GOLF
Yu fires tight round in Vegas
Taiwan’s Kevin Yu on Friday fired off another clean round, grabbing four birdies to secure a four-under-par 67 at the PGA Tour Shriners Children’s Hospital Open in Las Vegas, Nevada. Yu was tied at 17th place, after securing birdies on holes one, three, 10 and 16 to match his first-round performance on Thursday. South Korea’s Im Sung-jae was leading with an overall 14-under-par 128 alongside Chad Ramey of the US. At the LPGA’s Cognizant Founders Cup in West Caldwell, NJ, Taiwan’s Hsu Wei-ling was among the players to finish the second round before play was suspended due to darkness. She shot a four-under-par 66 to leave her tied at 16th place. Defending champion Jin Young Ko of South Korea held a three-shot lead and was two under after 14 holes when play was stopped.
FOOTBALL
NFL condemns comments
The NFL on Friday condemned a decade-old e-mail from Las Vegas Raiders coach Jon Gruden using racially charged imagery to describe players union chief DeMaurice Smith. “The e-mail from Jon Gruden denigrating DeMaurice Smith is appalling, abhorrent and wholly contrary to the NFL’s values,” the league said in a statement after the e-mail featured in a Wall Street Journal report. In the e-mail reportedly sent during the 2011 player lockout, Gruden, then an ESPN analyst, told former Washington Football Team general manager Bruce Allen that “Dumboriss Smith has lips the size of Michelin tires.” Gruden told the Wall Street Journal he did not recall sending the e-mail, but apologized for what it said. “I’m really sorry,” he told the newspaper, adding that in the past he has referred to people he believes to be lying as “rubber lips.”
CRICKET
Board approves Ashes tours
England’s Ashes tour of Australia is set to go ahead after the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) on Friday gave “conditional approval.” There were fears the Ashes would be canceled after months of concern over COVID-19 quarantine guidelines in Australia. England Test captain Joe Root last week sparked fresh doubts about the tour when he refused to confirm he would go. The five-match series is to start as scheduled in December following talks among Cricket Australia, the ECB and England’s players this week. “This decision is subject to several critical conditions being met before we travel,” an ECB statement said. “We look forward to the ongoing assistance from Cricket Australia in resolving these matters in the coming days.”
BASKETBALL
Mercury advance to finals
Diana Taurasi on Friday scored 14 of her 24 points in the fourth quarter, and Brittney Griner had 28 points and nine rebounds, as the Phoenix Mercury beat the Las Vegas Aces 87-84 to advance to the WNBA Finals. Chelsea Gray and Kelsey Plum scored 22 points each for Las Vegas, and A’ja Wilson added 21 points and 10 rebounds. Shey Peddy made two of three free throws with 4.8 seconds left to give the Mercury an 86-84 lead, and Griner added one from the line to close the scoring. Griner also had a block on Wilson with 0.7 seconds remaining to secure the win. The Mercury is tomorrow to face the Chicago Sky in a rematch of the 2014 finals, the last time either team advanced that far.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
Japanese players are moving to English soccer in record numbers and more look set to follow with clubs attracted by their quality, strong work ethic and value for money. Kaoru Mitoma is the standout talent of five Japanese players in the English Premier League, with eight more in the Championship and two in League One. Liverpool midfielder Wataru Endo, the captain of Japan, believes his compatriots are “being held in higher esteem” by English clubs compared with the past. “The staff at Liverpool ask me about lots of Japanese players, not necessarily with a view to a transfer, but just saying this or
Taiwan yesterday survived Bosnia and Herzegovina to win their Davis Cup World Group I tie at the Taipei Tennis Center. The tight series started on Saturday with world No. 123 Jason Tseng losing 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 to Mirza Basic in the opening singles matchup. However, teammate Tony Wu kept the tie even, dominating world No. 86 Damir Dzumhur 6-2, 6-1. Yesterday, 24-year-old Ray Ho and partner 25-year-old Hsu Yu-hsiou kept up the momentum, making short work of Basic and Nerman Fatic, winning 6-3, 6-4. Tseng then suffered another defeat, losing 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 to Dzumhur in a brutal match that lasted more than two
RSS