ATHLETICS
Taiwan wins 10th gold
Taiwan on Tuesday defeated Hong Kong 8-0 in the final of the men’s soccer to clinch the country’s 10th medal at the East Asian Youth Games in Ulan Bator, Mongolia. Yang Chao-jing, Yang Chen-ying and Yeh Ching-chun each scored twice, with Taiwan stretching their lead to eight with a goal from Chen Kuan-lin and a Hong Kong own-goal. Taiwan’s men’s team, which trained in Japan in preparation for the tournament, reached the final with wins over Mongolia and Macau.
TENNIS
Taiwan’s Chan advances
Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Giuliana Olmos of Mexico on Monday beat Japan’s Shuko Aoyama and Ena Shibahara 6-2, 2-6, 11-9 to advance to the women’s doubles quarter-finals at Tennis in The Land in Cleveland, Ohio. Chan and Olmos next face Makoto Ninomiya of Japan and Sabina Santamaria of the US, who earlier beat Chan’s sister Latisha Chan and Chinese partner Yang Zhaoxuan 6-3, 7-6 (7/1) on Sunday. Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Anna Danilina of Kazakhstan also exited in Sunday’s round of 16, losing 6-4, 4-6, 11-9 to Oksana Kalashnikova of Georgia and Miriam Kolodziejova of the Czech Republic.
BASKETBALL
Harden fined US$100,000
The NBA has fined Philadelphia 76ers guard James Harden US$100,000 for public comments he made about his status with the team. Harden on Monday and Thursday last week said he would not perform the services called for under his contract unless he were traded to another team. Harden picked up his player option for next season in June, but the 76ers have not found a deal, prompting Harden’s anger. Among other things, he called 76ers president Daryl Morey a liar at a promotional event in China. “Daryl Morey is a liar and I will never be a part of an organization that he’s a part of,” Harden said at the event. “Let me say that again: Daryl Morey is a liar and I will never be a part of an organization that he’s a part of.”
OLYMPICS
Sewer polluted Seine: report
A faulty valve in Paris’ sewage system was likely to have degraded the Seine’s water quality, leading to the cancelation of a pre-Olympics swimming event, Le Canard Enchaine and Le Parisien newspapers reported yesterday. The swimming stage of the World Triathlon Para Cup — a test event for next year’s Summer Games — was canceled on Saturday due to poor water quality. Citing the municipal government, Le Parisien said that findings from an investigation pointed to an incorrectly closed sewer valve upstream from the historic Pont Alexandre III bridge where the event should have taken place at the weekend.
TENNIS
Williams has 2nd daughter
Serena Williams has given birth to her second daughter, her husband announced on Tuesday. “I’m grateful to report that our house is teaming with love: a happy & healthy newborn girl and happy & healthy mama,” her husband, Reddit founder Alexis Ohanian, posted on Instagram alongside a photograph of himself with a beaming Williams hugging both her daughters. Addressing his 41-year-old wife, he told her she had “given me another incomparable gift — you’re the GMOAT,” a twist on the sporting accolade Greatest Of All Time.
Chinese soccer fans have poured their love — and money — into a Singaporean goalkeeper’s food stall after his performance in a game this week indirectly helped China advance to the third qualifying round for the FIFA World Cup in 2026. Hassan Sunny, a 40-year-old goalkeeper on the national team, became an overnight celebrity on Chinese social media after Singapore’s 3-1 loss to Thailand on Tuesday. China would have been eliminated if Thailand had won by three goals. Sunny made enough saves to prevent that from happening. Chinese fans have been lining up and buying out all the food at the stand
Teams from China, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand and Vietnam are to take on local sides at the Taiwan International 10’s Rugby tournament at the Bailing rugby fields in Taipei’s Shilin District on Saturday and Sunday. “The primary aim of this tournament is to propel the growth of rugby in Taiwan,” said Andrew Leakey, president of the Taipei Baboons and one of the event’s organizers. “By showcasing elite teams in an international arena like this, our objective is to ignite interest across various demographics and reach a broader audience,” Leakey said. “Central to our mission is the promotion of women’s
China squeezed into the third round of Asian qualifying for the 2026 FIFA World Cup despite a 1-0 defeat at South Korea on Tuesday, with Indonesia also progressing on a night of drama. Paris Saint-Germain’s Lee Kang-in scored just after the hour in Seoul for South Korea, who were already into the next qualifying phase as group winners. The damaging loss left China’s World Cup hopes hanging by a thread, but Thailand failed to take advantage as their dreams of progressing fell agonizingly short. They needed to beat basement side Singapore by three goals in Bangkok to leapfrog China into second place in
GOLDEN BOY: With Italy’s president watching, Tamberi was given a standing ovation when he walked onto the track, and he did not disappoint, jumping a record 2.37m Norway’s Karsten Warholm on Tuesday fired out a broadside at Olympic contenders in the run-in to the Paris Games by winning a third successive European Athletics Championships title in Rome as a galaxy of global stars showcased some scintillating form. Warholm, the Olympic champion and a three-time world gold medalist, timed 46.98 seconds for the victory. “I felt strong and I was in control,” Warholm said. “Now it’s back to training and keep on pushing.” “This is a good step on the road, but this is more to build confidence and get the gold medal. In Paris I’ll try to be as sharp