GOLF
Matsuyama piles up birdies
Hideki Matsuyama yesterday made nine birdies in suddenly chilly conditions for a seven-under 65 that gave him a three-shot lead going into the weekend at the HSBC Champions in Shanghai. Neither the rain nor the bone-chilling cold seem to matter to the Japanese star. He has 19 birdies over two rounds, even though Matsuyama remains dissatisfied with how he is hitting the ball. He was at 13-under 131. Defending champion Russell Knox had a 68, while Bill Haas had a 67 and were at 10-under 134. Rory McIlroy did his best to get back in the game, slowed only by an errant tee shot on the 16th that led to his lone bogey in a round of 66. He was six shots behind. Rickie Fowler (73) slipped to seven shots back.
BASEBALL
Cubs fuel World Series fever
Chicago Cubs fans hoping to see their team end a World Series title drought stretching back more than a century are paying a hefty price for the opportunity. After splitting the first two games of MLB’s Fall Classic with the Indians in Cleveland, the Cubs head home for games 3, 4 and 5, with ticket prices at venerable Wrigley Field skyrocketing. Prices posted on ticket reselling site StubHub for Game 3 — the first World Series game at Wrigley Field in 71 years — showed a pair of standing room only tickets being offered at US$2,250 apiece, while a pair of tickets to box seats near a dugout were offered at US$30,000 each on Thursday afternoon. ESPN, citing “insiders” with access to StubHub buyer and seller data, said the median price of a ticket sold via the site for game three was US$3,000.
GOLF
Yang eagles par-four 11th
Amy Yang yesterday holed a pitching wedge for eagle on the par-four 11th hole and stretched her lead to three strokes in the hot, humid and stormy Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia. The 27-year-old South Korean player shot a two-under 69 to reach 10-under 132 at TPC Kuala Lumpur. Her 125-yard shot on 11 hit on the front of the green, hopped and rolled in. Kaohsiung-born Candie Kung, Anna Nordqvist and Mi Jung-hur were tied for second after the round that was delayed 1 hour, 43 minutes because of lightning, with the last group in the 16th fairway. A day after opening with a 63 to miss her own course record by a stroke, Yang parred the first 10 holes before the eagle. Kung fired a six-under-par 65, while her fellow Taiwanese competitor Yani Tseng carded a three-over-par 74.
NFL
Sharper gets more jail time
Former NFL player Darren Sharper was sentenced to up to eight years in prison by a Las Vegas judge on Thursday on a charge of attempted sexual assault, though his lawyer said the sentence would run concurrently with his existing prison stint. Sharper, who retired from the NFL in 2011 after helping lead the New Orleans Saints to a Super Bowl championship, did not appear in court as he is in prison after pleading guilty in a federal Louisiana court to drugging three women and having sex with them while they were incapacitated. Sharper was sentenced to between 36 months and 96 months, Clark County Courts spokeswoman Mary Ann Price said. Sharper’s attorney, David Chesnoff, said the sentence would run concurrently with his existing 18-year prison sentence on the federal charges.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
If all goes well when the biggest marathon field ever gathered in Australia races 42km through the streets of Sydney on Sunday, World Marathon Majors (WMM) will soon add a seventh race to the elite series. The Sydney Marathon is to become the first race since Tokyo in 2013 to join long-established majors in New York, London, Boston, Berlin and Chicago if it passes the WMM assessment criteria for the second straight year. “We’re really excited for Sunday to arrive,” race director Wayne Larden told a news conference in Sydney yesterday. “We’re prepared, we’re ready. All of our plans look good on
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
When details from a scientific experiment that could have helped clear Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva landed at the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the leader of the organization’s reaction was unequivocal: “We have to stop that urgently,” he wrote. No mention of the test ever became public and Valieva’s defense at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) went on without it. What effect the information could have had on Valieva’s case is unclear, but without it, the skater, then 15 years old, was eventually disqualified from the 2022 Winter Olympics after testing positive for a banned heart medication that would later