■ Taekwondo
Lopez wins gold medal
Steven Lopez of the US took his third world title in Madrid, Spain on Friday, winning the welterweight gold at the World Taekwondo Championships with a 3-2 win over Ali Tajik of Iran. Two-time Olympic champion Lopez took the advantage over Tajik in the second round of the final. Their encounter was delayed by an unsuccessful Spanish protest over the judges awarding Lopez the decisive point in the fourth round of his 3-2 semifinal victory over Rosendo Alonso. In the finweight division, the title went to South Korea's Kim Jin-Hee, who defeated another Iranian, Feizollah Nafjam, 4-1. The women's welterweight gold also went to South Korea. Hwang Kyung-seon beat Gwladys Epangue of France 7-2. Host Spain won its first gold medal of the championships when Belen Asensio beat South Korea's Yu Eun-young 4-1 to take the women's finweight title.
■ Athletics
Record set in decathlon
Austra Skujyte of Lithuania broke the IAAF women's decathlon world record in Columbia, Missouri on Friday in the first North American staging of the fledgling event. Skujyte, a former Kansas State University standout and the 2004 Olympic silver medalist in the heptathlon, scored 8,366 points in the two-day event at the University of Missouri's Audrey Walton Combined Events. That broke the previous record of 8,160 points, set by France's Marie Collinville in September. The women's decathlon, which is not yet an Olympic event, includes the 100m dash, discus, pole vault, javelin, 400m dash, 100m hurdles, long jump, shot put, high jump and 1,500m.
■ Soccer
MLS may add team
A Major League Soccer team could go to San Antonio, Texas as early as 2006 if several conditions are met under an agreement reached this week between the league and city. The MLS agreed to grant San Antonio a team if an ownership group is secured, 5,000 season tickets are sold by Aug. 17, and plans are completed for construction of a training complex that includes youth soccer fields. "As one of the country's fastest-growing and most diverse cities, MLS is convinced that San Antonio is an ideal home for a Major League Soccer club," MLS commissioner Don Garber said. Garber said the 12-team league is in discussions with several possible ownership groups. As part of the agreement, the city has agreed to provide a stadium. The deal grants the team rights to all ticket sales, and certain sponsorship and stadium signage sales.
■ Rugby
Wilkinson plays match
Jonny Wilkinson took his first step toward proving he should be a late selection for this year's Lions tour, emerging unscathed from his return to rugby with club side the Newcastle Falcons in London on Friday. The injury plagued England fly half was summoned from the Newcastle bench in the 34th minute of the Falcons' 23-22 premiership loss at Northampton. It was Wilkinson's first match since suffering a recurrence of a knee injury a month ago, and he slotted into the side by kicking three penalties and a conversion.
Yu Yao-hsing on Tuesday nabbed Taiwan’s only goal in the final round of qualifiers for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup, as they fell 3-1 to Sri Lanka at Taipei Municipal Stadium. Early goals from Sri Lanka in the first half left Taiwan struggling to get on the board, and Christopher Tiao’s own goal at 53 minutes sealed the team’s fate in the third round of qualifiers. While acknowledging that the defeat, Taiwan’s sixth in Group D, was disappointing, head coach Matt Ross said he saw reasons to stay positive about the team’s development. “There were lots of positive signs in terms of the
Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli yesterday vowed to “keep raising the bar” after winning the Japanese Grand Prix to become the youngest driver in Formula One history to lead the championship standings. The 19-year-old Italian took advantage of a mid-race safety car to jump into the lead after a dreadful start from pole position, crossing the line ahead of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. Antonelli’s Suzuka victory came two weeks after the first grand prix win of his career in China, and sent him top of the championship standings after three races, nine points ahead of team-mate George Russell. Mercedes are struggling to
INDIGESTION: Italy failed to qualify for the World Cup for a third consecutive time after a 4-1 defeat to Bosnia on penalties in a loss Gattuso said was ‘difficult to digest’ Coach Graham Arnold on Tuesday challenged his players to “shock the world” after Iraq became the 48th and final team to qualify for the FIFA World Cup with a nerve-shredding 2-1 win over Bolivia in an intercontinental playoff in Mexico, as Bosnia and Herzegovina, Turkey, the Czech Republic, Sweden and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) also secured their places at the finals. Iraq, whose preparations were disrupted by the war in the Middle East, sealed their first appearance at the finals in 40 years and are to play in Group I against France, Senegal and Norway. Goals from Ali al-Hamadi
Teng Kai-wei, the only Taiwanese player on an opening-day roster in this year’s Major League Baseball (MLB) season, took his first win of the year with the Houston Astros in his season debut. Teng entered in relief in the top of the fifth inning against the Los Angeles Angels on Saturday, with the Astros trailing 5-0. He pitched 2-1/3 scoreless innings with two strikeouts, as Houston scored 11 runs during his outing to snatch an 11-9 comeback victory. The win is the Astros’ first of the season and the third of Teng’s MLB career. “It’s my first time pitching for the Astros, so
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