WORLD CUP
Japan win threatens toilets
Japan fans following their team’s 2-1 win over Colombia on Tuesday risked triggering a plumbing disaster when millions rushed to the toilet at halftime. After the nail-biting first 45 minutes, water use jumped 24 percent in Tokyo, the city’s Bureau of Waterworks said yesterday. “We presume it’s because a lot of people holding off on a trip to the bathroom all went at once,” an official said. “Water use can fluctuate, especially during soccer matches, which only have one break in the middle,” she added. “It also can be affected by a period of time, excitement and other factors.” Jubilant fans made another dash for the loo at the final whistle, causing another spike of 50 percent in water use. However, the bureau had anticipated the stampede and adjusted the city’s supply and pressure accordingly, the official said. The viewing rate for the fixture hit a yearly high of 48.7 percent in Japan, surpassing the 33.9 percent marked when figure skater Yuzuru Hanyu won Olympic gold in February.
WORLD CUP
Egypt to protest referee
Egypt is to formally protest to FIFA about the performance of Paraguay referee Enrique Caceres, whose decisions they feel influenced their 3-1 defeat to Russia on Tuesday. “We want an investigation into the performance of the whole refereeing team,” Egyptian Football Association president Hany Abo Rida said yesterday. Egypt felt that fullback Ahmed Fathi was pushed in the process of attempting to clear the ball two minutes into the second half and as a result steered it into his own net, Abo Rida said. He also felt there was a legitimate penalty appeal in the 78th minute for striker Marwan Mohsen, who was bundled over by Russia defender Ilya Kutepov. “The referee should have used VAR [video assistant referee] to check and award the penalty,” he said.
WORLD CUP
Games streaming in metro
Some Muscovites have found their daily commute on one of the busiest underground systems in the world flying past after city authorities began screening games in metro carriages. “It’s great! If our team was playing right now, I’d be shouting and disturbing other people, but now I am watching it calmly,” said Valery Arakelov, a Moscow resident engrossed in Australia’s encounter with Denmark on Thursday. “Some people appear to have been watching entire games while riding on the circle line,” Moscow Metro first deputy head Roman Latypov said. “We see that some of the passengers enter the metro when a match starts and they go around until the match ends, so the circle line now is extremely popular with some of the fans.”
SURFING
Israelis try to break record
Hundreds of Israeli surfers in skull-and-crossbones shirts yesterday took to the waves in what they said was a record-breaking protest against potential environmental damage from offshore gas development. Organizers said that 992 people paddled out and held hands to form a circle opposite Herzliya to demand that a planned gas rig be relocated further from the Mediterranean coast. The event is to be submitted to Guinness World Records for recognition, organizers said. Guinness lists a 511-person circle of surfers in California last year as the world-record “surfing paddle-out.”
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
UP IN SMOKE: More than half a dozen riders crashed out of the race, with Marquez’s title chances in doubt after driving off the track with flames flickering from his bike Jorge Martin yesterday won a crash-filled Indonesia MotoGP to extend his championship lead, while closest rival Francesco Bagnaia limited the damage by claiming the final podium place. The win leaves the Pramac Racing rider 21 points ahead of his Italian Ducati rival, who finished third behind Spaniard Pedro Acosta in sweltering conditions at the Mandalika International Street Circuit on Lombok island. In front of a crowd of 60,000 in motorbike-mad Indonesia, the 26-year-old put his tumble in Saturday’s sprint behind him, canceling out the gains his title rival Bagnaia made after securing victory in that race. “Thank you Indonesia. I am very happy.
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