■BASEBALL
Taiwan beat Guatemala
Taiwan defeated Guatemala 7-2 on the first day of the Junior League Baseball World Series tournament that opened on Sunday in Taylor, Michigan. The competition sees the participation of 10 teams of 13- and 14-year-olds divided into two pools — one of teams from the US, the other an international pool. The US pool groups the five best teams from the western, southeast, central, southwest and eastern regions. Taiwan is in the international pool, which also includes Ukraine, Mexico, Guatemala and Canada. The top two teams from each pool will go through to the semi-finals on Friday, with the final to be played on Saturday.
■SOCCER
Hamburg hammer amateurs
Ruud van Nistelrooy hit a hat-trick and set up another goal to steer Hamburg SV into the German Cup second round with a 5-1 win over amateurs Torgelower SV on Sunday. VfL Wolfsburg had to wait until the 80th minute to break the resistance of regional league club Preussen Muenster, with Brazilian Grafite scoring the winner two minutes from time in a 2-1 victory. Van Nistelrooy opened the scoring from close range in the 34th minute. The hosts came back and two minutes before the break netted an equalizer through Daniel Pankau. Their joy was short-lived, however, with Paolo Guerrero firing in a free-kick to put Hamburg back into the lead eight minutes after the break. Van Nistelrooy added two more midway through the second half and David Jarolim rounded off the scoring nine minutes from time. Wolfsburg struggled against amateurs Muenster, with striker Edin Dzeko missing several clear scoring chances early on. He did well to set up Cicero for the lead in the 80th minute but six minutes later failed to clear a free-kick, deflecting the ball into his own net. Grafite came to the rescue two minutes later to score the winner. Earlier on Sunday, Mainz edged past Berliner AK 2-1 while Nuremberg beat Eintracht Trier 2-0.
■ SOCCER
Kuranyi opens account
German striker Kevin Kuranyi scored his first Russian Premier League goal as Dynamo Moscow drew 1-1 with leaders Zenit St Petersburg whose nine-match winning streak came to an end. Zenit stayed top with 40 points from 16 matches, seven points ahead of CSKA Moscow, who thrashed Makhachkala 4-0. Reigning champions Rubin Kazan are third, also on 33 points. Kuranyi put Dynamo ahead in the 26th minute with a close-range effort. Zenit’s Danko Lazovic equalized eight minutes later when he followed up Alexander Kerzhakov’s shot which had come back off the woodwork. CSKA Moscow scored all of their goals in the first half against Makhachkala. Oliseh Sekou and Vagner Love scored within eight minutes of each other for a 2-0 lead. Zoran Tosic added a third in the 34th minute, while Sekou added his second of the match just before half-time.
■SOCCER
Excelsior win local derby
Guyon Fernandez scored in injury time on Sunday to give promoted Excelsior Rotterdam a 3-2 win over Feyenoord in the Dutch league. Fernandez put the ball in the net after collecting a rebound in the third minute of stoppage time to give Excelsior their first win of the season. He also hit the opening goal in the 29th minute in the Rotterdam derby. Daan Bovenberg scored in the 77th for Excelsior, while Ron Vlaar and Miquel Nelom responded for Feyenoord. Also on Sunday, NEC Nijmegen beat Willem II 5-3, FC Utrecht downed NAC Breda 3-1 and Roda JC defeated ADO The Hague 3-1.
‘AWFUL PERFORMANCE’: Golden State were always chasing the game after failing to threaten from long range, making just eight of 33 three-point attempts Aaron Gordon on Monday scored 38 points as the Denver Nuggets shrugged off the absence of Nikola Jokic to halt the Golden State Warriors’ seven-game winning streak with a 114-105 victory over their Western Conference rivals. A dazzling display from Gordon inspired what was ultimately a comfortable win for Denver, who were missing regular starters Jokic and Jamal Murray from their lineup. The absentees were barely felt by Denver, who startled the Warriors early at San Francisco’s Chase Center and led for most of the game. The Warriors threatened to stage a late rally after slashing the Nuggets’ fourth-quarter lead from 15 points
The US’ bid for a fourth consecutive CONCACAF Nations League title came to a stunning end as they fell 1-0 to Panama after a stoppage-time goal from Cecilio Waterman on Thursday in Inglewood, California. Despite dominating possession, the US struggled to break down a resilient Panama side for long periods. Panama spent the bulk of the match defending, but pounced on a giveaway by the US before substitute forward Waterman sent a shot from the right side of the area to the bottom left corner late in stoppage time. Up next for Panama in tomorrow’s final is to be Mexico, who beat
DOMINATION: McLaren drivers Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris took the first two spots as Mercedes’ George Russell and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen followed them Australian Oscar Piastri yesterday roared back from season-opening disappointment in his home race by winning the Formula One Chinese Grand Prix from pole position in a McLaren one-two with championship-leading teammate Lando Norris. George Russell finished third for Mercedes, ahead of Red Bull’s reigning champion Max Verstappen with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Saturday’s sprint winner Lewis Hamilton fifth and sixth respectively. Piastri’s win denied Norris a third victory in a row, including last year’s Abu Dhabi season-ender, but left champions McLaren unbeaten in two races so far this year. “Mega job guys. The car was very, very lovely,” Piastri said
TO FINAL FOUR: France had 22 chances and scored two goals, while Croatia could not manage a single shot on target in 120 minutes. Les Bleus won 5-4 on penalties France on Sunday overturned a two-goal deficit to qualify for the UEFA Nations League Final Four by eliminating Croatia 5-4 on penalties after a 2-0 victory in their quarter-final second leg at the Stade de France. Dayot Upamecano scored the winning spot kick in a nail-biting shootout in which France keeper Mike Maignan made two saves, sending Les Bleus into the semi-finals against Spain. Michael Olise opened the scoring and Ousmane Dembele doubled their lead 10 minutes from time to send the tie into extra time after their 2-0 loss in Split, Croatia, on Thursday. France had a total of
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