■BASKETBALL
Taiwan progress in Thailand
Taiwan finished third in the preliminary round of the 2010 International Basketball Federation (FIBA) Asia U-18 Championship for Women in Thailand and were scheduled to meet China yesterday in the semi-finals. Opening the tournament with three victories, Taiwan lost to China and Japan in the last two games to finish third in the six-team round-robin preliminary round with three wins and two losses, behind defending champions Japan (5-0) and China (4-1). South Korea squeezed into the final four with two wins and three losses. The tournament, being held, in Surat Thani, is a qualifying event for the FIBA World U-19 Championship for Women to be held in Chile next year. The top three teams in Thailand will represent Asia in Chile.
■SOFTBALL
US, Japan stay unbeaten
The US and Japan continued their unbeaten run on Sunday at the world championship. The US, which has won this tournament six straight times, defeated Australia 9-2 and Olympic champions Japan edged Canada 2-1. Both teams are 5-0 with two more games to play in the group stage. Cat Osterman picked up the victory for the US, a complete-game victory with 10 strikeouts. Alissa Haber led the Americans at the plate. She was 3-for-3 with four RBIs and scored one run. Mika Someya picked up the complete-game victory for Japan with seven strikeouts and no walks. Japan took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the fourth inning, but Canada tied it in the top of the fifth. However, in the bottom of the fifth Ayumi Karino doubled in Shizuyo Hamamoto — who had also doubled — to restore the one-run lead. Canada’s first two batters were retired in the top of the seventh, but Melanie Matthews singled to bring the potentially tiebreaking run to the plate. Caitlin Lever was thrown out at first on a fielder’s choice to end the game. In other results on Sunday, Taiwan beat Argentina 6-3, China blanked the Dominican Republic 7-0, the Netherlands trounced South Africa 7-0, the Czech Republic edged Botswana 5-4, Venezuela beat New Zealand 5-2 and Cuba overcame Britain 4-1.
■RUGBY UNION
Cooper fined, disqualified
Wallabies fly-half Quade Cooper has been fined and disqualified from driving after pleading guilty to a charge of driving while on a suspended license. Magistrate Judith Daley, sitting in the Brisbane Magistrates Court yesterday, fined Cooper A$400 (US$344), banned him for driving for six months and entered a traffic conviction against him. A lawyer for the 22-year-old told the court Cooper’s action was inadvertent. Liam Burrow said Cooper had changed address in March and had not received a letter informing him his license had been suspended. Burrow said Cooper was unaware his license was suspended until he was stopped by police for a license check in Brisbane last week. Cooper is due in court again on Friday on a burglary charge relating to an incident at a Gold Coast residence on Dec. 6 last year.
■GAMBLING
Police smash betting ring
Hong Kong police said yesterday they have smashed a record HK$170 million (US$22 million) gambling ring that took illegal bets on World Cup soccer games and horse racing. Authorities arrested four men linked to triad gangs and seized betting records in the latest in a series of raids that have netted at least three dozen suspects since the soccer tournament kicked off this earlier this month. “This is a record for a single raid,” a police spokeswoman said.
Japan’s Shohei Ohtani is the record-breaking baseball “superhuman” following in the footsteps of the legendary Babe Ruth who has also earned comparisons to US sporting greats Michael Jordan and Tom Brady. Not since Ruth a century ago has there been a baseball player capable of both pitching and hitting at the top level. The 30-year-old’s performances with the Los Angeles Dodgers have consolidated his position as a baseball legend in the making, and a national icon in his native Japan. He continues to find new ways to amaze, this year becoming the first player to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases
More than 180 years of horse racing came to an end in Singapore on Saturday, as the Singapore Turf Club hosted its final race day before its track is handed back to the Singaporean government to provide land for new homes. Under an overcast sky, the air-conditioned VIP boxes were full of enthusiasts, socialites and expats, while the grounds and betting halls below hosted mostly older-generation punters. The sun broke through for the last race, the last-ever Grand Singapore Gold Cup. The winner, South African jockey Muzi Yeni, echoed a feeling of loss shared by many on the day. “I’d
PREDICTION: Last week, when Yu’s father made a wrong turn to the former champions’ parking lot, he said that his son could park there after this year With back-to-back birdies on the 18th hole, Kevin Yu fulfilled his driving range-owning dad’s prediction that he would win the Sanderson Farms Championship and become Taiwan’s third golfer to claim a US PGA Tour title. The Taoyuan-born 26-year-old, who represented Taiwan in the Olympic golf at Paris, saw off Californian Beau Hossler in a playoff at the Country Club of Jackson, Mississippi, on Sunday. Having drained a 15-foot putt to claw his way into the playoff, Yu rolled in from five feet on the first extra hole, ensuring he joined Chen Tze-chung (LA Open in 1987) and Pan Cheng-tsung (RBC
Francesco Bagnaia yesterday profited from a mistake by rookie Pedro Acosta to win the Japan MotoGP sprint and close the gap on overall championship leader, Jorge Martin. Spaniard Acosta crashed with four laps to go while leading the field at Motegi, allowing defending world champion Bagnaia to take first ahead of Enea Bastianini and Marc Marquez. Spain’s Martin finished fourth and saw his overall lead over Italian Bagnaia in the championship standings cut to 15 points. “I am very happy because with these conditions, it’s not very easy to win and gain points,” Bagnaia said after a sprint race that took place under
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