had both endured injury-ravaged 2018 campaigns.

“Obviously a tough match tonight, but … you came back from an injury that took you out from the tour since September last year,” Djokovic said of Nadal.

“You’re showing to me and to all your other colleagues and many young tennis players around the world what is definition of the fighting spirit and resilience.”

The Spaniard had not had his service broken since the third set of his first round match but that streak ended in a flash as the Serb came sprinting out of the blocks.

– Total control –

Djokovic was in total control on his own delivery and won his first four service games without conceding a single point, even inducing Nadal to miss a forehand completely on the way to grabbing the set in 36 minutes.

The second set followed a similar pattern, with Djokovic racing through games on his own serve, while Nadal struggled to hold.

The pressure told in the fifth game and Djokovic broke again when Nadal hit a lob volley long after an exchange at the net.

The on-song Serb was so fired up he broke Nadal again to go to 5-2 before serving out for a two-set lead with three aces in a row with just 1hr 16min on the clock.

The statistics were as telling as the scoreline: Djokovic had served eight aces to Nadal’s one and made just four unforced errors while the Spaniard had coughed up 20.

When Djokovic broke again in the third game of the third set it was just a matter of how quickly he would finish off Nadal.

The end was swift, as Djokovic withstood one break point at 3-2 before administering the last rites in a flurry of winners off both wings.

Victory extended his win-loss record against Nadal to 28-25 and squared the Grand Slam final count between the pair at 4-4.

Djokovic has now completed a hat-trick of Slams following his wins at Wimbledon and the US Open.

He will go to Paris in May for the French Open seeking to become the only man in the Open Era to win all four majors twice.

“Malaysia will not host any event that has representation from or participation of Israel,” said Foreign Minister Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah.

Israel has called on the Inter­na­tional Paralympic Commit­tee (IPC) to change the venue if it could not persuade Malaysia to lift the edict before the July 29 to Aug 4 event.

The IPC said a decision would be issued today on Malaysia’s hosting of this year’s world para swimming championships.

The IPC governing board is meeting here to also discuss the suspension of Russia’s Paralympic committee and a spokesman said an update on Russia’s status would be made on Feb 8.

Russia has been barred from Para­ly­mpic competition since August 2016 over allegations of state-sponsored doping that also led to the suspension of the country’s athletics federation and its anti-­doping agency.