TAEKWONDO
Taiwan’s Lo wins gold
Taiwanese Olympic medalist Lo Chia-ling on Sunday won gold in the women’s under-57kg class at the Tallinn Open G2 tournament in Estonia. Lo beat South Korean Kim Yu-jin 2-0 in a best-of-three-round match held under a new sparring rule introduced by World Taekwondo in June to replace the previous total points system. Taiwan coach Liu Tsung-ta said that Lo adjusted for the new rule system by “being a bit more offensive, rather than counterattacking all the time.” Teammate Chen Po-yen won silver in the men’s under-58kg class at the tournament.
GOLF
McIlroy wins FedExCup title
Rory McIlroy on Sunday produced the largest final-round comeback in PGA Tour Championship history to beat world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler by one stroke in Atlanta, Georgia. McIlroy, who began the final round at East Lake six shots back of Scheffler, carded a four-under-par 66 to reach 21 under on the week at the Tour’s season-ending event to capture his third FedExCup title and an US$18 million first-place prize. After receiving the trophy, McIlroy spoke about his passion for the circuit amid the threat from LIV Golf. “I believe in the game of golf, I believe in this tour in particular. I believe in the players on this tour,” world No. 4 McIlroy said. “It’s the greatest place in the world to play golf, bar none — and I’ve played all over the world.”
FOOTBALL
Fans praise free beer
In the post-game analysis, free beer at the Nebraska Cornhuskers-Northwestern Wildcats game on Saturday in Ireland was the right call. The freebies flowed for two hours during Northwestern’s 31-28 victory, and the catering company for Aviva Stadium on Sunday hailed its workers for keeping the refreshments coming, after it decided to give out beer because it could not process payments due to technical issues. The stadium, which was hosting the US universities for the Big Ten conference opener, does not accept cash. Levy UK + Ireland did not give an estimate of lost revenue. Ronan McGowan said he got “three or four” plastic cups of Guinness, “but it took 40 minutes, I missed the game. It wasn’t good.” McGowan said people were also “ordering a lot of drinks,” which slowed everything. Nebraska fan Elena Kuiper was already in line when she realized the beer was free, adding that “news traveled fast.” Her husband, Scott Kuiper, said a man sitting next to him moved quickly. “He took off right away and went up there to go get one,” he said on Sunday at Dublin Airport.
CYCLING
Kenyan rider dies in crash
Kenyan cyclist Sule Kangangi on Saturday died in a crash while competing in a gravel race in Vermont. Kangangi was riding at a high speed in the Vermont Overland race when he crashed. “Sule is our captain, friend, brother. He is also a father, husband and son. Gaping holes are left when giant’s fall. Sule was a giant,” his team, Team AMANI, posted on social media. The Vermont Overland is a 95km dirt road race that includes nearly 2.13km of climbing, according to the race’s website. About 900 cyclists were competing on Saturday in the race that begins and ends in the community of Brownsville in the town of West Windsor, officials said.
Former NBA sensation Jeremy Lin, who recently announced he is joining the Kaohsiung Steelers in the P.League+, is to arrive in the country next week, the Taiwanese American wrote on Instagram yesterday. “I want to be very honest in telling everyone my plans because I don’t want any miscommunication. As of what I know, I will be flying to Taiwan next week, but I don’t know which day as I will need some time to meet my teammates, fit into the [team’s] system, and get prepared physically,” Lin said. Lin said he has not played an official basketball game for about two
Australian Open director Craig Tiley yesterday advised Novak Djokovic’s family to be “really careful” of people using the tournament’s global exposure as a platform for “disruptive” purposes. It follows a video posted on a pro-Russian YouTube account showing Djokovic’s father, Srdjan Djokovic, posing in Melbourne Park with a fan holding a Russian flag that featured the face of Vladimir Putin. It sparked a backlash from Ukraine and led to calls for Srdjan Djokovic to be banned from the tournament. He skipped his son’s semi-final victory on Friday, and it remains to be seen if he will be at today’s final. Tiley told the
More than two decades since their last FIFA World Cup triumph, and without a local consensus pick, Brazil are considering breaking an unwritten taboo: hiring a foreign coach. After six years in the job, Tite left the Brazil post last month following the Selecao’s World Cup quarter-final exit against Croatia. Despite knowing for some time before the Qatar showpiece that Tite was leaving, Brazilian Football Confederation president Ednaldo Rodrigues still has not found a replacement. Now he is widening his search. “We have no nationality prejudices,” he said on Tuesday last week. “We want it to be a respected coach who can bring a
A decade ago when the whippet-like Nairo Quintana burst onto the scene with stunning mountain escapes, Colombian cyclists looked poised to take over the world, but now the nation is in shock as three of its biggest stars flounder for very different reasons. At 32, Quintana is still Colombia’s most popular “beetle” — as its cyclists are known collectively — but he cannot even find a team. Egan Bernal, the only Colombian to win the Tour de France, is struggling to rediscover his former level after a near-fatal training crash, while Miguel Angel Lopez, nicknamed “Superman,” was kicked out of his team
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