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.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
Taiwanese badminton superstar Lee Yang broke down in tears after publicly retiring from the sport on Sunday. The two-time Olympic gold medalist held a retirement ceremony at the Taipei Arena after the final matches of the Taipei Open. Accompanied by friends, family and former badminton partners, Lee burst into tears while watching a video celebrating key moments in his professional sporting career that also featured messages from international players such as Malaysia’s Teo Ee Yi, Hong Kong’s Tang Chun-man, and Indonesia’s Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan. “I hope that in the future when the world thinks about me, they will
If all goes well when the biggest marathon field ever gathered in Australia races 42km through the streets of Sydney on Sunday, World Marathon Majors (WMM) will soon add a seventh race to the elite series. The Sydney Marathon is to become the first race since Tokyo in 2013 to join long-established majors in New York, London, Boston, Berlin and Chicago if it passes the WMM assessment criteria for the second straight year. “We’re really excited for Sunday to arrive,” race director Wayne Larden told a news conference in Sydney yesterday. “We’re prepared, we’re ready. All of our plans look good on
When details from a scientific experiment that could have helped clear Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva landed at the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the leader of the organization’s reaction was unequivocal: “We have to stop that urgently,” he wrote. No mention of the test ever became public and Valieva’s defense at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) went on without it. What effect the information could have had on Valieva’s case is unclear, but without it, the skater, then 15 years old, was eventually disqualified from the 2022 Winter Olympics after testing positive for a banned heart medication that would later
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