■ Golf
Woods clinches award
With seven weeks left in the season, Tiger Woods clinched the PGA Player of the Year, a points-based award handed out by the PGA of America since 1948. It was the seventh time in nine years Woods has won the award. Tom Watson won it six times during an eight-year span. The PGA Player of the Year award gives 30 points for majors, 20 points for The Players Championship and 10 points for all other US PGA Tour victories. It also awards as many as 20 points depending on where a player finishes on the money list and in scoring average. Woods cannot be caught because he won two majors, which carries a 50-point bonus. The only other players to win the award since Woods' first full season in 1997 were Mark O'Meara, a double major winner in 1998; and Vijay Singh, who won the US PGA Championship and eight other tournaments last year.
■ Olympics
Tokyo eyes summer games
Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara said his city will make a bid to host the Summer Olympics in 2016 or later, reports said Tuesday. The Tokyo metropolitan government will appoint an officer to lead the bid on Oct. 1 and set up a preparatory committee by the end of October, Kyoto News Agency and national broadcaster NHK said. Officials at the metropolitan government could not immediately be reached for comment. Tokyo, which hosted the games in 1964, may have to compete against the Japanese cities of Sapporo and Fukuoka, which are also pondering bids, Kyodo said. Other cities possibly in the running include Chicago and Rome. Bids don't need to be submitted to the International Olympic Committee until 2007. The host city will be selected in 2009. Japanese cities interested in hosting must apply to the Japanese Olympic Committee by the end of next June.
■ Tennis
Putin congratulates team
Russia President Vladimir Putin congratulated on Tuesday his nation's Fed Cup-winning team that clinched the title for the second straight year. "Numerous fans witnessed the captivating, beautiful and emotionally tense games. Competing against worthy opponents, not only have you shown to the entire world that our female tennis players are the best in the world but you have demonstrated real team spirit," Putin said in a statement. Russia beat France 3-2 in Sunday's final in Paris. Russia also won against France in the final last year in Moscow.
■ Olympics
Torch to travel 1,990km
The Olympic torch for the 2006 Winter Games in Turin, Italy, will be lit Nov. 27 at the Temple of Hera in Ancient Olympia. The torch relay will begin the same day and cover most of Greece in 10 days. After traveling 1,990km, the torch will be handed to Italian organizers on Dec. 7 in Athens' Panathinaiko stadium for a flight to Rome. Stefano Baldini, the Italian who won the marathon at last year's Athens Games, will start the Italian leg of the torch relay in Rome on Dec. 8. The Italian relay will last 64 days and cover more than 11,000km, passing through every region and province in Italy by the time it arrives in Turin for the Feb. 10-26 games.
Taiwan’s men’s table tennis team won bronze on Saturday at this year’s International Table Tennis Federation World Team Table Tennis Championships in London, matching the country’s best-ever finish at the regular tournament. Consisting of Lin Yun-ju, Taiwan’s top-ranked player at world No. 7, Feng Yi-hsin, Kuo Guan-hong, Hong Jing-kai and Hsu Hsien-chia, the team won bronze after losing 0-3 to Japan in the semifinals. In the opening match, 24-year-old Lin played the first game against world No. 3 Tomokazu Harimoto 11-5, but ultimately lost the next three closely contested games 9-11, 10-12 and 10-12. Feng then faced world No. 8 Sora Matsushima in
Lin Yun-ju on Thursday handed Taiwan two key victories as they advanced to the semi-finals of the ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships Finals in London. The Taiwan men’s table tennis team beat Sweden 3-2 in five singles matches. The 24-year-old Lin, Taiwan’s top-ranked player at world No. 7 and nicknamed the “Silent Assassin,” opened the tie by defeating world No. 2 Truls Moregard 3-0 (11-8, 11-9, 13-11) before clinching the deciding fifth match with a 3-0 (11-8, 11-9, 11-5) win over Anton Kallberg to hand his team the overall victory. Kuo Guan-hong put Taiwan up 2-0 with a 3-2 (4-11, 11-8, 8-11,
Taiwanese fire dancer Yang Li-wei advanced to the final of Britain’s Got Talent this weekend after receiving a Golden Buzzer during her live semi-final performance. Yang, a member of Taiwan’s Coming True Fire Group, awed judges and audiences with a high-intensity fire performance featuring flaming umbrellas, fire swallowing and spinning metal structures balanced with her legs. Judge Simon Cowell praised Yang as a star, while guest judge KSI reacted with amazement before pressing the Golden Buzzer, sending her to the finals. The dance group wrote on social media that the Golden Buzzer was “the highest honor” on the talent show, adding: “Twenty-three years
As Super Rugby fast approaches its playoff season it finds itself racing toward a reckoning with many issues that threaten the southern hemisphere tournament. A group of stakeholders met in the New Zealand city of Christchurch late last month to address problems that are making the future of the 31-year-old competition increasingly tenuous. The discussion was made more urgent by the decision by the owners of Moana Pasifika to fold the Auckland-based club for financial reasons. That followed the closure of the Melbourne Rebels at the end of the 2024 season, likewise because of financial difficulties. Problems addressed included player retention as more
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