SOCCER
Socceroos coach resigns
Graham Arnold has resigned as head coach of the Australian men’s soccer team after six years in charge and following two recent poor performances by the Socceroos in their 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign. Soccer Australia yesterday said that Arnold advised them earlier this week of his decision to resign. It said the organization would begin a search for a new head coach. Arnold had served as the head coach of the team since August 2018, marking his second term with the side after a brief interim role from 2006 to 2007. His departure comes after the Socceroos picked up just one point from a possible six in their opening two games of the third round of World Cup qualifying. The team lost 1-0 to Bahrain on the Gold Coast in Australia and was held scoreless in a 0-0 draw away to Indonesia. “After deep reflection, my gut has told me it’s time for change, both for myself and the program,” Arnold said in a statement issued by Football Australia.
HORSE RACING
Freehold Raceway to shut
Freehold Raceway, the oldest horse racing track in the US, is shutting down at the end of the year. Track officials made the announcement on Thursday after a meeting with employees. Horse racing has been conducted at the half-mile track in central New Jersey since the 1830s. Harness racing became the staple when The Monmouth County Agricultural Society was formed in late 1853, and it held harness racing the following year at an annual fair at Freehold Raceway.
GOLF
LIV golfers Ryder eligible
LIV Golf players would still be eligible for the Ryder Cup and the PGA Championship, the PGA of America announced on Thursday in a move made to ensure access to top talent. Since the early days of the upstart Saudi-backed series, the US PGA Tour has banned LIV players from competing in its events, making it hard for LIV players to earn world ranking points and qualify for majors. However, PGA and LIV players have faced each other at major tournaments in recent years, with LIV’s Brooks Koepka winning last year’s PGA Championship for his fifth major crown and receiving a captain’s pick place on last year’s US Ryder Cup team. “To ensure the PGA Championship will continue to deliver the strongest field in golf and that the US Ryder Cup team will continue to have access to the best American players, the PGA of America board has determined that LIV Golf players will be eligible for both,” the PGA of America statement said.
GOLF
Baldwin leads BMW PGA
England’s Matthew Baldwin eclipsed a powerful field to lead the BMW PGA Championship by one stroke after the first round at Wentworth on Thursday. Baldwin signed for a seven-under round of 65 to top the leaderboard from Denmark’s Niklas Norgaard and Belgium’s Thomas Detry who carded six-under rounds. Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy was one of 11 players on five-under although the former world number one would remember his opening round after snapping a club. McIlroy described it as a “weird feeling” after the bizarre incident in the par-five 12th where the clubhead detached from the shaft of his nine iron while playing his approach. Incredibly, McIlroy still birdied the hole.
More than 180 years of horse racing came to an end in Singapore on Saturday, as the Singapore Turf Club hosted its final race day before its track is handed back to the Singaporean government to provide land for new homes. Under an overcast sky, the air-conditioned VIP boxes were full of enthusiasts, socialites and expats, while the grounds and betting halls below hosted mostly older-generation punters. The sun broke through for the last race, the last-ever Grand Singapore Gold Cup. The winner, South African jockey Muzi Yeni, echoed a feeling of loss shared by many on the day. “I’d
Former world No. 2 Paula Badosa has withdrawn from this week’s Wuhan Open, organizers said on Tuesday, amid a racism row over an online photograph. Tournament organizers said the Spaniard had pulled out of the WTA 1000 tournament, citing a gastrointestinal illness, hours before her first-round match against Australian Ajla Tomljanovic. News outlets including Britain’s the Telegraph earlier reported that Badosa had posted a photo on Instagram in which she appeared to imitate a Chinese face by placing chopsticks on the corners of her eyes. The photo was taken last week in a restaurant in Beijing, where she reached the semi-finals of the
PREDICTION: Last week, when Yu’s father made a wrong turn to the former champions’ parking lot, he said that his son could park there after this year With back-to-back birdies on the 18th hole, Kevin Yu fulfilled his driving range-owning dad’s prediction that he would win the Sanderson Farms Championship and become Taiwan’s third golfer to claim a US PGA Tour title. The Taoyuan-born 26-year-old, who represented Taiwan in the Olympic golf at Paris, saw off Californian Beau Hossler in a playoff at the Country Club of Jackson, Mississippi, on Sunday. Having drained a 15-foot putt to claw his way into the playoff, Yu rolled in from five feet on the first extra hole, ensuring he joined Chen Tze-chung (LA Open in 1987) and Pan Cheng-tsung (RBC
LeBron James and eldest son Bronny James claimed a piece of NBA history on Sunday after making their long-awaited first appearance alongside each other for the Los Angeles Lakers. The duo appeared together at the start of the second quarter in the Lakers’ 118-114 preseason defeat to the Phoenix Suns in Palm Desert, east of Los Angeles. While LeBron James impressed with 19 points in just 16 minutes and 20 seconds on court before sitting out the second half, Bronny found the going harder with zero points in just over 13 minutes on court. The younger James attempted just one
RSS