BADMINTON
Lu and Yang exit Singapore
Taiwan’s Lu Ching-yao and Yang Po-han on Friday crashed out of the men’s doubles quarter-finals in Singapore Open, after losing to Indonesia’s Sabar Karyaman Gutama and Moh Reza Pahlevi Isfahani. The Indonesian duo swiftly defeated the Taiwanese 21-16, 21-17 in just 32 minutes. The Taiwanese world No. 24 are to have a chance at redemption at the Taipei Open, which starts on Tuesday.
RUGBY UNION
Samoa win Nations Cup
Replacement hooker Seilala Lam yesterday scored two tries including the match-winner in the 70th minute as Samoa rallied to beat Fiji 23-20 to win the Pacific Nations Cup for the first time in eight years. On an eventful final day of the four-nation tournament, Australia A first beat Tonga 39-22 to briefly move atop the table, but Samoa rallied from 17-3 down at halftime to overcome Fiji with Lam’s two second-half tries to win the trophy for the third time. Samoa came into the final round unbeaten on two wins, with 10 points and ahead of Australia A on seven points and Fiji on five.
OLYMPICS
Jim Thorpe wins reinstated
Jim Thorpe has been reinstated as the sole winner of the 1912 Olympic pentathlon and decathlon in Stockholm — nearly 110 years after being stripped of those gold medals for contraventions of strict amateurism rules of the time. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) on Friday announced the change on the 110th anniversary of Thorpe winning the decathlon and later being proclaimed by King Gustav V of Sweden as “the greatest athlete in the world.” Thorpe, a Native American, returned to a ticker-tape parade in New York, but months later it was discovered he had been paid to play minor league baseball over two summers, an infringement of the Olympic amateurism rules. He was stripped of his gold medals in what was described as the first major international sports scandal. To some, Thorpe remains the greatest all-around athlete ever. He was voted as The Associated Press’ Athlete of the Half Century in a poll in 1950. In 1982 — 29 years after his death — the IOC gave duplicate gold medals to his family, but did not reinstate his Olympic records, nor his status as the sole gold medalist of the two events.
BASEBALL
MLB to pay out US$185m
The MLB on Friday agreed to pay minor leaguers US$185 million to settle a federal lawsuit alleging contraventions of US minimum wage laws, a case that progressed through the courts for eight years without reaching a trial. An early estimate is that perhaps 23,000 players could share the money with an average payment of US$5,000 to US$5,500, according to a filing by Brian Kriegler, the players’ damages expert. “This settlement is a monumental step for minor league players toward a fair and just compensation system,” Garrett Broshuis, the players’ lead lawyer and a former minor league pitcher, said in a statement. “I’ve seen first-hand the financial struggle players face while earning poverty-level wages — or no wages at all — in pursuit of their major league dream.” If approved, US$120,197,300 will be split among the players, US$55.5 million will go the players’ lawyers and up to US$5.5 million will cover reimbursement costs of the suit.
Fenerbahce on Thursday earned a rare 2-1 win in England, but were still knocked out of the UEFA Europa League by Nottingham Forest in the playoffs. Forest entered the second leg with a healthy 3-0 lead from the opener in Istanbul — where Vitor Pereira made an impact in his first game in charge — and that proved enough to advance to the round-of-16 with a 4-2 aggregate score. The result was a boost for Forest, struggling at 17th place in the Premier League, in their return to Europe after three decades. They next face Real Betis Balompie or Kerem Akturkoglu gave Fenerbahce
The Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday emphatically got back to winning ways in the NBA, coasting to a 109-94 victory over the New York Knicks as their recent star signing, James Harden, scored 20 points. The Cavs took the lead barely a minute into the game with an Evan Mobley three-pointer and never gave it up in a thoroughly comfortable night for the red-hot Ohio franchise. Former NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) Harden, who was brought in from the Los Angeles Clippers this month, has never won a championship, despite being one of the most decorated players in the league. That was a key
Soccer officials yesterday offered “full support and assistance” to the Iranian team in Australia for the AFC Women’s Asian Cup after the US and Israel launched massive attacks on their homeland. Iran’s 26-strong squad arrived on the Gold Coast days before the strikes on Saturday killed supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as Washington and Tel Aviv seek to topple the Islamic republic. They are due to open their tournament today against South Korea. The AFC in a statement said it “continues to closely monitor the recent developments in the Middle East during this challenging period.” “The AFC’s foremost priority remains the welfare, safety and
ROAD RASH: Marc Marquez retired after a crash, marking the first time after 88 consecutive races stretching back to 2021 that a Ducati bike failed to make the podium Marco Bezzecchi yesterday won the MotoGP season-opening grand prix in Thailand from pole position as defending world champion Marc Marquez retired late with a buckled wheel. Aprilia’s Bezzecchi led from start to finish to top the podium in Buriram, with KTM’s Pedro Acosta second and Trackhouse’s Raul Fernandez third. Ducati’s Marquez is chasing a record-equaling eighth world title this season, but he exited the race in dramatic fashion while in fourth place with five laps to go. The Spaniard, who started from second on the grid, took a corner wide, with the jolt to his bike dislodging the rear tire, badly damaging his
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