■ Baseball
Yankees eye `Little Matsui'
The New York Yankees are keeping a close eye on Seibu Lions shortstop Kazuo Matsui, widely regarded as the next Japanese player who could make the transition to the major leagues. John Cox, the Yankees' director of Pacific Rim scouting, was in the stands on Friday as the Lions defeated the Orix BlueWave 7-4 in Kobe. Matsui, who will officially become a free agent on Aug. 24, connected for his 23rd homer of the season -- a game-tying solo shot in the top of the third. Scouts from five major league teams, including the Boston Red Sox, have attended Seibu games this season. The 28-year-old Matsui, known as "Little Matsui," currently has a .294 batting average along with 126 hits and 53 RBIs for the second-place Lions.
■ Soccer
Fabien Barthez defended
Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson came to the defense of goalkeeper Fabien Barthez on Friday, saying the French international is being unfairly criticized. "The criticism Fabien is getting at the moment is a bit unfair, and I don't like it," Ferguson told the club's official TV station. Barthez was United's first-choice 'keeper for most of last season, but Ferguson replaced him with Roy Carroll after a quarterfinal loss to Real Madrid in the Champions League. Barthez was also in goal for United's only preseason loss this summer -- a 3-1 defeat to Sporting Lisbon -- and made a blunder against Stoke in a reserve game Wednesday. A Marc Goodfellow lob hit the crossbar, bounced off Barthez's head and went into the net. American goalkeeper Tim Howard is expected to start Saturday when United plays Bolton as the Premier League season begins. "There is something wrong when you start having a go at someone for conceding the kind of goal he did on Wednesday," Ferguson said. "It was an absolute freak. It is purely because of who he is."
■ Boxing
Jesus Chavez wins decision
Jesus "El Matador" Chavez won a unanimous 12-round decision over Sirimongkol Singmanassuk to take the WBC Super Featherweight Title on Friday night. Two judges scored the bout 117-11 and another had it 118-110. Chavez (40-2, 28 KOs) controlled the fight from the outset, outpunching Singmanassuk with a flurry of shots to the head in the first two rounds. Singmanassuk (43-2, 26 KOs) of Thailand tried to use his counter-punching style to offset the aggressive Chavez but his punches landed few and far between. Both fighters weighed in at the maximum allowed 59kg.
■ Soccer
Ranieri not optimistic
Chelsea manager Claudio Ranieri said Friday his star-studded team wasn't good enough to win the Premier League this season, even though the club has spent more than P?70 million (US$111 million) on players over the summer. "Only a stupid man would think that we can win the title this season," he said. Earlier in the offseason, Ranieri suggested Chelsea would be in position to win the league in two years. He expects defending champion Manchester United, runner-up Arsenal and fifth-place Liverpool to compete for the top spot. "An intelligent man would know that there are three big teams -- Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal -- who are settled and have been around for years. It's impossible to compare us with them. We have only just started building here, and there is a big difference between them and us."
SS Lazio on Monday fired the far-right sympathizer who handles their eagle mascot after he posted online a series of videos and pictures of his erect penis. Falconer Juan Bernabe, who has been present at Lazio home matches with Olimpia the eagle since the 2010-2011 season, posted the footage on social media after having surgery on Saturday to implant a penile prosthesis to improve his sexual performance. Lazio said that they had “terminated, with immediate effect” their relationship with Bernabe “due to the seriousness of his conduct,” adding that they were “shocked” by the images. The Serie A club added that Bernabe’s dismissal
‘TOUGH TO BREATHE’: Tunisian three-time Grand Slam finalist Ons Jabeur suffered an asthma attack in her 7-5, 6-3 victory over Colombia’s Camila Osorio Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei yesterday cruised into the second round of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while Iga Swiatek romped into a third-round women’s singles showdown with Emma Raducanu and Taylor Fritz was just as emphatic in his pursuit of a maiden Grand Slam title. Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia, the third seeds, defeated Slovakia’s Tereza Mihalikova and Olivia Nicholls of Britain 7-5, 6-2 in 90 minutes in Melbourne. Ostapenko and Hsieh — who won the women’s doubles and mixed doubles at the Australian Open last year — hit 25 winners and converted five of nine break points to set
Hong Kong-based cricket team Hung See this weekend found success in their matches in Taiwan, even if none of the results went their way. Hung See played the Chairman’s XI on Saturday morning, the Daredevils that afternoon and PCCT yesterday, with all three home teams winning. The team for Chinese players at the Happy Valley-based Craigengower Cricket Club sends teams on tour to “spread the game of cricket.” This weekend was Hung See’s second trip to Taiwan after visiting Tainan in 2016. “The club has been traveling to all parts of the world since 1982 and the annual tradition continues [with the Taiwan
Dubbed a “motorway for cyclists” where avid amateurs can chase Tadej Pogacar up mountains teeming with the highest concentration of professional cyclists per square kilometer in the world, Spain’s Costa Blanca has forged a new reputation for itself in the past few years. Long known as the ideal summer destination for those in search of sun, sea and sand, the stretch of coast between Valencia and Alicante now has a winter vocation too. During the season break in December and January, the region experiences an invasion of cyclists. Star names such as three-time Tour de France winner Pogacar, Remco Evenepoel and Julian Alaphilippe
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