Sports
G2 Esports, PARIVISION, 3DMAX keep winning at IEM Krakow
A backlit keyboard is part of the gear online video game streamer Jordan Woodruff uses in his Gilbert home.
Jordan Woodruff
G2 Esports, PARIVISION and 3DMAX claimed upper-bracket victories in the second round of the play-in stage on Thursday at the Intel Extreme Masters Krakow event in Poland.
The $1 million Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournament began with 24 teams — 16 competing in a double-elimination play-in bracket with eight already seeded straight into the group stage.
Play-in matches are best-of-three, with eight teams advancing.
The next stage will split the remaining teams into two groups of eight for double-elimination play involving best-of-three matches. The group winners earn spots in the playoff semifinals, the group runners-up head to the playoff quarterfinals as high seeds and the third-place teams go to the playoff quarterfinals as low seeds.
The playoffs will feature a single-elimination bracket of best-of-three matches until the grand final on Feb. 8, which will be best-of-five.
The championship team will receive $400,000, and the runner-up will get $180,000.
On Thursday, PARIVISION knocked off Aurora Gaming 2-1, winning 13-5 on Mirage, dropping a decision by the same score on Anubis and capturing the match with a 13-4 victory on Dust II. The all-Russian PARIVISION was led by Vladislav “xiELO” Lysov’s 37-31 kill-death differential and 1.35 rating, and Ivan “zweih” Gogin’s 39-35 K-D and 1.20 rating.
Ismailcan “XANTARES” Dortkardes of the all-Turkish Aurora Gaming posted a 38-36 K-D and 1.09 rating.
G2 Esports edged Team Liquid 2-1 in a dramatic match, winning 13-8 on Mirage, falling 13-6 on Inferno and then triumphing on Anubis 16-14 in overtime. G2 was paced by Nemanja “huNter-” Kovac of Bosnia and Herzegovina with a 54-47 K-D differential and 1.33 rating. Team Liquid’s Roland “ultimate” Tomkowiak of Poland posted a 66-41 differential and 1.52 rating.
3DMAX swept BC.Game Esports 2-0, winning on Overpass 13-3 and Anubis 13-4. Lucas “Lucky” Chastang paced the all-French 3DMAX with a 37-13 K-D and 2.02 rating. BC.Game did not have a player with a positive rating.
In Round 1 of the lower bracket, Ninjas in Pyjamas got the better of Passion UA, 2-1, after dropping the opener 13-8 on Overpass. NIP rallied to win on Nuke 13-5 and Anubis 13-10. Ukraine’s Artem “cairne” Mushynskyi paced NIP with a 59-42 K-D differential and 1.34 rating, followed by teammate Kacper “xKacpersky” Gabara of Poland with a 50-42 K-D and 1.29 rating.
Passion UA was led by Ukraine’s Vladyslav “Kvem” Korol with a 50-47 K-D and the United States’ Michael “Grim” Wince with a 51-49 differential. Both players had a 1.12 rating.
FUT Esports swept Legacy 2-0 in the lower bracket, winning 13-7 on Dust II and 13-10 on Ancient. Ukraine’s Dmytro “dem0n” Myroshnychenko led FUT with a 45-22 K-D differential and 1.63 rating. Romania’s Laurentiu “lauNX” Tarlea contributed a 32-20 K-D and 1.31 rating to the victory.
Also in the lower bracket, paiN Gaming won a battle with B8 2-0, capturing Dust II 16-12 and Mirage 13-10. The all-Brazilian paiN Gaming was led by Joao “snow” Vinicius with a 45-30 K-D differential and 1.35 rating, Lucas “nqz” Soares with a 44-28 differential and 1.33 rating, and Vinicius “vsm” Moreira with a 40-26 differential and 1.32 rating.
Friday’s matches:
–Upper-bracket Round 2: Astralis vs. NRG
–Lower-bracket Round 1: GamerLegion vs. HEROIC
–Lower-bracket Round 2: BC.Game Esports vs. Ninjas in Pyjams
–Lower-bracket Round 2: Team Liquid vs. FUT Esports
–Lower-bracket Round 2: Aurora Gaming vs. paiN Gaming
–Lower-bracket Round 2: TBD vs. TBD
Intel Extreme Masters Krakow prize pool
1. $400,000
2. $180,000
3. $100,000
4. $60,000
5-6. $40,000
7-8. $24,000
9-12. $16,000
13-16. $10,000
17-20. $4,500
21-24. $2,500, Passion UA, Legacy, B8
–Field Level Media
Sports
Kansas star freshman Darryn Peterson to return vs. Iowa State
Feb 7, 2026; Lawrence, Kansas, USA; Kansas Jayhawks guard Darryn Peterson (22) shoots against Utah Utes forward Josh Hayes (7) during the second half at Allen Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images After sitting out against the No. 1 team in the country, Kansas freshman Darryn Peterson will be back in time to face No. 5.
Kansas coach Bill Self told ESPN on Friday that Peterson was “good to go” when the ninth-ranked Jayhawks visit fifth-ranked Iowa State on Saturday.
