BASEBALL
Taipei Dome adds seating
An additional 4,700 seats would be available at the Taipei Dome for the Asian Baseball Championship finals on Sunday, Farglory, the builder and operator of the stadium, said yesterday. With the addition of the infield seats, the Taipei Dome will be able to accommodate 22,000 spectators for the championship game, Farglory said, adding that the opener between Taiwan and South Korea on Sunday last week drew nearly 17,000 fans. The 4,700 seats to be added will all be on the upper deck of the newly completed venue, which has a capacity of about 40,000, it said. The games on Sunday are to start at 12:30pm with the third-place game, followed by the final at 6:30pm. Taiwan face Japan today in the Super Round.
CRICKET
England level series
Sam Curran took three wickets and Jos Buttler scored a half-century on Wednesday to help England claim a six-wicket victory over the West Indies in the second ODI, leveling the three-match series at 1-1. Set a target of 203 for victory in North Sound, Antigua, England romped home in less than 33 overs to set up a series finale in Barbados tomorrow. Buttler made 58 not out in a 90-run partnership with Harry Brook (43) to get the tourists over the finish line. Gudakesh Motie was the pick of West Indies’ bowlers, picking up the wickets of Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett in back-to-back overs. Earlier, Curran (3-33) decimated the hosts’ top order in a devastating spell, claiming the wickets of Brandon King, Keacy Carty and Shimron Hetmyer.
TENNIS
Raducanu to play in NZ
Britain’s Emma Raducanu has accepted a wild card to play at the Auckland Classic in the New Year after missing out on one in the initial batch offered by the Australian Open. The former US Open winner has had a lengthy absence from the tour following operations on both wrists and an ankle this year, but hopes to be fit for the start of next season. The 21-year-old is set to return to Auckland with a protected ranking of 103 and a year on from exiting the tournament in tears after rolling her ankle during a second-round match moved indoors due to wet weather. “Despite the fact she had to retire this year, she was really happy to come back,” tournament director Nicolas Lamperin told New Zealand media yesterday. Raducanu joins a field featuring reigning champion and US Open holder Coco Gauff and former world No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki.
RUGBY LEAGUE
Nawaqanitawase switches
Wallabies star Mark Nawaqanitawase yesterday announced that he would jump codes and join rugby league team the Sydney Roosters, with beleaguered Rugby Australia voicing disappointment. Nawaqanitawase, 23, played 11 Tests and was a standout performer for Australia in their disastrous Rugby World Cup campaign in France this year. “We’re delighted to have secured Mark’s services and look forward to welcoming him to our club in 2025,” Roosters head of recruitment Daniel Anderson said in statement of the two-year deal. “We are disappointed — Mark has been a strong player over the last 12 months,” Rugby Australia chief executive Phil Waugh said of the NSW Waratahs player.
Twelve days after winning her second Grand Slam title at the French Open, Coco Gauff fell at the first hurdle on grass in Berlin on Thursday as beaten Paris finalist Aryna Sabalenka advanced to the quarter-finals. Recipient of a first round bye, American Gauff lost 6-3, 6-3 to Chinese qualifier Wang Xinyu as world number one Sabalenka beat Rebeka Masarova 6-2, 7-6 (8/6) in her second round tie. Winner of 10 main tour titles, including the US Open in 2023 and the WTA Finals last year, Gauff has yet to lift a trophy in a grass-court tournament. “After I won the first
Sergio Ramos on Tuesday outfoxed two Inter players and artfully headed home the first goal for Monterrey at the FIFA Club World Cup. The 39-year-old Ramos slipped through the penalty area for the score just as he did for so many years in the shirts of Real Madrid and Spain’s national team, with whom he combined smarts, timing and physicality. Ramos’ clever goal and his overall defensive play at the Rose Bowl were major factors in Monterrey’s impressive 1-1 draw against the UEFA Champions League finalists in the clubs’ first match of the tournament. “There is always a joy to contribute to the
Top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka staged a “crazy comeback,” saving four match points before beating Elena Rybakina 7-6 (6), 3-6, 7-6 (6) in the quarter-finals of the Berlin Open on Friday. Sabalenka was 6-2 down in the final-set tie-breaker, but won six straight points to reach her eighth semi-final of the season. “Elena is a great player and we’ve had a lot of tough battles,” Sabalenka said. “I have no idea how I was able to win those last points. I think I just got lucky.” “I remember a long time ago when I was just starting, I won a lot of matches being down
The Canterbury Crusaders edged the Waikato Chiefs 16-12 in an intense Super Rugby Pacific final battle in Christchurch yesterday to claim their 15th title in 30 years of the Southern Hemisphere competition. Hooker Codie Taylor scored a try and Rivez Reihana contributed 11 points from the kicking tee as the most dominant team in Super Rugby history extended their perfect home playoff record to 32 successive matches since 1998. The Chiefs, who were looking for a first title since 2013, scored first-half tries through George Dyer and Shaun Stevenson, but were unable to register a point after the break and fell to
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