SOCCER
Chen’s Mechelen go in first
Taiwan international Javier Chen’s KV Mechelen went atop the Belgian Jupiler League on Saturday night after a 2-1 victory at OH Leuven, despite being reduced to 10 men at the end of the first half. Alessandro Cordaro opened the scoring for the visitors after eight minutes, but a foul in the penalty area by Kenny van Hoevelen in the 43rd minute gave Leuven a penalty, which Jordan Remacle converted, and saw van Hoevelen given his marching orders. Despite being a man down, Julien Gorius gave Mechelen the lead in the 51st minute and the visitors held on to take home the three points. Mechelen top the table with nine points.
BASEBALL
Taiwan scrape by in U16
A Taiwanese baseball team in the International Baseball Federation’s U16 Baseball World Championship avoided elimination by grabbing their first win in the tournament, beating Brazil 7-6 in Lagos de Moreno, Mexico, on Saturday. Starting pitcher Tu Chia-ming had a solid performance, allowing only five hits and one run over seven innings. Taiwan had a 4-1 lead by the bottom of the seventh, but relievers Huang Yi-hsin and Wang Tse-chun gave up five runs. Taiwan’s lineup earned the close win in the bottom of the ninth thanks to an uncaught third strike, opponent errors, walks and a hit in the final inning.
BASEBALL
Taiwan destroy Aruba
Yang Chin-hao went 4 for 4 with three runs as Taiwan’s Greater Kaohsiung avoided elimination at the Little League World Series with a 20-3 rout of Oranjestad, Aruba, on Saturday. Taiwan pounded out 19 hits. Yang singled to load the bases before scoring on Hsu Chi-ling’s first-inning double. The 12-year-old Yang added a two-RBI double in the second, before making a leaping stab of Albert Pop’s line drive to save an extra-base hit in the third. The game ended after four innings because of the league’s 10-run rule.
BASEBALL
Taiwan lose title at JLBWS
Taiwan failed to defend their championship title at the Junior League Baseball World Series (JLBWS), losing to the US 2-1 in the final in Taylor, Michigan, on Saturday. The team from Shing-Ming Junior High School in Taoyuan earned a spot in the championship after setting an unbeaten record in the international pool to compete against the winner of the US pool — the Palma Ceia team from Florida. Taiwan starter Lin Chen-fei went the distance, striking out six while allowing only four hits. Teammate Ou Chin had a two-out RBI double in the fourth inning to drive in the team’s only run. The US’ Patrick Kiszla hit a two-run homer in the second inning. He also pitched the final two innings in relief, retiring all six batters he faced.
BASEBALL
Taiwan edged at Pony WS
Taiwan lost by a run to Laredo, Texas, in the final of the Pony League World Series in Washington, Pennsylvania, on Saturday, in what would have been their seventh win since 1993. The South Zone champs defeated Taiwan 10-9 with a series of home runs and hits from the fourth inning onward. The team of 13 and 14-year-olds from New Taipei City led the game 5-1 in the third inning. Although they managed to score another four runs in the sixth and seventh innings, the team could not hold on. Despite the team’s loss, rightfielder Tsai Chen-yu was named the top runner with the most stolen bases in this year’s tournament, while third baseman Wang Ku-fan was named best batter, smacking six hits in the championship game.
Inter on Sunday were given a letoff when they snatched a late 1-1 derby draw with AC Milan, while league leaders SSC Napoli were held by a late goal at AS Roma. Reigning champions Inter remain three points behind Napoli, who looked to be heading five clear as they led in Rome until Angelino volleyed in a stunning leveler in the first minute of stoppage-time. Angelino’s strike gave even more significance to Stefan de Vrij’s last-gasp equalizer at the San Siro. The defender forced home Nicola Zalewski’s knockdown just as it looked like Tijjani Reijnders’ opener would be enough for Milan. “I can
The Washington Capitals and Winnipeg Jets on Saturday did not disappoint in a thrilling midseason matchup in front of a fired-up sellout crowd of more than 18,500 fans. The top two teams in the NHL delivered with a combined nine goals, including the 877th of Alex Ovechkin’s career to put him 18 back of breaking Wayne Gretzky’s record. That tied the score, the Jets pulled it out in overtime and just about everyone involved got their money’s worth out of the 5-4 game. “We knew how we were both sitting in the standings and both having real good years,” Winnipeg coach Scott
BACK-TO-BACK: The League One club, which is owned by stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, is sparing no expense to clinch promotion to the Championship Hollywood endings are pricey, even in England’s third division. In pursuit of their third straight promotion, Wrexham AFC splashed some cash at League One rival Reading to secure the services of striker Sam Smith. The Welsh club owned by actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney confirmed the signing of the 26-year-old Smith on Friday. He is one of the top scorers in the third division. The transfer fee was not disclosed, but British media widely reported it to be about £2 million (US$2.48 million) — not extravagant, but a hefty price at this level and it would be about the same figure that
Less than a week after splashing out a world-record fee for Naomi Girma, Chelsea has spent big again to bring England midfielder Keira Walsh back to the English Women’s Super League. Walsh left European champions Barcelona after more than two years to join Chelsea for a reported £400,000 (US$496,000) on Friday. Walsh was the world’s most expensive player for two years after moving to Barcelona from Manchester City for a reported £400,000 in 2022. That status now belongs to Girma, the US defender who cost Chelsea a reported £900,000 to sign from the San Diego Wave. Still, it means 27-year-old Walsh — a technically