Peterson sat out with flu-like symptoms on Monday when the Jayhawks hosted No. 1 Arizona. Kansas was able to win without him, handing the Wildcats their first loss of the season, 82-78.
Peterson is considered one of the frontrunners to be the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft this June, but he has played in just 13 of Kansas’ 24 games due to multiple ailments, including quad and hamstring injuries.
He has averaged 20.5 points and 4.2 rebounds per game while shooting 48.9% from the field and 41.9% from the arc this year. Peterson had 16 points when Kansas took down Iowa State 84-63 back on Jan. 13, marking the Cyclones’ first loss of the season.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Ilia Malinin making history with skating's first Olympic backflip in decades
Feb 10, 2026; Milan, Italy; Ilia Malinin of the United States of America competes in men’s singles short program during the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games at Milano Ice Skating Arena. Mandatory Credit: James Lang-Imagn Images MILAN, Italy — When Ilia Malinin launched himself into a backflip at the Milan Cortina Olympics, it detonated through the crowd like a firecracker and even brought tennis great Novak Djokovic to his feet with his hands on his head in disbelief.
The 21-year-old double world champion landed the first legal Olympic backflip since American Terry Kubicka in 1976, when he helped clinch gold for the U.S. in the team event in Milan on Sunday.
The crowd will get another chance to see Malinin’s maneuver when he takes the ice for Friday’s men’s free program as the favorite for gold.
The backflip was banned for safety reasons after Kubicka did one at the 1976 Innsbruck Olympics.
The maneuver became known as the “Bonaly flip” after Surya Bonaly of France famously thumbed her nose at the International Skating Union’s restrictive rules at the 1998 Nagano Olympics.
Bonaly had sustained a groin injury the day before the free program and knew her quest for a medal was over, and so defiantly unleashed the jump with a one-footed landing.
The ISU removed the somersault ban in June 2024, saying in their meeting agenda: “Somersault type jumps are very spectacular and nowadays it is not logical anymore to include them as illegal movements.”
AERIAL SHOWMANSHIP
Malinin, the self-named “Quad God,” has drawn global attention for his aerial showmanship. He became the first skater to land seven quadruple jumps in a program at the Grand Prix Final in December. He is also the first to land the quadruple Axel in competition, considered the toughest jump in the sport.
The backflip carries no set point value, but it can contribute to Malinin’s component score – known under the old judging system as “artistic impression”.
It also gets a bigger roar from the crowd than his more technically demanding jumps because it plays to pure spectacle in a way quads simply cannot.
“It gets that audience applause, feels really suspenseful and I really just like doing it,” Malinin said last season when he began doing the maneuver.
His programs also include one-handed cartwheels and a “raspberry twist,” another zero-points move in which his body, much like a break dancer’s, rotates in the air horizontally to the ice.
However, the young skater has so far resisted the temptation to land the first quadruple Axel on Olympic ice, saying he is choosing caution over showmanship.
“I’m hoping that I’ll feel good enough to do it (on Friday),” he told reporters on Tuesday. “But of course, I always prioritize health and safety, so I really want to put myself in the right mindset where I’ll feel really confident to go into it and not have that as something that I’m going to risk.”
Malinin takes a score of 108.16 from the short program into Friday’s free skate. Japan’s Yuma Kagiyama is second on 103.07, Adam Siao Him Fa of France is third (102.55).
–Reuters, special to Field Level Media
Sports
NBA suspends Suns F Dillon Brooks 1 game after 16th technical foul
Jan 2, 2026; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Phoenix Suns forward Dillon Brooks (3) reacts after being issued a technical foul during the first half against the Sacramento Kings at Mortgage Matchup Center. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images The NBA suspended Phoenix Suns forward Dillon Brooks on Thursday for one game without pay after he received his 16th technical foul this season.
A player or coach is automatically suspended without pay for one game after a 16th technical foul in the regular season, per league rules. Every additional two technical fouls during that season results in the player or coach suspended without pay for another game.
Brooks, 30, was whistled for a personal foul and then a technical with 6:37 remaining in the second quarter of the Suns’ 136-109 home loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday.
He will serve the suspension after the All-Star break on Feb. 19 when Phoenix visits the San Antonio Spurs. He previously served one-game suspensions in May 2022, February 2023m, March 2023 (twice) and April 2025.
Brooks is in his first season with Phoenix and is averaging a career-high 21.2 points and career-high-tying 3.7 rebounds as well as 1.8 assists, 1.1 steals and 31.1 minutes in 49 games (all starts).
For his career, Brooks is averaging 14.8 points, 3.3 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 29.6 minutes in 541 regular-season games (514 starts) for the Memphis Grizzlies (2017-23), Houston Rockets (2023-25) and Suns.
He was All-NBA Defensive second team with the Grizzlies in 2022-23.
Houston selected Brooks in the second round of the 2017 NBA Draft out of Oregon and traded him the same day to Memphis for a second-round pick that became guard De’Anthony Melton.
–Field Level Media
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