■BASEBALL
Wang placed on disabled list
Taiwanese pitcher Wang Chien-ming was placed on the 60-day disabled list by the Washington Nationals on Sunday. Wang, still recovering from arthroscopic surgery on his throwing shoulder, last threw in a bullpen session on March 26. The Nationals were due to open their Major League Baseball season yesterday at home against the Philadelphia Phillies.
■SOCCER
French title race heats up
Auxerre squandered an opportunity to go top of Ligue 1 after being held to a 1-1 home draw by Paris St Germain on Sunday. They had to settle for a three-way tie on 57 points with leaders Olympique Lyon and second-placed Montpellier. Auxerre are third on goal difference with seven games left. Romania striker Daniel Niculae put Auxerre in front in the 11th minute but their advantage was quickly cancelled out by Younousse Sankhare. Lyon earned a 2-1 win at Stade Rennes while Montpellier were held 0-0 at home by Monaco on Saturday. “We’re disappointed to see we couldn’t get three points but let’s wait the end of the season before drawing any conclusion,” Auxerre coach Jean Fernandez told Canal Plus television. Olympique Marseille closed to within one point of the top three after a first-half header from Brandao secured a 1-0 victory at home to Racing Lens earlier on Sunday. Marseille, who ended the game with 10 men after defender Stephane Mbia was sent off with 15 minutes left, are fifth on 56 points, behind fourth-placed Girondins Bordeaux on goal difference. Both clubs have two games in hand. Bordeaux lost 2-1 at home to Nancy on Saturday.
■SOCCER
Keane on target again
Robbie Keane fired home a penalty for his 12th goal in 12 games as Celtic won 1-0 at Hibernian on Sunday to cut Rangers’ lead in the Scottish Premier League to 10 points. On loan from Tottenham, Keane drove the spot kick home in the 62nd minute after Hibs’ Anthony Stokes had caught Aiden McGeady in the face with a high kick. In Sunday’s late game, Kilmarnock beat Aberdeen 2-0 for their first win in seven matches to move up one place to 10th and further away from relegation trouble. Aberdeen defender Davide Grassi turned a shot by Scott Severin into his own net in the 25th minute and Allan Russell added Kilmarnock’s second in the 73rd.
■SOCCER
Five-goal Nalchik go top
Spartak Nalchik clinched their third win of the season to go top of the Russian Premier League following a confident 5-2 victory over Rostov. Nalchik have 10 points from four matches, two ahead of Terek Grozny, who beat Samara 2-0, and reigning champions Rubin Kazan, who were held to a goalless draw at Ramenkoye. Midfielder Vladimir Dyadyun netted a double to secure Nalchik’s well-deserved win and take his season’s tally to four goals. Nine-time champions Spartak Moscow dropped points again as they were held to a 2-2 draw at Tomsk. Forward Sergei Kornilenko gave Tomsk a 1-0 lead with a precise spot-kick in the eighth minute after Spartak goalkeeper Soslan Dzhanaev fouled Georgy Dzhioev. Spartak leveled through Brazilian marksman Welliton, who scored from Sergei Parshivlyuk’s cross in the 29th minute. Valery Klimov restored Tomsk’s lead after a piece of good individual work just five minutes later. However, Brazilian midfielder Ibson swept home a rebound after Sergei Pareiko’s blunder just two minutes after the interval to give Spartak a point.
Jobe Bellingham on Tuesday admitted to having “anxieties” on following in brother Jude’s footsteps after joining Borussia Dortmund in the summer. Jobe Bellingham, 19, is two years younger than Jude Bellingham, who joined Real Madrid in 2023 after three years at Dortmund. A centerpiece of the England national team, Jude Bellingham has emerged as one of the best players in the world in recent seasons. The younger Jobe Bellingham joined Dortmund in June from Sunderland after their promotion to the English Premier League. He admitted he understood what the perception would be ahead of the move to Germany. “It’s something you do think about.
Before Tuesday’s 7-2 win at the Atlanta Braves, Milwaukee Brewers manager Pat Murphy suggested “most people couldn’t tell you five players on our team.” A look at the standings would indicate more Brewers players soon will be recognized by more fans. After all, it is difficult to overlook a team that not only continues to extend their lead in the National League Central, but also boasts the best record in the majors. “What we’re doing in here right now is special,” right-handed pitcher Freddy Peralta said after allowing only four hits and one run in five innings, while setting a career high with
A baseball team from New Taipei City won the US Pony Palomino Division World Series yesterday in Laredo, Texas, defeating the US West representative team from Azusa, California, 2-1. Ku-Pao Home Economics and Commercial High School earned the right to represent Taiwan in the Pony Palomino (17 to 18 age group) World Series after winning this year's Wang Chen-chih Cup, a competition named after Taiwanese-Japanese baseball legend Wang Chen-chih (王貞治), also known as Sadaharu Oh. In the championship game against Azusa, Ku-Pao's starting pitcher Luo Yu-yan (羅于晏) was erratic early, giving up two hits in the bottom of the first inning, followed
Taiwanese pitcher Teng Kai-wei took the mound in New York on Saturday as the starting pitcher for the San Francisco Giants in his MLB season debut against the New York Mets, pitching 3.1 innings and allowing five runs. The Taiwanese right-hander struggled early, giving up three runs in the bottom of the first inning, including a three-run homer to Mets slugger Pete Alonso — his 250th career home run. However, Teng was not fazed and soon found his footing, holding the Mets scoreless in the bottom of the second and third innings. Meanwhile, Mets starter Kodai Senga of Japan made a few errors
RSS