SOCCER
Napoli cruise past Cesena
Defender Hugo Campagnaro, who survived a fatal car crash in his native Argentina in June, scored the decisive goal as Napoli won 3-1 at 10-man Cesena in their opening Serie A match of the season on Saturday. Fellow Argentine Ezequiel Lavezzi gave Napoli, third last season, a third-minute lead with an unusual goal when a long throw-in upfield found him unmarked in the area and he had time to turn the ball into the net. Roberto Guana leveled for Cesena, who had Romanian forward Adrian Mutu making his debut and coach Marco Giampaolo taking charge for the first time, in the 24th minute when he beat Paolo Cannavaro to Eder’s pass. After that Cesena held their own until Yohan Benalouane was sent off for a second yellow card in the 55th minute. Eleven minutes later, Campagnaro was on hand to tap in from close range at the far post after the Cesena defense failed to cut out a low ball across the face of goal.
GOLF
Two-way tie atop Dutch Open
James Kingston of South Africa and Garry Orr of Scotland both shot a four-under 66 on Saturday to share the lead after the third round of the Dutch Open. Kingston started with a double bogey on the first hole, but then made six birdies the rest of the way for a 10-under total of 200. David Lynn of England was a shot back in third after a 68. US Open champion Rory McIlroy also carded a 68 after birdies on four of the last eight holes to sit three shots back in eighth place. Lee Westwood was in a tie for 18th at four under after a 70. Paul McGinley of Ireland put himself in contention for a first title since 2005 with a 64 to equal the best round of the day. McGinley joined second-round leader Simon Dyson, Niclas Fasth and Alexandre Kaleka in a tie for fourth at eight-under.
BASKETBALL
Russia stay unbeaten
Russia stretched their unbeaten European basketball championship record to seven wins with an impressive 83-67 victory over Greece on Saturday, and will play Macedonia for top spot in Group F today. Macedonia earned a sixth successive win with a 68-59 defeat of Slovenia, while Finland rekindled their hopes of reaching the quarter-finals with an 87-73 win over eliminated Georgia. Russia and Macedonia, who had earlier booked their berths in the last eight, head the group with a 4-0 record and Greece are also assured of a spot in the knockout stage with two wins and two defeats in the second group stage.
FOOTBALL
Peterson gets big payday
Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson, who owns the NFL single-game rushing record, has agreed to a long-term contract extension, the team said on Saturday. The terms of the deal were not disclosed, but reports said Peterson, who was in the final year of his contract, agreed to a seven-year extension that includes US$36 million in guaranteed money and could earn him as much as US$100 million. Peterson was selected by the Vikings in the first round of the 2007 draft, has been a Pro Bowl selection in each of his four seasons and set the single-game rushing record when he ran for 296 yards in 2007 against the San Diego Chargers, who Vikings open their season against.
Taiwan’s men’s table tennis team won bronze on Saturday at this year’s International Table Tennis Federation World Team Table Tennis Championships in London, matching the country’s best-ever finish at the regular tournament. Consisting of Lin Yun-ju, Taiwan’s top-ranked player at world No. 7, Feng Yi-hsin, Kuo Guan-hong, Hong Jing-kai and Hsu Hsien-chia, the team won bronze after losing 0-3 to Japan in the semifinals. In the opening match, 24-year-old Lin played the first game against world No. 3 Tomokazu Harimoto 11-5, but ultimately lost the next three closely contested games 9-11, 10-12 and 10-12. Feng then faced world No. 8 Sora Matsushima in
Lin Yun-ju on Thursday handed Taiwan two key victories as they advanced to the semi-finals of the ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships Finals in London. The Taiwan men’s table tennis team beat Sweden 3-2 in five singles matches. The 24-year-old Lin, Taiwan’s top-ranked player at world No. 7 and nicknamed the “Silent Assassin,” opened the tie by defeating world No. 2 Truls Moregard 3-0 (11-8, 11-9, 13-11) before clinching the deciding fifth match with a 3-0 (11-8, 11-9, 11-5) win over Anton Kallberg to hand his team the overall victory. Kuo Guan-hong put Taiwan up 2-0 with a 3-2 (4-11, 11-8, 8-11,
Taiwanese fire dancer Yang Li-wei advanced to the final of Britain’s Got Talent this weekend after receiving a Golden Buzzer during her live semi-final performance. Yang, a member of Taiwan’s Coming True Fire Group, awed judges and audiences with a high-intensity fire performance featuring flaming umbrellas, fire swallowing and spinning metal structures balanced with her legs. Judge Simon Cowell praised Yang as a star, while guest judge KSI reacted with amazement before pressing the Golden Buzzer, sending her to the finals. The dance group wrote on social media that the Golden Buzzer was “the highest honor” on the talent show, adding: “Twenty-three years
As Super Rugby fast approaches its playoff season it finds itself racing toward a reckoning with many issues that threaten the southern hemisphere tournament. A group of stakeholders met in the New Zealand city of Christchurch late last month to address problems that are making the future of the 31-year-old competition increasingly tenuous. The discussion was made more urgent by the decision by the owners of Moana Pasifika to fold the Auckland-based club for financial reasons. That followed the closure of the Melbourne Rebels at the end of the 2024 season, likewise because of financial difficulties. Problems addressed included player retention as more
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