SOCCER
United buys Stiles’ medals
The World Cup medal won by England’s Nobby Stiles in 1966 was bought for ￡188,200 (US$298,000) by his former club Manchester United on Wednesday. The fee is the highest yet for a World Cup medal, surpassing the ￡165,000 paid five years ago for another 1966 winners’ medal owned by Alan Ball. United also put in a winning bid of ￡49,402 for a European Cup winners’ medal which Stiles won with the club in 1968. He played for United from 1960 to 1971. “We’re delighted to have acquired these items, which possess tremendous historical significance for Manchester United and English football, and look forward to proudly displaying them in our museum,” United said in a statement. The 68-year-old Stiles raised a total of ￡424,438 for his family from 45 lots at the auction in Edinburgh. “If you had walked in to my dad’s house you would never have known what he had done,” Stiles’ son John told the BBC. “The shirts were in the loft and the medals were in the bank. Nobody ever saw them.”
CRICKET
Black Caps played ‘like dicks’
New Zealand coach Mark Greatbatch yesterday gave a damning verdict of his players’ performance against Bangladesh earlier this month, saying the Black Caps “played like dicks” and must redeem themselves in India. New Zealand capitulated 0-4 in a one-day series against unfancied Bangladesh, a result the local media has described as a low point in the team’s history. “When you play badly like that you’ve got to front up,” Greatbatch told radio station Livesport from India, where New Zealand will next week begin a tour that includes three Tests and five one-day internationals. “It’s very devastating. We played like dicks really and I suppose there’s one positive thing, we’ve got a chance next week to actually put it right,” he said. Greatbatch was similarly blunt in his assessment of the team’s top order batsmen. “I think some aren’t good enough, I think some think they are better than they are,” he said.
GOLF
Woods keen to give back
Tiger Woods says he’s looking forward to giving something back to Thailand when he makes a quick visit to his mother’s home country for the first time in 10 years to play a one-day skins tournament next month. The Nov. 8 event is part of celebrations to mark King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s 60th year on the Thai throne. “The Thai people never fail to impress me with their warm and genuine hospitality. This is indeed a good opportunity to give something back to them,” Woods said. Paul Casey of England, Camilo Villegas of Colombia and Thailand’s top player, Thongchai Jaidee, will also compete for total prize money of US$300,000. All players have agreed to donate their prize money to charity projects overseen by the king, organizers said. The players will wear pink golf shirts, a sign of respect for the king that symbolizes wishes for good health.
SOCCER
Successor to Paul is French
The successor to the game-guessing Paul the Octopus is French, although it remains to be seen if he will have the same forecasting talents as his famous English-born predecessor. Paul gained global fame by correctly calling all seven of Germany’s World Cup games and predicting Spain’s victory in July over the Netherlands. He was found dead in his tank at the Oberhausen aquarium on Tuesday. Aquarium spokeswoman Tanja Munzig says the new octopus, also to be called Paul, was born near the French city of Montpellier and will be presented to the public next week.
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
LeBron James and eldest son Bronny James claimed a piece of NBA history on Sunday after making their long-awaited first appearance alongside each other for the Los Angeles Lakers. The duo appeared together at the start of the second quarter in the Lakers’ 118-114 preseason defeat to the Phoenix Suns in Palm Desert, east of Los Angeles. While LeBron James impressed with 19 points in just 16 minutes and 20 seconds on court before sitting out the second half, Bronny found the going harder with zero points in just over 13 minutes on court. The younger James attempted just one
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