TENNIS
Fernandez wins Japan Open
Leylah Fernandez beat 18-year-old qualifier Tereza Valentova 6-0, 5-7, 6-3 in the final of the WTA’s Japan Open yesterday for her fifth career title. Playing in her eighth career final, the one-time US Open runner-up raced through the first set in 29 minutes, before Valentova settled her nerves in the second set and found a way to level the match when she broke Fernandez in the 12th game. In the deciding set, the 27th-ranked Fernandez made a crucial break in the fourth game and then saw off a late challenge by the Czech player to claim her second title of the season after taking the WTA 500 DC Open in July. The Japan Open’s top seed, former world No. 1 Naomi Osaka, pulled out ahead of her quarter-final after failing to recover from a leg injury.
Photo: EP
Fernandez is to compete at the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo, which runs from today through Sunday.
ICE HOCKEY
Sharks sorry for message
The San Jose Sharks apologized for a message that was displayed on the video board that appeared to praise US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on a night the team celebrated Hispanic heritage. A message from a fan was shown on the videoboard during the first intermission of San Jose’s game against Pittsburgh on Saturday night that said, “SJ SHARKS FANS/LOVE ICE !!/GET ‘EM BOYZ !” The Sharks issued an apology later in the game, saying “an offensively worded message which had been externally submitted was inadvertently displayed on the in-arena scoreboard.” “Sharks Sports & Entertainment deeply regrets that this message, which does not meet our organization’s values, was not detected during our standard review process,” the statement said. “The Sharks organization sincerely apologizes for this oversight, and we are actively working to determine the origin of the message,” it said. The Sharks were holding their ninth annual celebration of Hispanic heritage on what they call “Los Tiburones Night.”
MOTOGP
Fernandez gets maiden win
Raul Fernandez delivered a dominant performance to claim his maiden MotoGP victory at the Australian Grand Prix yesterday, securing a first-ever triumph for Trackhouse Racing in the premier class. Sprint-winner Marco Bezzecchi, who began second on the grid, made an electric start to snatch the lead from pole-sitter Fabio Quartararo before the first corner. The Italian’s rapid getaway also allowed Fernandez and Pedro Acosta to overtake Quartararo, who had set a record-breaking lap in Saturday’s qualifying. However, Bezzecchi’s charge was short-lived, as he had to serve a double long lap penalty for his collision with newly-crowned MotoGP champion Marc Marquez at the Indonesian Grand Prix. The Aprilia rider served his penalty and fought his way back to an impressive third-place finish. Fernandez capitalized on Bezzecchi’s setback to take the lead, and once he found himself with a clear track ahead, the 24-year-old Spaniard was untouchable. Acosta, Alex Marquez and Fabio Di Giannantonio traded places in a fierce contest before VR46 Racing’s Di Giannantonio managed to clinch second place, with Bezzecchi completing the podium after his remarkable recovery.
TITLE CAMPAIGN: The victory sent the Monkeys to the Taiwan Series for the third time in the past four seasons as they seek their first championship since 2019 The stage is set for the Taiwan Series after the Rakuten Monkeys on Monday beat the Uni-President Lions 4-3 in Game 5 of the CPBL Challenger Series in Kaohsiung. The Monkeys, who entered the top of the ninth scoreless, tied the game with a three-run blast by Lin Chih-ping and scored the winning run in the 10th on an RBI single by Lin Li, a three-time batting champion in the CPBL. Both players entered the game as pinch hitters. “The coach told me to stay prepared as a pinch hitter in the later part of the game. My teammates had
The Ministry of Sports on Wednesday night called for the Chinese Taipei Football Association (CTFA) to address issues in Taiwanese soccer after national manager Huang Che-ming on Tuesday resigned following Taiwan’s elimination in AFC Asian Cup qualifiers. Taiwan on Tuesday were thrashed 6-1 by Thailand in their Group D tie at Taipei Municipal Stadium. Taiwan finished with no points, after losing all four of their matches, eliminating them from qualifying for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup. Huang made his surprise resignation at a post-match news conference, following three losses since he took over the team from English coach Gary White in August. Huang
HIT AND RUN: Toronto manager John Schneider got his wish that his team ‘find some slug in the air out here,’ as the Blue Jays combined to total 611m of homers Tired in Toronto, the Blue Jays slugged in Seattle. Vladimir Guerrero Jr and George Springer on Wednesday woke up the Jays, as Toronto hit five home runs to rebound from an early deficit, routing the Mariners 13-4 and closing to 2-1 in the American League Championship Series (ALCS). Toronto had 18 hits — all within the first three pitches of each at-bat. “If they give us a first pitch, the pitch that we’re looking for, we’re going to attack and we’re going to be aggressive,” Guerrero said. Seattle starter George Kirby gave up eight of the hits. “I wasn’t really executing when they got
For a second straight day, protests by La Liga players against staging a regular-season game in Miami, Florida, in December were censored or not fully broadcast for television audiences. The television feed of Barcelona’s home game against Girona switched right before kickoff to an exterior view of the stadium, which only showed part of the field from a distance. That impeded home audiences from seeing the teams’ players standing still for the first 15 seconds in opposition to La Liga’s plan to hold the Barcelona-Villarreal game across the Atlantic on Dec. 20. The broadcasts of the initial moments after kickoff of the
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