BASEBALL
Taiwan win junior series
Taiwan won the Junior League World Series championship in Taylor, Michigan, on Saturday, beating a Texas US baseball team 9-1. The series, which started on Aug. 9, brought together eight teams and Taiwan, who won first place in an international group with five wins and no losses. Texas won first place in the US pool. Taiwan starting pitcher Gu Lin Ruei-yang gave up only four hits and one run during the first six innings. The team is made up of players from Chungshan Junior High School in Greater Taichung. Gu Lin was replaced by Lin Yen-an, who allowed Texas only one hit and no runs. Taiwan had 15 hits during the game and led Texas 6-1 after five innings, later adding another three runs. It was Taiwan’s second championship in a row and 20th since 1972 at the Junior League World Series.
SOCCER
Dortmund thrash Kickers
Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang were on target on Saturday as Borussia Dortmund beat the SV Stuttgarter Kickers 4-1 in the DFB Pokal. Mkhitaryan opened the scoring in the 30th minute of the first-round tie against their third-tier hosts, with Aubameyang grabbing a brace with 55th and 78th minute goals before new signing Adrian Ramos added the fourth, one minute from time. Dortmund were boosted by the return of Marco Reus, 10 weeks after an ankle injury which ruled him out of the FIFA World Cup, and Neven Subotic, who played his first game in nine months after suffering right-knee ligament damage. Bayer 04 Leverkusen reached the second round on Friday with Stefan Kiessling scoring five times in a 6-0 rout of fifth division Alemania Waldalgesheim. There were also wins for Borussia Moenchengladbach, Hertha BSC, Hannover 96 and Cologne, but VfB Stuttgart and FSV Mainz 05 both suffered early exits.
SWIMMING
Russia win Euro golds
Svetlana Kolesnichenko helped Russia to their first gold medals at the European swimming championship by contributing to wins in both the duet and team free synchronized finals on Saturday. “It is really thrilling to have the chance to win two gold medals on one day. This has never happened to me before,” said Kolesnichenko, who paired up with Daria Korobova to win the duet and then Vlada Chigireva for the team victory. Ukraine’s Lolita Ananasova and Anna Voloshyna took silver in the duet, just beating Spanish pair Ona Carbonell and Paula Klamburg. The positions were repeated in the team final, with Ananasova and Olena Grechykhina claiming silver for Ukraine, while Clara Basiana Canellas and Alba Cabello Rodilla got the bronze for Spain. The Netherlands team of Ferry Weertman, Marcel Schouten and Sharon van Rouwendaal won gold in the open water team 5km swimming event, ahead of Greece and Germany.
GOLF
Sutherland hits rare 59
The US’ Kevin Sutherland became the first player to shoot a 59 on the Champions Tour with a sizzling display of shotmaking in Saturday’s third round of the Dick’s Sporting Goods Open in Endicott, New York. He became the first player on the over-50 circuit to break 60, despite a bogey on his final hole, the par-four 18th, where he missed a seven-foot putt that would have earned him a 58. The 50-year-old Sutherland notched one eagle and 12 birdies to go with his closing bogey for a 13-under-par round that gave him the clubhouse lead. Only six players have shot 59 on the PGA Tour, the last by the US’ Jim Furyk during last year’s BMW Championship.
Twelve days after winning her second Grand Slam title at the French Open, Coco Gauff fell at the first hurdle on grass in Berlin on Thursday as beaten Paris finalist Aryna Sabalenka advanced to the quarter-finals. Recipient of a first round bye, American Gauff lost 6-3, 6-3 to Chinese qualifier Wang Xinyu as world number one Sabalenka beat Rebeka Masarova 6-2, 7-6 (8/6) in her second round tie. Winner of 10 main tour titles, including the US Open in 2023 and the WTA Finals last year, Gauff has yet to lift a trophy in a grass-court tournament. “After I won the first
Sergio Ramos on Tuesday outfoxed two Inter players and artfully headed home the first goal for Monterrey at the FIFA Club World Cup. The 39-year-old Ramos slipped through the penalty area for the score just as he did for so many years in the shirts of Real Madrid and Spain’s national team, with whom he combined smarts, timing and physicality. Ramos’ clever goal and his overall defensive play at the Rose Bowl were major factors in Monterrey’s impressive 1-1 draw against the UEFA Champions League finalists in the clubs’ first match of the tournament. “There is always a joy to contribute to the
Top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka staged a “crazy comeback,” saving four match points before beating Elena Rybakina 7-6 (6), 3-6, 7-6 (6) in the quarter-finals of the Berlin Open on Friday. Sabalenka was 6-2 down in the final-set tie-breaker, but won six straight points to reach her eighth semi-final of the season. “Elena is a great player and we’ve had a lot of tough battles,” Sabalenka said. “I have no idea how I was able to win those last points. I think I just got lucky.” “I remember a long time ago when I was just starting, I won a lot of matches being down
The Canterbury Crusaders edged the Waikato Chiefs 16-12 in an intense Super Rugby Pacific final battle in Christchurch yesterday to claim their 15th title in 30 years of the Southern Hemisphere competition. Hooker Codie Taylor scored a try and Rivez Reihana contributed 11 points from the kicking tee as the most dominant team in Super Rugby history extended their perfect home playoff record to 32 successive matches since 1998. The Chiefs, who were looking for a first title since 2013, scored first-half tries through George Dyer and Shaun Stevenson, but were unable to register a point after the break and fell to