BASEBALL
Suzuki sets batting record
Ichiro Suzuki on Thursday notched another milestone in his long career when he became the most prolific foreign-born hitter in the history of Major League Baseball. The 43-year-old Japanese right fielder reached the mark when he had two hits for the Miami Marlins against the Cardinals in St Louis, Missouri. With 3,054 career hits, Suzuki passed the previous record of 3,053 held by Panama-born Rod Carew. Suzuki is now 23rd on the all-time list, Elias Sports Bureau data showed. Suzuki is in his 17th season in the major leagues with his third team after spells with the Seattle Mariners and New York Yankees. He has played 2,572 regular-season games, and has had nearly 10,000 at-bats, for a career batting average of .312.
GOLF
Kim shares lead with rookie
Belgian rookie Laura Gonzalez Escallon on Thursday birdied three of the final four holes for a seven-under 65 and a share of the lead with Kim Sei-young in the Thornberry Creek LPGA Classic. Gonzalez Escallon, the 26-year-old former Purdue player who won twice last season on the Symetra Tour, also started fast in the first-year event, making birdies on three of the first four holes. Kim had eight birdies and a bogey at Thornberry Creek, the Oneida Nation-owned resort near Green Bay, Wisconsin. Tour rookies Madeleine Sheils and Kim Min-g shot 66. Kaohsiung-born Candie Kung of the US carded a four-under 68 for a share of 22nd. Taiwan’s Yani Tseng was tied for 36th on three-under 69, while Hsu Wei-ling and Chien Pei-yun were in a group at 88th on even-par. Min Lee carded a one-over 73 for a share of 104th, while Cheng Ssu-chia was tied for 137th on four-over 76.
GOLF
Love chases leader Munoz
Davis Love III on Thursday shot a seven-under 63 in the Greenbrier Classic, leaving the 53-year-old star two strokes behind leader Sebastian Munoz. In his best round of the season, Love birdied four of his first five holes on the Old White TPC, which was reconstructed after deadly floods forced the cancellation of last year’s tournament. Love is to enter the World Golf Hall of Fame in September. His last win came at the 2015 Wyndham Championship, which made him the third-oldest winner in PGA Tour history. Munoz, a 24-year-old Colombian, was boosted by five birdies on the back nine for a 61. Defending champion Danny Lee was at 64 along with David Lingmerth, Ben Martin, rookie Xander Schauffele, Graham DeLaet and Nick Taylor. Taiwan’s Pan Cheng-tsung carded a five-under 65 for a share of ninth.
GOLF
Rahm steals McIlroy’s show
Rising Spanish star Jon Rahm on Thursday upstaged tournament host Rory McIlroy at the Irish Open by shooting a seven-under 65 to move one stroke off the first-round lead. Rahm, ranked No. 11, showed impressive form on the links two weeks out from the Open Championship, rolling in six birdies and an eagle. He was tied for third place with Englishmen Matthew Southgate and Oliver Fisher. Daniel Im of the US, ranked No. 542, and Benjamin Hebert of France, ranked No. 254, held the lead after shooting bogey-free 64s. McIlroy, the defending champion, parred his final 11 holes and was even-par at a tournament that benefits his foundation.
“I don’t remember the moment, but ever since I was a kid, that’s the first thing I loved,” two-time NBA All-Star Isaiah Thomas said of his lifelong romance with basketball. However, that journey unfolded against the limitations of his size in a game where height often dictates opportunity — a reality he confronted throughout his career. At 175cm, Thomas is less than 2cm taller than the average Taiwanese adult male, while NBA players during his career stood at about 200cm on average. Compared with the NBA’s average career length of less than five years, Thomas’ 13-season career stands out as
Hans Niemann declares he would become a “stone cold killer” in a Netflix documentary released on Tuesday about his feud with five-time classical world champion Magnus Carlsen, a pledge that injects new edge into the lingering fallout from the cheating scandal that shook elite chess. “I’m gonna be a stone cold killer the rest of my life,” the US’ Niemann says in the film. “I’m going to become the best player in the world, and no one is going to believe that now, but this clip will play over and over again in 10 years — just wait.” “I just
Dakar and Rabat have longstanding ties, but relations have been strained since the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) final, which Senegal won in mid-January before being stripped of the title, which was transferred to Morocco. Now, the AFCON trophy is something of a thorn in the two countries’ sides. On Rue Mohamed V, the street where Moroccan vendors are based in the Senegalese capital, a police van is parked. “The police have been on high alert since the Confederation of African Football [CAF] decided to award the title to Morocco, but there have been no incidents,” a local resident said.
Top seeded Jessica Pegula on Friday once again fought back from a set down to reach the WTA Charleston Open semi-finals with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 win against Russia’s Diana Shnaider. Defending champion Pegula has lost the first set in all three of her matches at the tournament so far, but again dug deep to maintain her hopes of retaining the title. The world No. 5 from the US took 2 hours, 10 minutes to defeat 19th-ranked Shnaider, relying on a formidable service game that included eight aces. Shnaider battled well in the first two sets and broke early for a 2-0 lead
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