SOCCER
Spanish league gets going
Lucas Perez earned and converted an 87th-minute penalty to complete a 2-1 comeback win for RC Deportivo de La Coruna over Sociedad Deportiva Eibar, while CA Osasuna also struck late to draw 1-1 at Malaga on the opening day of the Spanish league on Friday. Perez scored the decisive spot-kick after the Deportivo striker was fouled by David Junca in the area. Pedro Mosquera started the fight back for the hosts in the 68th when he canceled out Ivan Ramis’ header for Eibar shortly after the restart. Deportivo’s win came on the debut of coach Gaizka Garitano, who in a previous job had guided Eibar’s rise from the third division to reach the topflight in 2014. In Malaga, Osasuna made a positive start to their return to the first division after a two-year absence thanks to Fran Merida’s opportunistic goal with five minutes left.
AMERICAN FOOTBALL
Jones’ availability in doubt
Washington Redskins running back Matt Jones suffered a sprained left shoulder in a pre-season game against the New York Jets on Friday, putting his availability in doubt for the start of the regular season. Jets defensive back Calvin Pryor pushed Jones out of bounds before landing on him to force the rusher out of the game in the opening quarter. Redskins coach Jay Gruden said Jones has a slight separation, but does not think he has a long-term injury. “When I went down, on a [pain] scale from one to 10 it was about a seven,” Jones said. “As it settled down [the pain went down]. I still have some flexibility in it now so it’s not as bad as it was.” Jones is slated to be the top runner in Washington this season. The second-year player rushed for 490 yards last year while splitting time with running back Alfred Morris, who has since left to sign with the Dallas Cowboys.
LITTLE LEAGUE
S Korea defeat Curacao
Junho Jeong allowed just three hits and struck out 10 in four innings as South Korea beat Curacao 3-0 on Friday night to improve to 12-0 all-time in the Little League World Series (LLWS). South Korea, a team from Seoul, had the bases loaded with no outs in the first inning when Curacao starter Jurrangelo Cijntje switched from throwing left handed to using his right. He struck out the next two before hitting a batter to put South Korea in front 2-0. The bases were loaded for South Korea again in the second, but Curacao, from Willemstad, escaped with a strikeout and a catch in foul territory. Cijntje settled down and threw 90 pitches in 4-1/3 innings, while striking out six. In the sixth, Jungtaek Ru sliced a RBI single to left field. South Korea has won the LLWS championship in 1984, 1985 and 2014.
ICE HOCKEY
Rangers sign Jimmy Vesey
The New York Rangers won the Jimmy Vesey sweepstakes on Friday, signing him to a two-year contract. Vesey, a 23-year-old former Harvard forward who won the Hobey Baker Award as the best player in college hockey last season, was originally selected by the Nashville Predators in the third round of the 2012 draft. He opted not to sign with the Predators during his college career, and his rights were traded to the Buffalo Sabres in June. The Sabres failed to agree to terms with Vesey this summer, and he became an unrestricted free agent on Tuesday. Vesey had 24 goals in 33 games last season. A native of North Reading, Massachusetts, he scored 32 goals as a junior and 80 in 128 games overall for the Crimson. His contract is worth the entry-level maximum, US$925,000 per season.
Japan’s Shohei Ohtani is the record-breaking baseball “superhuman” following in the footsteps of the legendary Babe Ruth who has also earned comparisons to US sporting greats Michael Jordan and Tom Brady. Not since Ruth a century ago has there been a baseball player capable of both pitching and hitting at the top level. The 30-year-old’s performances with the Los Angeles Dodgers have consolidated his position as a baseball legend in the making, and a national icon in his native Japan. He continues to find new ways to amaze, this year becoming the first player to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases
Zhang Shuai yesterday said that she nearly quit after losing 24 matches in a row — now the world No. 595 is into the quarter-finals of her home China Open. The 35-year-old is to face Spain’s Paula Badosa as the lowest-ranked player to reach this stage in the history of the tournament after Badosa reeled off 11 of the last 12 games in a 6-4, 6-0 victory over US Open finalist Jessica Pegula. Zhang went into Beijing on a barren run lasting more than 600 days and her string of singles defeats was the second-longest on the WTA Tour Open era, which
Taiwan’s Tony Wu yesterday beat Mackenzie McDonald of the US to win the Nonthaburi Challenger IV in Thailand, his first challenger victory since 2022. The 26-year-old world No. 315, who won both his qualifiers to advance to the main draw, has been on a hot streak this month, winning his past nine matches, including two that ensured Taiwan’s victory in their Davis Cup World Group I tie. Wu took just more than two hours to top world No. 172 McDonald 6-3, 7-6 (7/4) to win his second challenger tournament since the Tallahassee Tennis Challenger in 2022. Wu’s Tallahassee win followed two years of
Taiwanese martial artists bagged one gold, four silver and three bronze medals at the World Junior Wushu Championships in Brunei, the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Brunei Darussalam said yesterday. Liu Yu-tzu won the gold medal in the girl’s taijiquan A group and also picked up a silver medal in the girl’s taijijian A group. Hu Hsin-ling, Yu Min-hsun and Chen Chao-hsiang each won a silver medal in the girl’s jianshu B, boy’s nangun B and boy’s taijijian A groups respectively. Hu also won a bronze medal in the girl’s qiangshu B group, while Yu and Lin Shih-hung picked up bronze medals
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