CYCLING
Mohoric wins Stage 7
Slovenia’s Matej Mohoric on Friday won Stage 7 of the Tour de France as leader Mathieu van der Poel kept the yellow jersey against the odds by leading a breakaway on an epic 249km run from Vierzon to Le Creusot. Defending champion Tadej Pogacar limited his losses and remains a force to be reckoned with, while Ineos’ best-placed rider, Richard Carapaz, wasted energy with a doomed late breakaway before being caught on the line as the British team continue to suffer. A mass attack after 50km of the longest stage in 21 years stunned race favorite Pogacar, as more than 20 riders got away after a 15km struggle to contain them wilted. The large escape group, all working hard to maximize the damage, opened up a seven-minute lead, leaving a sense of confusion in the teams left behind, including the UEA and Ineos teams.
CRICKET
Smith says Tests the focus
Steve Smith is prepared to sacrifice playing at this year’s Twenty20 World Cup to ensure he is fit for the Ashes series against England, with the star batsmen making clear that Test cricket is his priority. The former Australia captain pulled out of their limited-overs tour of the West Indies with an elbow injury and said recovery was proving a slow process. “There’s still a bit of time between now and [the World Cup], and I’m tracking okay at the moment — it’s slow, but I’m going okay,” he told cricket.com.au on Friday. The World Cup is scheduled to take place from Oct. 17 to Nov. 14 in the United Arab Emirates and Oman after being moved out of India due to the COVID-19 situation. “I’d love to be part of the World Cup, for sure, but from my point of view, Test cricket, that’s my main goal — to be right for the Ashes and try to emulate what I’ve done in the last few Ashes series I’ve been involved in,” Smith said. The five-Test series is due to get under way on Dec. 8 in Brisbane. “I want to put myself in a position where I can have that kind of impact,” he said. “If that does mean not partaking in the World Cup, then we’ll have to go down that path, but hopefully we don’t have to go there.”
RUGBY UNION
NZ Maori defeat Samoa
Samoa yesterday lost against the Maori All Blacks in Auckland as they rounded off preparations for the first of their World Cup qualifiers against Tonga next week. The New Zealand Maori romped home 38-21 following their 35-10 victory a week ago in Wellington. Samoa again started strongly and, as in the first game, the score was locked at 7-7 after 30 minutes. However, the hosts found another gear in the countdown to halftime and added a try to Jonah Lowe and a penalty try to turn with a 19-7 lead. Samoa scored first in the second spell and again right on fulltime, but in between they spent most of the half defending and again conceded a penalty try. Captain Michael Alaalatoa said that the performance was not a good indicator of how they will fare against Tonga. “Our effort was there, but our execution let us down,” he said. “It’s hard to get a feel for next week. We’ve laid a really good foundation, but it is about execution.” For the Maori All Blacks, there were tries to Ash Dixon, two for Jonah Lowe, Sean Wainui and two penalty tries. Otere Black and Josh Ioane landed conversions. Samoa’s points came from tries to Neria Formai, Tomasi Alosio and Kalolo Tuiloma and three conversions by Henry Taefu.
Taiwanese tennis veteran Hsieh Su-wei (謝淑薇) and her Latvian partner Jelena Ostapenko finished runners-up in the Wimbledon women's doubles final yesterday, losing 6-3, 2-6, 4-6. The three-set match against Veronika Kudermetova of Russia and Elise Mertens of Belgium lasted two hours and 23 minutes. The loss denied 39-year-old Hsieh a chance to claim her 10th Grand Slam title. Although the Taiwanese-Latvian duo trailed 1-3 in the opening set, they rallied with two service breaks to take it 6-3. In the second set, Mertens and Kudermetova raced to a 5-1 lead and wrapped it up 6-2 to even the match. In the final set, Hsieh and
Taiwanese tennis veteran Hsieh Su-wei and her Latvian partner, Jelena Ostapenko, advanced to the Wimbledon women’s doubles final on Friday, defeating top seeds Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic and Taylor Townsend of the US in straight sets. The fourth-seeded duo bounced back quickly after losing their opening service game, capitalizing on frequent unforced errors by their opponents to take the first set 7-5. Maintaining their momentum in the second set, Hsieh and Ostapenko broke serve early and held their lead to close out the match 6-4. They are set to face the eighth-seeded pair of Veronika Kudermetova of Russia and Elise Mertens
Outside Anfield, the red sea of tributes to Diogo Jota and his brother, Andre Silva, has continued to grow this week, along with questions over whether Liverpool could play at Preston today, their first game since the brothers’ tragic loss. Inside Anfield, and specifically a grieving Liverpool dressing room, there was no major debate over the pre-season friendly. The English Premier League champions intend to honor their teammate in the best way they know how. It would be only 10 days since the deaths of Jota and Silva when Liverpool appear at Deepdale Stadium for what is certain to be a hugely
Switzerland’s Riola Xhemaili on Thursday scored a last-gasp goal to salvage a dramatic 1-1 draw with Finland that sent the joyous hosts through to the quarter-finals at Euro 2025, and heartbroken Finland home. Switzerland, who needed only a draw to advance based on goal-difference, finished second in Group A behind Norway to go through to the knockout round for the first time and are to face the winners of Group B, which would be world champions Spain as things stand. “I think we set ourselves a goal on the pitch, to write history, to go into the knockout stages, which we’ve never
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