BASEBALL
Tokyo beat Taipei
Kengo Tomita hit two home runs and Tokyo beat Taipei 7-5 on Friday night in the Little League World Series opener for both teams in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania. Shingo Tomita led off the game with a home run to right-center for Japan, and Kengo Tomita made it 2-0 with his first homer. Kengo Tomita’s second home run, a solo shot in fifth, gave Japan a four-run lead. Kengo Tomita also singled in Japan’s four-run second inning.Yen Cheng-yu hit a two-run home run for Taiwan in the sixth. Japan are to play Mexico in a winners’ bracket game today. Taiwan were to face Canada yesterday.
BASKETBALL
Jordan awarded US$8.9m
NBA legend Michael Jordan was awarded US$8.9 million by a Chicago jury on Friday in a case against a supermarket chain which included his name in a promotion without his permission. “I’m pleased with today’s verdict,” Jordan said in a statement. “No one — whether or not they’re a public figure — should have to worry about their identity being used without their permission.” Dominick’s in 2009 used Jordan’s name in a commemorative ad in Sports Illustrated when the former Chicago Bulls superstar was inducted into the Hall of Fame. Lawyers for the now-closed grocery store chain — which was taken over by Safeway — had said Jordan should receive US$126,900 for the unauthorized use of his name. Jordan argued that he would not have accepted such a deal based on his endorsement history and his legal team determined with the help of a sports economist that using his name in the ad was worth US$10 million.
FOOTBALL
Griffin out with concussion
Washington Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III faces a spell on the sidelines after being concussed in a pre-season victory over the Detroit Lions, it was confirmed on Friday. Griffin left the game in the second quarter of the Redskins’ 21-17 win on Thursday after suffering a torrid time at the hands of Detroit’s defense. Redskins head coach Jay Gruden said it was unclear how long Griffin would be out of action, or whether he would recover in time for next Saturday’s pre-season game against the Baltimore Ravens. “We’ll have to see,” Gruden said. “I would imagine, depending on how long he is out, he is still going to be our starter. We have to wait and go through the whole process and see how he recovers; see how fast he recovers. I have no idea as far as the third pre-season game, fourth one, right now.” A Redskins executive official told ESPN on Friday Griffin was “fine” and could be fit to face the Ravens next week. “But [we] still need to make sure he is right,” the official added.
OLYMPICS
Los Angeles grants powers
The president of the Los Angeles City Council has introduced a motion to give Mayor Eric Garcetti broad authority to negotiate a deal to host the 2024 Olympics. The Los Angeles Times reported that the motion would give Garcetti and council president Herb Wesson the authority to sign a legally binding agreement with the US Olympic Committee. The agreement would allow the city to enter into a contract with the International Olympic Committee in two years. The newspaper reports that the council could vote on the motion as soon as next week. If Los Angeles becomes the US candidate for the 2024 Olympics after Boston’s recent drop from contention, a mayor’s adviser says the organizers’ proposed budget for the Summer Games would be US$4.1 billion.
Barcelona star Lamine Yamal would be motivated by criticism ahead of the Clasico, Barcelona assistant coach Marcus Sorg said yesterday. Teenage winger Yamal has been in the spotlight in the Spanish capital after joking that Real Madrid “steal” and “complain” during an appearance on a social media stream. Champions Barca face Real Madrid today in La Liga at the Santiago Bernabeu, looking for a fifth consecutive win over their rivals. “Lamine is a top player and I think [the criticism] will be motivating for him,” Sorg told a news conference. “I hope we all see him tomorrow [give] the best performance.” The 18-year-old Spain
‘A HISTORIC moment’: ‘I think we all need to take a step back and appreciate Leo Messi is playing in Major League Soccer,’ league commissioner Don Garber said Lionel Messi raised the Golden Boot. He then got Inter Miami started with his head. The Argentine opened the scoring with a diving header in the first half, then capped the scoring in the 96th minute as Inter Miami opened the MLS playoffs with a 3-1 win over Nashville SC in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference best-of-three first-round series on Friday night. Messi and Ian Fray had the assists on Tadeo Allende’s second-half tally for Inter Miami, who now get two chances to advance out of the first round for the first time in Messi’s two-and-a-half-year tenure with the team. Game
‘COMPLETE GAME’: ‘To be honest, I’m not sure about the history, but I’m very happy about what I did today,’ Yamamoto said through a translator after the game Yoshinobu Yamamoto pitched a World Series game from another era. Sandy Koufax had October outings like this, and so did Orel Hershiser, but those types of performances have vanished in modern baseball. Until this 178cm starter from Japan delivered like the aces of old. Yamamoto threw a four-hitter for his second consecutive complete game, the first in the World Series since 2015, and the defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-1 on Saturday night to tie their best-of-seven matchup at one game apiece. “It’s kind of the throwback,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “When he starts a game, he
Japan’s narrow defeat by Australia showed they can compete with the best teams in the world, coach Eddie Jones said after his side fell to a 19-15 loss yesterday. Australia coach Joe Schmidt led the Wallabies for the first time against Eddie Jones, his predecessor and now Japan coach. During Jones’ second tenure as Australia coach, the Wallabies lost seven of nine tests and were eliminated in group play at the 2023 World Cup. “What I’m super pleased about is that now we [Japan] are a team that stays in the fight,” Jones told reporters. “We kept going, we could have won
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