BASEBALL
Wang starts for Bisons
Taiwanese pitcher Wang Chien-ming made his second start with the Buffalo Bisons, a Triple-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays, pitching six innings in the Bisons’ 2-1 loss in Buffalo on Saturday. Wang gave up two runs on five hits and one home run in a loss to the Yankees’ Triple-A affiliate, the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, where he made nine starts before signing with the Blue Jays. The right-hander was optioned to the Bisons after he was overwhelmed by both the Boston Red Sox and Detroit Tigers, giving up seven and six runs respectively in 1-2/3 innings in both starts. Wang pitched all seven innings of his debut for the Buffalo Bisons, earning a win to complete a July 7 sweep of the Syracuse Chiefs.
TENNIS
Rain washes out semis
Rain washed out both semi-final matches at the ATP Tour’s Hall of Fame Tennis Championships in Newport, Rhode Island, on Saturday. Nicolas Mahut and Michael Russell were to play their match yesterday morning, while the second semi between John Isner and Lleyton Hewitt was to be played at the same time. The final was to be played in the afternoon. Elsewhere, at the Mercedes Cup semi-finals in Stuttgart, Germany, Philipp Kohlschreiber defeated Victor Hanescu 6-3, 6-3, while Fabio Fognini defeated Roberto Bautista Agut 6-1, 6-3. Meanwhile, the Swedish Open title was to be decided yesterday between Fernando Verdasco and Carlos Berlocq, after they won against Grigor Dimitrov and Thiemo De Bakker respectively in the semi-finals on Saturday.
TENNIS
Errani, Vinci in final
Top-seeded Italians Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci were to face each other in the Italiacom Open final in Palermo, Sicily, after winning their semi-finals on Saturday. No. 1-seeded Errani, who won this tournament in 2008 and last year, recovered from 3-1 down in the second set to beat the fourth-seeded Klara Zakopalova of the Czech Republic 6-4, 6-4. Vinci struggled past Spaniard Estrella Cabeza Candela 5-7, 6-2, 6-2 to reach her first Palermo final. Elsewhere, Simona Halep was to play for her third title of the year against Yvonne Meusburger in the Budapest Grand Prix final yesterday. In Saturday’s semi-finals at the Romai Tennis Academy, the third-seeded Halep defeated Alexandra Cadantu 6-2, 7-6 (7/1), while Meusburger upset No. 6 Chanelle Scheepers 6-2, 6-2.
TENNIS
Martina Hingis inducted
Martina Hingis was inducted into the Tennis Hall of Fame on Saturday, becoming one of the youngest members to be enshrined in one of the sport’s most elite clubs. The 32-year-old from Switzerland was among a distinguished class of inductees who were formally inducted at Newport, Rhode Island. Hingis told the crowd she was humbled by the honor. “Thank you, tennis. You gave me the world,” she said. Hingis became the fourth youngest player to be inducted, following Tracy Austin (30), Bjorn Borg (31) and Hana Mandlikova (32). Hingis won five Grand Slam singles titles — the 1997, 1998 and 1999 Australian Opens, 1997 Wimbledon and 1997 US Open — and held the No. 1 ranking for 209 weeks. She also won nine Grand Slam doubles titles and a mixed doubles title before injuries forced her into early retirement at the age of 22. Also enshrined were 94-year-old Australian great Thelma Coyne Long, who was inducted in the master player category, and Ion Tiriac, Cliff Drysdale and Charlie Pasarell, who were inducted for their contributions to tennis.
‘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
Barcelona’s Ferran Torres scored twice on Sunday to help secure a late 4-2 comeback win at Atletico Madrid in a pulsating La Liga clash that took the Catalan side back to the top of the table. Barca have 60 points and a game in hand after last week’s postponement of their home game with CA Osasuna. They are level on points with Real Madrid, who won 2-1 at Villarreal on Saturday. “I am happy and proud of this team,” Barcelona head coach Hansi Flick told a news conference. “They never give up... It’s a great three points and we are happy to
Armand Duplantis will be among the reigning Olympic champions adding star power to the world indoor championships this weekend when the Chinese city of Nanjing hosts the first major global athletics meet since the Paris Games last year. The three-day event was originally slated for 2020 and faced multiple postponements due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but Nanjing’s Sports Training Center would finally welcome more than 570 athletes for the start of the showpiece today. One of the main attractions would be pole vaulter “Mondo” Duplantis, who soared 6.27m to break the world record for a staggering 11th time in Clermont-Ferrand last
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