UNIVERSIADE
Free beer for ceremonies
Taiwan Tobacco and Liquor Corp is to offer 250 boxes of commemorative Taiwan Beer for free at the Summer Universiade’s opening and closing ceremony receptions in Taipei. The various types of Universiade beer, launched by TTL in cooperation with designer Peng Hsing-kai, are to be offered to guests on Aug. 19 and Aug. 30, the opening and closing days of the Universiade. The beer is to go on sale to the general public next month. Taipei Universiade Organizing Committee official Huang Lo-ning said the purpose of the receptions is to showcase the nation’s specialty beverages while letting people feel the atmosphere of the sporting event, and Taiwan Beer is the best choice for that. People can drink the beer to show support for Taiwan at the Games, TTL Division of Marketing and Sales Jiang Hong-gui said. The colors of the commemorative beer are the five colors of the Universiade’s logo, which stands for athletes’ perseverance in training, their performance in competitions, and their achievements.
RUGBY UNION
Tonga qualify for Cup
Tonga were yesterday gifted a spot at the 2019 Rugby World Cup when Samoa slumped to a 38-16 loss against a rampant Fiji in the Pacific Nations Cup. With the combined results of last year’s and this year’s Pacific tournaments doubling as World Cup qualifiers, Samoa needed to at least draw with unbeaten Fiji to overhaul Tonga and reach the tournament in Japan. They led 16-14 at halftime in Apia, but had no answers as Fiji overran them in the second half. Fiji, who secured qualification last week when they defeated Tonga 14-10, scored five tries, including a hat-trick to scrumhalf Henry Seniloli. The result put Tonga in Pool C, the so-called “pool of death,” at the 2019 World Cup, alongside England, France, Argentina and the US. Samoa can still reach the World Cup through a repechage series.
FORMULA ONE
Bottas faces penalty
Valtteri Bottas, who was fastest in both of Friday’s opening practice sessions, was to be handed a five-place grid penalty for today’s British Grand Prix after an unscheduled gearbox change. The Finn, who won in Austria last week after Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton received a five-place penalty for the same offense, was left unable to claim pole position regardless of qualifying results yesterday. A team spokesperson confirmed the likely sanction late on Friday after a dominant Bottas had excelled during practice at Silverstone.
GOLF
Trump, rain visit in US
Major championship golf can be a long, difficult grind and on Friday at Trump National the fates aligned against many players. A two-hour thunderstorm delay on Thursday forced 39 players to return early on Friday to finish their opening round at the US Women’s Open before beginning the second. An advisory to players from the US Golf Association to leave early for the course because of possible extra security for the expected arrival of US President Donald Trump made for even earlier wake-up calls. To top it off, there was rain throughout the day. On the course, Feng Shanshan increased her lead as Trump watched from an enclosed glass box next to the 14th green. Feng shot a two-under 70 and had a 36-hole total of eight-under 136. Amy Yang of South Korea was in second, two shots back after a 71. All four Taiwanese were projected to miss the cut, with Hsu Wei-ling on 148 overall, Candie Kung on 149, and Tsai Pei-ying and Chien Pei-yun on 156.
BOUNCE BACK: Curry scored 46 points in the Warriors’ victory over the Spurs, after ‘everybody stepped up’ following Tuesday’s blowout loss to Oklahoma City Nikola Jokic scoring 50 or more points had never been enough for the Denver Nuggets to win — until now. Jokic on Wednesday night tied the highest-scoring performance in the NBA this season with 55 points, as the Nuggets beat the Los Angeles Clippers 130-116 for their sixth straight victory. The Nuggets were 0-4 in his previous 50-point outbursts. “It’s a good feeling,” the three-time NBA Most Valuable Player said. He equaled Oklahoma City Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who had 55 in a double-overtime game at the Indiana Pacers on Oct. 23. Jokic has been on a roll during Denver’s winning streak. He is the
TIGHT GAME: The Detroit Pistons, the NBA’s second-best team, barely outlasted the Washington Wizards, who fell to an NBA-worst 1-10 with their ninth consecutive loss Cade Cunningham’s triple double, Daniss Jenkins’ three-pointer at the buzzer and Javonte Green’s overtime dunk lifted Detroit past Washington 137-135 on Monday, stretching the Pistons’ win streak to seven games. In an unexpected thriller, the NBA’s second-best team barely outlasted a Wizards club that fell to an NBA-worst 1-10 with their ninth consecutive loss. “We knew how big this game was for us,” Jenkins said. “We wasn’t going to let nothing stop us from getting this W.” Cunningham made 14-of-45 shots and 16-of-18 free throws for a career-high 46 points, and added 12 rebounds, 11 assists, five steals and two
The tri-nation Twenty20 international series featuring hosts Pakistan, as well as Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe, is to be played entirely in Rawalpindi from Tuesday next week, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said yesterday, after this week’s suicide bombing in the capital, Islamabad. The change came after at least eight Sri Lankan players asked to leave over security fears following Tuesday’s bombing that killed 12 people and wounded 27. Their country’s cricket board issued a stern directive to the team to stay put or face consequences. Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) said the decision to stay was taken after “close consultations” with hosts Pakistan who
LIKE FINE WINE: Thirty-eight-year-old Djokovic won his 101st title of his career in Athens, becoming the oldest tournament winner since Ken Roswell, 44, in 1977 Elena Rybakina on Saturday clinched her biggest title since Wimbledon in 2022, defeating world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka 6-3, 7-6 (7/0) at the WTA Finals in Riyadh. The world No. 6 put on yet another serving masterclass and was at her returning best as she became the first Kazakh and the first player representing an Asian country to lift the WTA Finals singles trophy. Having gone 3-0 in round-robin play, Rybakina earned a record US$5.235 million and would finish the year ranked No. 5 in the world. “It’s been an incredible week, I honestly didn’t expect any result, and to go so far,
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