MOTORSPORTS
Max Verstappen takes pole
Runaway championship leader Max Verstappen yesterday took pole position for today’s Japanese Grand Prix as he attempts to clinch his second straight world title in Suzuka. The Red Bull driver topped the timesheets in dry conditions with a time of 1 minute 29.304 seconds, just 0.010 seconds ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, his nearest championship rival. Carlos Sainz was third in the other Ferrari. Verstappen was handed a reprimand after an incident involving the Dutchman and McLaren’s Lando Norris. Norris was forced onto the grass to avoid hitting Verstappen, with the Red Bull driver muttering “unbelievable” over his team radio, but later apologizing. Verstappen can clinch the title today if he wins the race with the fastest lap, no matter what his rivals do. The Dutchman would also retain his crown if he wins and Leclerc is third or lower. “It was incredible to drive here again and of course very happy to be on pole, but just super happy to be back here,” said Verstappen, whose car lost a chunk of bodywork on his last lap after he ran wide on a section of the track. “I lost a bit of my duct on that last lap which is why I didn’t improve. Tomorrow [today] will be interesting with the weather.” Showers are forecast for today.
TENNIS
Frances Tiafoe reaches final
Frances Tiafoe yesterday battled past unseeded Kwon Soon-woo of South Korea in three sets to reach the Japan Open final, but the American said that it had not made pretty viewing. The fourth-seeded Tiafoe won 6-2, 0-6, 6-4 and faces compatriot Taylor Fritz in today’s final in Tokyo after Fritz beat Canada’s Denis Shapovalov 6-3, 6-7 (5/7), 6-3. “It was a weird match, but I’m happy to get through,” Tiafoe said. “I wasn’t expecting him [Kwon] to play like that. He played really fast and really aggressive. He was playing really well, obviously, but a win’s a win, and you take it,” the 24-year-old said. “It’s not always going to be pretty, it’s not always going to be the best stuff, but a win is what matters.”
SOCCER
Mbappe to earn US$128m
French superstar striker Kylian Mbappe is expected to earn a record US$128 million in annual earnings to top the list of the world’s highest-paid soccer players, Forbes magazine reported on Friday. The magazine said that Mbappe crossed the US$100 million milestone at age 23, while such legends as Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo were in their 30s and at the peak of their careers when crossing that money mark for the first time. Mbappe in May signed a three-year contract extension to remain with Ligue 1 side Paris-Saint Germain. Forbes reported that the deal would bring Mbappe about US$110 million for his salary and season share of a signing bonus, plus an estimated US$18 million in annual endorsement income from such companies as Nike, Dior, Hublot and Oakley. Mbappe was on the cover of the EA Sports FIFA video game, founded the production company Zebra Valley and is an investor in fantasy NFT platform Sorare. “He’s a global icon already,” Sorare cofounder Nicolas Julia told Forbes. “He wants to aid the world and show, also, that huge things can be built out of France.” PSG teammate Messi, 35, ranks second at US$120 million, with Manchester United’s Ronaldo, 37, third on US$100 million.
Ademola Lookman on Thursday scored on his Atletico Madrid debut in a 5-0 rout of Real Betis Balompie that sent Diego Simeone’s team to the semi-finals of the Copa del Rey. David Hancko, Giuliano Simeone, Antoine Griezmann and Thiago Almada also scored for Atletico as they advanced to the last four for the third straight season. Atletico are trying to reach their first Copa final since winning the competition in 2012-2013. Hancko opened the scoring for the visitors in the 12th minute and Giuliano Simeone added to the lead in the 30th, before Lookman got his first goal for Atletico on a fast
France head coach Fabien Galthie on Thursday lauded his team’s attacking performance after their dazzling 36-14 victory over Ireland in their Six Nations opener. A brace of tries from Louis Bielley-Biarrey and one from mercurial flyhalf Matthieu Jalibert helped France storm into a 29-0 lead before taking their foot off the gas and allowing Ireland back into the match, before winger Theo Attissogbe put some gloss on the victory late on. “In an attacking sense, with the ball, the team played with great accuracy,” Galthie said. “It was one of the most accurate attacking performances in a long time, despite the weather
SUPERSTAR DELIVERS: Victor Wembanyama scored 29 points and pulled down 11 rebounds to propel the Spurs to a 135-123 victory over the Dallas Mavericks The Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday shook off the early exit of injured star Luka Doncic, rallying without him in the second half for a 119-115 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers. Austin Reaves, again coming off the bench in his second game back from a 19-game injury absence, scored 13 of his 35 points in the fourth quarter, drilling a pair of back-to-back three-pointers to give the Lakers their first lead of the game early in the final frame. “Losing Luka, you know nothing’s going to be easy after that because he does so much for us, but we bonded together,” said
Italy are finally heading to the World Cup — just not in the sport most people might expect. Amid dark times for the country’s storied, but ailing soccer team, some salvation comes in the form of the Azzurri’s unheralded cricketers after their first-ever qualification for a global tournament. Add Italy to cricketing superpowers like India, Australia, England and South Africa competing at the T20 World Cup starting tomorrow. “Just to be there and playing is the end of 45 years of hard work,” Italian Cricket Federation CEO Luca Bruno Malaspina said. That is a reference to the formation of the sport’s national federation in
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