SOCCER
Spanish league gets going
Lucas Perez earned and converted an 87th-minute penalty to complete a 2-1 comeback win for RC Deportivo de La Coruna over Sociedad Deportiva Eibar, while CA Osasuna also struck late to draw 1-1 at Malaga on the opening day of the Spanish league on Friday. Perez scored the decisive spot-kick after the Deportivo striker was fouled by David Junca in the area. Pedro Mosquera started the fight back for the hosts in the 68th when he canceled out Ivan Ramis’ header for Eibar shortly after the restart. Deportivo’s win came on the debut of coach Gaizka Garitano, who in a previous job had guided Eibar’s rise from the third division to reach the topflight in 2014. In Malaga, Osasuna made a positive start to their return to the first division after a two-year absence thanks to Fran Merida’s opportunistic goal with five minutes left.
AMERICAN FOOTBALL
Jones’ availability in doubt
Washington Redskins running back Matt Jones suffered a sprained left shoulder in a pre-season game against the New York Jets on Friday, putting his availability in doubt for the start of the regular season. Jets defensive back Calvin Pryor pushed Jones out of bounds before landing on him to force the rusher out of the game in the opening quarter. Redskins coach Jay Gruden said Jones has a slight separation, but does not think he has a long-term injury. “When I went down, on a [pain] scale from one to 10 it was about a seven,” Jones said. “As it settled down [the pain went down]. I still have some flexibility in it now so it’s not as bad as it was.” Jones is slated to be the top runner in Washington this season. The second-year player rushed for 490 yards last year while splitting time with running back Alfred Morris, who has since left to sign with the Dallas Cowboys.
LITTLE LEAGUE
S Korea defeat Curacao
Junho Jeong allowed just three hits and struck out 10 in four innings as South Korea beat Curacao 3-0 on Friday night to improve to 12-0 all-time in the Little League World Series (LLWS). South Korea, a team from Seoul, had the bases loaded with no outs in the first inning when Curacao starter Jurrangelo Cijntje switched from throwing left handed to using his right. He struck out the next two before hitting a batter to put South Korea in front 2-0. The bases were loaded for South Korea again in the second, but Curacao, from Willemstad, escaped with a strikeout and a catch in foul territory. Cijntje settled down and threw 90 pitches in 4-1/3 innings, while striking out six. In the sixth, Jungtaek Ru sliced a RBI single to left field. South Korea has won the LLWS championship in 1984, 1985 and 2014.
ICE HOCKEY
Rangers sign Jimmy Vesey
The New York Rangers won the Jimmy Vesey sweepstakes on Friday, signing him to a two-year contract. Vesey, a 23-year-old former Harvard forward who won the Hobey Baker Award as the best player in college hockey last season, was originally selected by the Nashville Predators in the third round of the 2012 draft. He opted not to sign with the Predators during his college career, and his rights were traded to the Buffalo Sabres in June. The Sabres failed to agree to terms with Vesey this summer, and he became an unrestricted free agent on Tuesday. Vesey had 24 goals in 33 games last season. A native of North Reading, Massachusetts, he scored 32 goals as a junior and 80 in 128 games overall for the Crimson. His contract is worth the entry-level maximum, US$925,000 per season.
OUT AGAINST INDONESIA: Taiwan reached the semi-finals at the tournament for the first time by defeating Denmark, with Chou Tien-chen beating Viktor Axelsen Taiwan yesterday crashed out of the Thomas Cup team competition in Chengdu, China, but achieved their best result at the top-tier badminton event by reaching the semi-finals. Indonesia were too good in the semis, winning 3-0 to advance to today’s final against China, who eliminated Malaysia 3-1. In the opening singles of the men’s team clash at the Hi-Tech Zone Sports Center Gymnasium 2, Anthony Ginting defeated Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen 21-18, 21-19 in 51 minutes, which put a huge hole in Taiwan’s aspirations to perhaps even make the final. In the men’s doubles, Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Ardianto downed Lee Yang and Wang
NO DOUBT: Spurs star Wembanyama was unanimously selected as NBA Rookie of the Year, winning all 99 votes to become the first Frenchman to capture the honor The Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night produced a dominant defensive display to seize a commanding 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven playoff series against the Denver Nuggets with a 106-80 road victory. The third-seeded Timberwolves harassed Denver relentlessly to claim a second straight win over the NBA champions as the series heads back to Minneapolis for Game 3 on Friday. Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards scored 27 points apiece, but the star of the show was Minnesota’s suffocating defensive effort, which knocked Denver out of their stride almost from the tip-off. The Timberwolves finished with 11 steals and 12 blocks, in sharp contrast to
Top-ranked Iga Swiatek on Saturday came through “the most intense and crazy final” she has ever contested to avenge her loss to Aryna Sabalenka in last year’s Madrid Open final with a grueling three hour, 11 minute victory in the Spanish capital. Coming back from 1-3 down in the decider and saving three match points in total, Swiatek claimed a 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (9/7) victory to secure the Madrid Open trophy for the first time. “Well, who is going to say now that women’s tennis is boring, right?” Swiatek said. Swiatek, who picked up the 20th title of her career, and ninth at
Playing soccer and competing for trophies is the best way that many transplanted Hong Kongers and Macanese have found to stay in touch, and to interact with Taiwanese society, said officials at the Taiwan-Hong Kong-Macau Football Friendship Cup, which was held on April 13. Twelve clubs, mostly of players and coaches originally from Hong Kong and Macau, took part in the tournament in New Taipei City. The event is sponsored by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) and the Taiwan-Hong Kong Economic and Cultural Co-operation Council. Participating teams were from the wider Taipei area, Hsinchu, Taichung, Kaohsiung and other areas. They divided into two