GOLF
Green has one-shot lead
Hannah Green held a one-shot lead over Ariya Jutanugarn at the KPGA Women’s PGA Championship on Saturday, matching pars and birdies with Jutanugarn for seven straight holes, but missed a birdie putt on 16 and shot a bogey on 18 to erode her advantage. Green was nine-under 207 for her first 54-hole lead at an LPGA Tour event. Taiwan’s Chien Pei-yun (220) and Hsu Wei-ling (222) made the cut, but were well adrift of the leaders.
TENNIS
Barty, Goerges advance
Ashleigh Barty was to play Julia Goerges in the final of the Nature Valley Classic in Birmingham after press time last night after sending down 11 aces and 24 winners on Saturday to dispatch world No. 51 Barbora Strycova from the Czech Republic 6-4, 6-4. Goerges is also in good form, beating Petra Martic 6-4, 6-3 in the other semi-final.
SOCCER
Run marks cave rescue
Some of the 12 young Thai soccer players and their coach have marked the anniversary of their ordeal that saw them trapped in a flooded cave for two weeks with a commemorative marathon in northern Thailand. About 4,000 people took part in the marathon and biking event yesterday morning, organized by local authorities to raise funds to improve conditions at the Tham Luang cave complex. The youngsters went in to explore before rain-fed floodwaters pushed them deep inside the complex. Nine of the boys and their coach ran the marathon, donning the event’s orange T-shirts. The Wild Boars teammates were at the center of attention as they smiled and posed for photographs.
RUGBY UNION
France win U-20 title
Flyhalf Louis Carbonel kicked the winning penalty with 15 minutes remaining to give France a 24-23 win over Australia in the final at the under-20 world rugby championship on Saturday. The lead changed hands seven times at the Racecourse Stadium, but France prevailed to successfully defend their title. Carbonel had been the star of France’s first title success on home soil last year, kicking 23 points in their defeat of England in the final. Australia got off to a fast start in this year’s decider when teenage winger Mark Nawaqanitawase dived over after only 49 seconds. South Africa beat Argentina 41-16 to take third place for the third tournament in a row. England defeated Wales 45-26 for fifth place and New Zealand beat Ireland 40-17 to take seventh spot, the Kiwis’ lowest ranking in the 12-year history of the U-20 championship.
FOOTBALL
Salary cap announced
The NHL salary cap for next season has been set at US$81.5 million, US$1.5 lower than initially projected. The league and the NHL Players’ Association announced the figure on Saturday, a day before teams could begin meeting with prospective unrestricted free agents ahead of the signing period opening on Monday next week. The cap rose by US$2 million from last season, although teams at or near the maximum were counting additional room to sign or re-sign players. The cap crunch was notable in leading to several teams shedding high-priced salaries during the second and final day of the NHL draft on Saturday.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
HSIEH MAKES QUARTERS: Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens of Belgium won in the women’s doubles and face Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Sofia Kenin of the US Top-ranked Iga Swiatek and US Open champion Coco Gauff were knocked out of the women’s singles at the Miami Open on Monday, while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei advanced in the women’s doubles. Swiatek lost to Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-4, 6-2, hours after third seed Gauff fell in three sets to No. 23 Caroline Garcia 6-3, 1-6, 6-2. Alexandrova beat a top-ranked player for the first time and advanced to face Jessica Pegula, a 7-6 (7/1), 6-3 winner over Emma Navarro, in the quarter-finals. Alexandrova recorded her second win over Swiatek, following a 2021 victory in Melbourne. Swiatek had won their three matches since. “We played quite