ARCHERY
Taiwanese wins bronze
Taiwan’s Chiu Yi-ching yesterday won a bronze medal in her first Archery World Cup event, the women’s individual recurve, in Gwangju, South Korea. The 18-year-old defeated compatriot Kuo Tzu-ying 6-2 in the bronze medal match, after losing in the semi-finals to Lee Gah-yun of South Korea 6-2. Kuo, 19, earlier defeated Taiwanese Olympian Lei Chien-ying 6-5 in a one-arrow tiebreaker, but was shut out by top seed South Korean Choi Misun, who went on to win gold. Kuo and Chiu are both representing Taiwan on the World Cup tour for the first time this year. The men’s recurve team of Olympian Tang Chih-chun, newcomer Su Yu-yang and 19-year-old Tai Yu-hsuan was ousted by the US 5-4 in the second round.
SOCCER
Mbappe stays at PSG
Kylian Mbappe on Saturday said he was “very happy” to stay at Paris Saint-Germain after the club announced that the World Cup winner was rejecting Real Madrid to remain in France until 2025. “I am very happy to stay in France, in Paris, in my city,” Mbappe told supporters on the Parc des Princes pitch before he marked his new deal with a hat-trick in PSG’s 5-0 win over Metz in their final Ligue 1 match of the season. La Liga president Javier Tebas said that the massive financial resources of PSG’s Qatari owners persuaded Mbappe to stay in France. “What PSG is doing by renewing Mbappe with large sums of money ... after posting losses of 700 million euros [US$738.9 million] in recent seasons and having a wage bill of over 600 million euros, is an INSULT to football,” Tebas wrote on Twitter. La Liga said in a statement that it was launching an official complaint “to UEFA, the French administrative and fiscal authorities,” and the EU.
SOCCER
Violence mars Greek Cup
Crowd violence and tear gas on Saturday marred the Greek Cup final, where Panathinaikos made a first-half penalty hold up to beat PAOK 1-0. Penalty-scorer Aitor Cantalapiedra was allegedly hit in the hand by a chunk of cement thrown from the crowd. Only 43,000 tickets were sold for the 70,000-seat Athens Olympic Stadium to keep apart fans from both clubs. Despite that, Panathinaikos fans attempted before the final to get close to PAOK fans, and spilled onto the track around the field. Riot police forced them back using tear gas, and PAOK supporters threw flares at the retreating Panathinaikos fans. In Croatia, police opened fire with live ammunition during clashes on a highway with hundreds of soccer fans returning from a match in the capital, Zagreb, authorities said. Two fans and about a dozen police officers were injured, but none in life-threatening condition, they said.
HORSE RACING
Early Voting wins Preakness
Early Voting on Saturday validated a gutsy decision to skip the Kentucky Derby and aim for the second leg of the Triple Crown, by holding off hard-charging favorite Epicenter to win the Preakness, rewarding trainer Chad Brown and owner Seth Klarman for their patience. Early Voting stalked the leaders for much of the race before moving into first around the final turn and finished one-and-one-quarter lengths ahead of Epicenter, who was second. “We thought he needed a little more seasoning, the extra rest would help him,” Klarman said. “And as it turned out, that was the right call.”
Manchester United on Tuesday confirmed Michael Carrick as interim manager until the end of the season, tasking him with leading the Red Devils back into the UEFA Champions League. “Having the responsibility to lead Manchester United is an honor,” said Carrick, 44, who won 12 major trophies in his 12-year playing career at United. The former midfielder previously had an unbeaten three-game stint as caretaker boss at Old Trafford in 2021. Carrick then took on his first permanent managerial role at second-tier Middlesbrough in October 2022 and was sacked in June last year after the club finished 10th in the
Reigning NBA Most Valuable Player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on Sunday sparked defending champions Oklahoma City to victory, while Anthony Edwards led Minnesota’s last-minute fightback to beat San Antonio. Gilgeous-Alexander scored 29 points while adding eight assists and five rebounds in the Thunder’s 124-112 home victory over Miami, improving the NBA’s best record to 33-7 after outscoring the Heat 70-53 in the second half. “We locked in defensively. We were finally able to get some stops,” Thunder guard Aaron Wiggins said. “We were able to get out in transition a little bit, get going offensively and find the flow.” Jalen Williams scored 18 points, while
Mohamed Salah’s Egypt knocked reigning champions Ivory Coast out of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) with a 3-2 win in the quarter-finals on Saturday, while Victor Osimhen starred as Nigeria beat Algeria 2-0 to set up a clash with hosts Morocco. In Agadir, Morocco, a thrilling last-eight tie saw Omar Marmoush and Ramy Rabia net in the first half for the Pharaohs before an own goal by Ahmed Aboul-Fetouh brought the Ivorians back into it. Salah then got Egypt’s third early in the second half and they held on after Guela Doue again reduced the deficit. Egypt is to face Senegal
Brandon Miller scored 18 points, LaMelo Ball had 17 and the Charlotte Hornets built a 47-point lead in the first half of a 150-95 rout against the Utah Jazz on Saturday night. It was the second-biggest win in franchise history for the Hornets and their largest on the road. The Hornets bounced back from a pair of frustrating losses in a big way, having fallen to Toronto by one point and Indiana by two in their last two games. Charlotte pounded the NBA champion Thunder by 27 in Oklahoma City before those defeats, previously the Hornets’ most lopsided victory of the season. Tre
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