TENNIS
Taiwanese exit in UK
Taiwanese sisters Latisha Chan and Chan Hao-ching on Wednesday crashed out of the women’s doubles at the Rothesay Open Nottingham. The Chans exited in the round-of-16, beaten 6-3, 6-4 by British duo Heather Watson and Harriet Dart at the Nottingham Tennis Centre. Meanwhile, Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Wang Xinyu of China consolidated their No. 7 ranking for the WTA Finals with their victory in Paris this week. Hsieh and Wang have 2,060 points for the Oct. 31 to Nov. 7 tournament, 61 adrift of Demi Schuurs of the Netherlands and the US’ Desirae Krawczyk (2,121) in sixth. Eight pairs are to play at the finals in Shenzhen, China.
SOCCER
Women’s TV deal inked
FIFA agreed to a major European broadcasting rights deal with five key countries to show the Women’s World Cup, resolving a standoff with just over a month to go until the competition begins. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and FIFA extended their media rights partnership to broadcast the event on EBU’s free-to-air TV network across 34 European territories, including Britain, Germany, France, Spain and Italy, FIFA said in a statement on Wednesday. It was a major breakthrough and ended the threat of a blackout for TV viewers in Europe when the competition starts in Australia and New Zealand. “As part of this agreement, the EBU has committed to working towards broadcasting at least one hour of weekly content dedicated to women’s football on its own digital platform and broadcaster network,” FIFA president Gianni Infantino said in the statement.
SOCCER
Golfers eye Leeds stake
Rickie Fowler said that he and fellow American golfers Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas are looking to invest in Leeds United after 49ers Enterprises agreed on a takeover of the English soccer club. Leeds owner Andrea Radrizzani agreed to sell his stake to the investment arm of the San Francisco 49ers NFL franchise after they were relegated from the English Premier League. “There is the group that’s moving forward with being involved with Leeds. Myself, J.T. and Jordan potentially will be a part of it,” Fowler told Sky Sports. “It will be fun if we get to be a part of it. If not, we will continue to root for Leeds. I feel like it’s [soccer] continuing to get bigger in the [United] States, but still since I haven’t been to a game I don’t have the true appreciation until I’ve actually been able to go and be there and feel that energy.”
RUGBY UNION
SANZAAR clarifies schedule
The governing body of southern hemisphere rugby, SANZAAR, has apologized for any confusion about the prospect of the Rugby Championship moving from its traditional August-to-October window to earlier in the year. Reports earlier this year said that SANZAAR was considering the shift to a March-to-April window at the behest of South Africa and Argentina, whose players now mostly play club and provincial rugby in European competitions. However, SANZAAR said in a statement it “can reiterate that until 2026, the existing mini-tour match schedule is locked in. Furthermore, The Rugby Championship window will not change from 2026 with the national unions working on competition models for the August-September.”
American rugby sevens star Ilona Maher is to join 15-a-side club Bristol next month in a bid to play in next year’s Women’s Rugby World Cup, the English club announced on Monday. Maher, 28, helped the US to a bronze medal at this summer’s Olympic Games in Paris and is the seven-a-side sport’s most popular player on social media. “This is a huge coup to be able to bring Ilona Maher to Bristol Bears on a short-term deal,” Bristol head coach Dave Ward said. “She is one of the biggest names in women’s sport, let alone rugby, and we believe she will
New Taipei Kings guard Jeremy Lin on Friday was named the Taiwan Professional Basketball League’s (TPBL) Player of the Month, the first domestic player to win the award, while the Hsinchu Toplus Lioneers are to welcome their third head coach in less than a year. Lin averaged 22 points, 5.4 rebounds and 6.6 assists over five games in October and last month, helping the Kings to second in the standings with a 4-2 record as of Friday. The Kings last night defeated the Lioneers 96-78 to move level with the top-of-the-table Formosa Dreamers (5-2), while in the night game, the New Taipei
LeBron James is in quite the shooting slump — especially from long distance, highlighted by his zero-for-four effort from three-point range for the Los Angeles Lakers in their 109-80 loss against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday. That return stretched the nearly-40-year-old’s skid to zero-for-19 from deep over his past four games. James’ birthday is on Dec. 30. After going four-for-16 from the floor overall with six of his team’s 20 turnovers for a season-low 10 points against the Timberwolves, James was asked to reflect on the Lakers reaching the quarter mark of their 2024-2025 schedule under rookie coach J.J. Redick at 12-9. “I
TO NO AVAIL: The Denver Nuggets’ Serbian center Nikola Jokic surpassed his 53-point performance in the 2023 Western Conference semi-finals against Phoenix The Washington Wizards withstood a 56-point explosion from Denver star Nikola Jokic to beat the Nuggets 122-113 on Saturday and snap their 16-game NBA losing streak. Jokic, who won his third NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) award last season, posted a career scoring high — surpassing a 53-point performance in game four of the 2023 Western Conference semi-finals against Phoenix and a 50-point regular-season best against Sacramento in 2021. The Serbian big man added 16 rebounds and eight assists, but it was all to no avail as Washington, buoyed by 39 points from Jordan Poole, won for the first time
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