Taiwan players huddle ahead of their opening game at the WBSC U-23 Baseball World Cup against Colombia at the Tianmu Baseball Stadium in Taipei’s Shilin District yesterday. Taiwan used a five-run sixth inning to rally from a 1-2 deficit and win 6-2, giving them an early advantage in Group A, which also features Germany, Japan, South Africa and Venezuela. Group B features Australia, Cuba, South Korea, Mexico, the Netherlands and Puerto Rico.
Photo: CNA
‘EVERYONE SAW’: The visitors were left fuming after Jules Kounde was fouled by Claudio Echeverri in the buildup to the winning goal and it went unpunished Spanish champions Barcelona on Monday fell to a damaging 2-1 defeat at Girona to leave them trailing Real Madrid by two points at the top of La Liga. Los Blancos beat Real Sociedad on Saturday to overtake the Catalans and Hansi Flick’s side could not defeat Girona in an gripping derby clash to reclaim the lead. Teenage star Lamine Yamal missed a penalty for Barcelona, who took the lead through defender Pau Cubarsi just before the hour mark. However, goals from Thomas Lemar and Fran Beltran helped Girona, 12th, mount an impressive comeback. “In the end Girona deserved it, they had a lot of
Stade Rennais, four days after firing coach Habib Beye, stunned Paris Saint-Germain 3-1 on Friday, snapping the defending champions’ seven-match winning run in French Ligue 1. Second-placed RC Lens could leapfrog the champions and retake top spot last night after press time if they beat Paris FC in the capital. PSG started brightly, with Ousmane Dembele and Desire Doue carving openings to no avail. Rennes fired Beye on Monday and promoted his assistant Sebastien Tambouret, and the same players who had lost four games on the bounce seemed transformed. Jordanian forward Mousa al-Tamari bagged the opener, unleashing a fierce strike
Amanda Anisimova on Monday was handed a walkover into the last 16 of the Dubai Open after her opponent Barbora Krejcikova was forced to withdraw from the WTA 1000 event. The American second seed enters the round-of-16 against Janice Tjen without swinging a racket as two-time Grand Slam winner Krejcikova pulled out due to an issue with her left thigh. They became the seventh and eighth players to pull out, a list that includes the world top two Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek. Tjen booked her meeting with Anisimova thanks to a 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 win in her round-of-32 match against 2021 US
A dominant Cade Cunningham on Thursday scored 42 points as the NBA-leading Detroit Pistons swatted aside the New York Knicks 126-111 on the NBA’s return from its brief All-Star Game break. Billed as a must-watch clash between two Eastern Conference rivals each in red-hot form, the game at Madison Square Garden became an exhibition for Cunningham, who also provided 13 assists and eight rebounds. The 24-year-old burnished his credentials as a Most Valuable Player contender, helping a young, surprise-package Pistons side to improve the best record in the entire NBA this season so far, to 41-13. After the game, Cunningham said that he