BASEBALL
Taipei beat White Rock 16-4
Chou Wei-hung hit a grand slam in the third inning and a two-run shot in fourth to help Taipei beat White Rock, British Columbia, 16-4 in four innings on Saturday night in the Little League World Series. Chou was three for three and fell an RBI short of the LLWS record of seven. Yu Yen-cheng capped Taiwan’s nine-run first with a two-run home run, and Chen Hao-en added a solo home run in the fourth. Marcus Bradley had two of Canada’s five hits. Taiwan advanced to play today against the loser of yesterday’s game between Uganda and Venezuela.
GOLF
Horsey’s lead diminishes
England’s David Horsey saw his overnight three-shot lead at the Made in Denmark tournament slashed to just one on Saturday after a topsy-turvy third round. The 30-year-old, chasing a fourth European Tour title, had stretched his lead to seven at one stage before the chasing pack closed in. Horsey has led since Thursday, but he was reined in on Saturday courtesy of three bogeys on the back nine, while Australia’s Terry Pilkadaris carded a fine third-round 65. Horsey finished the day with a three-under 68 for the round and a tournament total of 15-under 198. Pilkadaris is one shot off the pace, while Englishmen John Parry and Chris Paisley are four back from Horsey.
RUGBY UNION
France beat England 25-20
England’s preparations for the home World Cup suffered a setback as they slumped to a 25-20 loss to France after a late comeback attempt fell short. Danny Cipriani stepped off the bench to score a try and Jonathan Joseph also touched down in a lively finish, but France had been by far the better team in the first 70 minutes. France flyhalf Freddie Michalak finished with a 17-point haul and wing Yoann Huget also crossed. The England pack struggled against Les Bleus just seven days after a 19-14 victory over the same opponent at Twickenham.
RUGBY UNION
Scotland defeat Italy 16-12
Scotland earned their first win of the year as they ground out a 16-12 victory against Italy in Turin on Saturday in a warm-up match ahead of next month’s World Cup. Replacement Henry Pyrgos scored the only try of the match, turning over for Scotland against the run of play in the 74th minute after Matt Scott had made up good ground down the right flank. Duncan Weir converted to add to his three first-half penalties. Gonzalo Garcia had kicked a penalty for Italy and Tommaso Allan had added two more to send the sides in at the interval level at 9-9. Allan, whose father is Scottish, scored a third penalty in the second half to put Italy ahead for the first time. The two sides are to meet again at Murrayfield on Saturday.
OLYMPICS
ISAF could move Rio events
The head of sailing’s governing body has threatened to move all Olympic events out of polluted Guanabara Bay unless the water is cleaner and floating trash is removed for next year’s Rio Games. International Sailing Federation (ISAF) chief executive Peter Sowrey, speaking to reporters on Saturday on the final day of an Olympic sailing test event, said: “If we can’t get the water to a level, then we’ll move it outside,” to the open Atlantic. Sowrey said one course inside the bay was closed after floating trash hindered racing for two days. He also complained he received no data during the week-long Olympic test from the state agency that monitors water quality.
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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