VOLLEYBALL
Nebraska sets crowd record
The biggest crowd ever to watch a women’s sporting event on Wednesday jammed the University of Nebraska’s Memorial Stadium as 92,003 people turned out for the Huskers’ victory over Omaha. The announced attendance figure surpassed the previous world record crowd for a women’s sporting event of 91,648, set in Barcelona on April 22 last year at a Women’s Champions League soccer match between Barcelona and VfL Wolfsburg.
MARTIAL ARTS
Saudi Arabia gets PFL
Mixed martial arts promotion the Professional Fighters League (PFL) on Wednesday announced that Saudi Arabia-backed SRJ Sports Investments has purchased a minority stake in the company, part of a reported nine-figure investment to have the PFL hold some of its biggest events in Saudi Arabia. As part of the announcement, PFL also revealed that SRJ would invest in a regional league, PFL MENA, and that the two would host pay-per-view events called Super Fights in Saudi Arabia beginning in the first quarter of next year.
SOCCER
UEFA shuns new rules
New stoppage-time rules that English soccer has enacted this season to avoid time wasting are “absurd” and would not be used in UEFA competitions, Zvonimir Boban, the European governing body’s chief of football, said on Wednesday. Following FIFA’s approach at the men’s and women’s World Cups, England’s referees body in July said that officials would add on the exact time lost to goal celebrations, substitutions and injuries. UEFA’s chief refereeing officer, Roberto Rosetti, backed Boban and said that UEFA had been working for five years to increase the time the ball was in play during its competitions. “There is something more important than the accuracy of additional time,” Rosetti said. “Why do people like the Champions League so much? Because it’s intensive, it’s fantastic, the players never stop. We tell our referees to speed up the restart of play instead of focusing on stoppage-time.”
RUGBY UNION
NZ body criticized
New Zealand Rugby’s governing body was branded “not fit for purpose” in a scathing independent report published yesterday. Released a little over a week before the Rugby World Cup begins in France, the report paints a bleak picture of New Zealand Rugby, describing it as an outdated organization hamstrung by its own structure and not fit for the modern era. “New Zealand Rugby in the professional era is a large and complex business. The structure it sits within was not designed for a business of this size and complexity,” said David Pilkington, chair of the review panel. Former All Blacks captain Graham Mourie was on the panel, commissioned by New Zealand Rugby and the New Zealand Rugby Players’ Association, which found fault with the governing body’s constitution and governance structure. The report found an “overwhelming proportion” of the 191 people interviewed said that the current arrangements “deliver a board that, on balance, is insufficiently qualified to provide the leadership the sport needs.”
The next generation of running talent takes center stage at today’s Berlin Marathon, in the absence of stars including Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge and Ethiopian world record holder Tigist Assefa. With most of the major marathon stars skipping the event in the wake of the Paris Olympics just more than a month ago, the field is wide open in the men’s and women’s races. Since 2015, Kipchoge has won five times in Berlin, Kenenisa Bekele has won twice and Guye Adola once — with all three missing today. Kenyan Kibiwott Kandie and Ethiopian Tadese Takele are among the favourites for the men, while
Japan’s Shohei Ohtani is the record-breaking baseball “superhuman” following in the footsteps of the legendary Babe Ruth who has also earned comparisons to US sporting greats Michael Jordan and Tom Brady. Not since Ruth a century ago has there been a baseball player capable of both pitching and hitting at the top level. The 30-year-old’s performances with the Los Angeles Dodgers have consolidated his position as a baseball legend in the making, and a national icon in his native Japan. He continues to find new ways to amaze, this year becoming the first player to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases
Zhang Shuai yesterday said that she nearly quit after losing 24 matches in a row — now the world No. 595 is into the quarter-finals of her home China Open. The 35-year-old is to face Spain’s Paula Badosa as the lowest-ranked player to reach this stage in the history of the tournament after Badosa reeled off 11 of the last 12 games in a 6-4, 6-0 victory over US Open finalist Jessica Pegula. Zhang went into Beijing on a barren run lasting more than 600 days and her string of singles defeats was the second-longest on the WTA Tour Open era, which
Taiwan’s Tony Wu yesterday beat Mackenzie McDonald of the US to win the Nonthaburi Challenger IV in Thailand, his first challenger victory since 2022. The 26-year-old world No. 315, who won both his qualifiers to advance to the main draw, has been on a hot streak this month, winning his past nine matches, including two that ensured Taiwan’s victory in their Davis Cup World Group I tie. Wu took just more than two hours to top world No. 172 McDonald 6-3, 7-6 (7/4) to win his second challenger tournament since the Tallahassee Tennis Challenger in 2022. Wu’s Tallahassee win followed two years of
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