BASEBALL
Ohtani dazzles Astros
The LA Dodgers’ two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani worked two scoreless innings against the Houston Astros on Saturday in his fourth mound start of the season, striking out the side in order in the second while pitching on his 31st birthday. Ohtani allowed one hit and threw 31 pitches, 21 for strikes. He fanned Christian Walker, Victor Caratini and Yanier Diaz — all swinging — to conclude his latest outing as an opener as he works his way back from elbow surgery. Houston scored four runs in the third against reliever Justin Wrobleski and went on to win 6-4. In his previous mound start a week earlier, Ohtani threw the fastest pitch of his career at 101.7mph (163.7kph). This time, he hit triple digits only once — a 100.9mph fastball that Caratini fouled off. Dodgers organist Dieter Ruehle played one line of Happy Birthday as Ohtani walked to the dugout after the second inning. Before the game, the Los Angeles grounds crew wrote the message “HB Sho” in the dirt.
Photo: AFP
SOCCER
Messi at the double
Lionel Messi scored a pair of spectacular goals, including the tie-breaker late in the first-half, as Inter Miami defeated CF Montreal 4-1 on Saturday night. Luis Suarez directed a long ball from Tomas Aviles to Messi with a header, who had time to gather the ball, dribble into the box and finish with his left foot to the far post to make it 2-1 in the 40th minute. It was the first MLS game in more than a month for Miami while competing in the FIFA Club World Cup. PSG eliminated Miami 4-0 last week. Prince Owusu gave Montreal a quick lead two minutes into the game. Tadeo Allende, assisted by Messi, scored in the 33rd minute to tie the game for Miami, who have won three on the trot, including a 3-2 win over Montreal at home on May 28. Telasco Segovia scored in the 60th minute, and Messi connected again two minutes later, again weaving through a pack of Montreal defenders. Messi has 12 goals in 14 MSL games this season.
SOCCER
Gittens signs for the Blues
Chelsea added England under-21 international winger Jamie Gittens to their array of attacking talent on Saturday from Borussia Dortmund. The Blues would reportedly pay a ￡48.5 million (US$66 million) for the 20-year-old, who was in Chelsea’s academy as a youth player, with a further ￡3.5 million in add-ons. Gittens eventually moved to Manchester City’s academy before signing for Dortmund in 2022. He made 107 appearances for the German giants, scoring 17 goals, 12 of which came in the Bundesliga and UEFA Champions League last season. Gittens became Chelsea’s fifth signing of another big-spending summer, joining forwards Liam Delap and Joao Pedro, midfielder Dario Essugo and defender Mamadou Sarr. Brazilian rising star Estevao Willian, 18, would also join the English Premier League giants, in a deal agreed last year. Chelsea are under pressure to recoup some of their transfer spend in sales over the coming months. On Friday, they were fined 31 million euros by UEFA for breaching financial sustainability rules, with a further 60 million euros suspended as part of a four-year settlement agreement. Chelsea have qualified for the Champions League, but cannot register any new players for it unless they earn more from transfer sales than they spend on new signings.
Taiwanese tennis veteran Hsieh Su-wei (謝淑薇) and her Latvian partner Jelena Ostapenko finished runners-up in the Wimbledon women's doubles final yesterday, losing 6-3, 2-6, 4-6. The three-set match against Veronika Kudermetova of Russia and Elise Mertens of Belgium lasted two hours and 23 minutes. The loss denied 39-year-old Hsieh a chance to claim her 10th Grand Slam title. Although the Taiwanese-Latvian duo trailed 1-3 in the opening set, they rallied with two service breaks to take it 6-3. In the second set, Mertens and Kudermetova raced to a 5-1 lead and wrapped it up 6-2 to even the match. In the final set, Hsieh and
Taiwanese tennis veteran Hsieh Su-wei and her Latvian partner, Jelena Ostapenko, advanced to the Wimbledon women’s doubles final on Friday, defeating top seeds Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic and Taylor Townsend of the US in straight sets. The fourth-seeded duo bounced back quickly after losing their opening service game, capitalizing on frequent unforced errors by their opponents to take the first set 7-5. Maintaining their momentum in the second set, Hsieh and Ostapenko broke serve early and held their lead to close out the match 6-4. They are set to face the eighth-seeded pair of Veronika Kudermetova of Russia and Elise Mertens
Outside Anfield, the red sea of tributes to Diogo Jota and his brother, Andre Silva, has continued to grow this week, along with questions over whether Liverpool could play at Preston today, their first game since the brothers’ tragic loss. Inside Anfield, and specifically a grieving Liverpool dressing room, there was no major debate over the pre-season friendly. The English Premier League champions intend to honor their teammate in the best way they know how. It would be only 10 days since the deaths of Jota and Silva when Liverpool appear at Deepdale Stadium for what is certain to be a hugely
Switzerland’s Riola Xhemaili on Thursday scored a last-gasp goal to salvage a dramatic 1-1 draw with Finland that sent the joyous hosts through to the quarter-finals at Euro 2025, and heartbroken Finland home. Switzerland, who needed only a draw to advance based on goal-difference, finished second in Group A behind Norway to go through to the knockout round for the first time and are to face the winners of Group B, which would be world champions Spain as things stand. “I think we set ourselves a goal on the pitch, to write history, to go into the knockout stages, which we’ve never
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