BASEBALL
MLB stars to play Taiwan
Major League Baseball will send a team of All-Stars to Taiwan in November for a series of exhibition games. The MLB All-Stars will play five games against Taiwan’s national team starting on Nov. 2, MLB announced on Thursday. Games will take place in Taipei (Nov, 2), Greater Taichung (Nov. 3 and Nov. 4) and Greater Kaohsiung (Nov. 5 and Nov. 6). MLB and the players are also in talks to have Oakland and Seattle play regular-season games in Japan next season.
TENNIS
Tsonga, Gasquet advance
France’s Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Richard Gasquet won in straight sets to reach the quarter-finals of the Moselle Open on Thursday, while Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany lost to a qualifier. The top-seeded Tsonga beat French qualifier Mathieu Rodrigues 6-3, 6-4 to line up a match with Nicolas Mahut, who outlasted 2003 champion Arnaud Clement 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 in an all-French encounter. The second-seeded Gasquet cruised past Olivier Rochus of Belgium 6-2, 6-1 and next plays Gilles Muller of Luxembourg. However, there was an upset for seventh-seeded Kohlschreiber, who lost to Dutch qualifier Igor Sijsling 6-4, 7-5. Sijsling now meets fourth-seeded Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia.
RUGBY WORLD CUP
Fiji coach defends hakas
Fiji coach Sam Domoni said critics of the famous haka could break-dance before games if they like, but they could not stand in the way of Pacific tradition. Domoni was speaking after South Africa coach Peter de Villiers said the pre-match war dances were becoming over-exposed during the World Cup and were in danger of losing their impact. Fiji captain Deacon Manu dismissed de Villiers as a “bit of a spin doctor” and said the hakas would give important pointers about both teams.
GOLF
Solheim Cup matchups set
US captain Rosie Jones has put her faith in big hitters Cristie Kerr and Michelle Wie in the opening series of foursomes as the US begin their title defense of the Solheim Cup against Europe at Killeen Castle in Ireland. Jones picked world No. 3 Kerr and Wie, unbeaten on her debut two years ago, as her top pairing and they face the Swedish duo of Maria Hjorth and Anna Nordqvist. Paula Creamer and Brittany Lincicome, who hurt her right wrist landing a huge fish a couple of weeks ago, are in match two against England’s Melissa Reid and Karen Stupples. European captain Alison Nicholas opted for a blend of youth and experience as she paired up Catriona Matthew, a veteran of six Solheims, and rookie Azahara Munoz. They take on Stacy Lewis and Angela Stanford.
GOLF
Liam Bond leads in Australia
Welsh 41-year-old rookie Liam Bond, who only escaped qualifying school at the 16th attempt last year, took a one-shot lead at the Austrian Open on Thursday. He enjoyed seven birdies, with four coming in the final five holes, against one bogey, for a six-under 66 to lead by one from Denmark’s Thomas Norret, Australian Daniel Gaunt, Dutchman Joost Luiten and Steve Webster of England. It was a timely round for Bond, who has yet to record a top 20 finish this season and who came into the tournament on a run of five successive missed cuts. At 193 on The Race to Dubai order of merit, Bond still faces a huge struggle to keep his card for next year. Of the three Walker Cup players making their professional debuts in the event, Andy Sullivan had the best day with a level-par 72.
Shohei Ohtani and Clayton Kershaw on Friday joined their Los Angeles Dodgers teammates in sticking their fists out to show off their glittering World Series rings at a ceremony. “There’s just a lot of excitement, probably more than I can ever recall with the Dodger fan base and our players,” manager Dave Roberts said before Los Angeles rallied to beat the Detroit Tigers 8-5 in 10 innings. “What a way to cap off the first two days of celebrations,” Roberts said afterward. “By far the best opening week I’ve ever experienced. I just couldn’t have scripted it any better.” A choir in the
The famously raucous Hong Kong Sevens are to start today in a big test for a shiny new stadium at the heart of a major US$3.85 billion sports park in the territory. Officials are keeping their fingers crossed that the premier event in Hong Kong’s sporting and social calendar goes off without a hitch at the 50,000-seat Kai Tak Stadium. They hope to entice major European soccer teams to visit in the next few months, with reports in December last year saying that Liverpool were in talks about a pre-season tour. Coldplay are to perform there next month, all part of Hong Kong’s
Shohei Ohtani, Teoscar Hernandez and Tommy Edman on Thursday smashed home runs to give the reigning World Series champions the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5-4 victory over Detroit on the MLB’s opening day in the US. The Dodgers, who won two season-opening games in Tokyo last week, raised their championship banner on a day when 28 clubs launched the season in the US. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts shuffled his batting lineup with all four leadoff hitters finally healthy as Ohtani was followed by Mookie Betts, then Hernandez and Freddie Freeman in the cleanup spot, switching places with Hernandez. “There’s a Teoscar tax to
Marcus Rashford’s first goals for Aston Villa on Sunday inspired a 3-0 win against Preston North End that sent his side into the FA Cup semi-finals for the first time in 10 years. Rashford struck twice in the second half at Deepdale to end Preston’s stubborn resistance before Jacob Ramsey wrapped up Villa’s long-awaited return to the last four. Villa are to face Crystal Palace — 3-0 winners at Fulham on Saturday — in the semi-finals at Wembley Stadium in London. Revitalized since joining Villa on loan from Manchester United during the January transfer window, Rashford is beginning to show the form that
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