CRICKET
Teen cricketer dies after hit
Australian cricket was rocked yesterday by the death of a teenage player hit by a ball during training at his Melbourne club. Ben Austin, 17, was struck high in the neck by a ball delivered by a teammate while batting in the nets at Ferntree Gully Cricket Club on Tuesday, governing body Cricket Victoria (CV) said. He was rushed to hospital and put on life support, but died on Wednesday, his club said. CV head of cricket Nick Cummins told Australian media that Austin had been wearing a helmet, but not a neck protector. “This tragedy has taken Ben from us, but we find some comfort that he was doing something he did for so many summers — going down to the nets with mates to play cricket,” Austin’s family said in a statement. Players from both teams wore black arm bands for the Women’s World Cup semi-final yesterday between Australia and hosts India.
Photo: AFP
TENNIS
Taiwanese advances in HK
Taiwan’s Liang En-shuo and Chinese partner Feng Shuo yesterday survived China’s Wang Xiyu and You Xiaodi 6-1, 4-6, 10-5 in their women’s quarter-final at the Prudential Hong Kong Tennis Open on hard court. They are next to face the winners of the quarter-final between the Chinese duo of Jiang Xinyu and Wang Yafan and Hong Kongers Cody Wong and Eudice Chong. Wong and Chong on Wednesday advanced after defeating top seeds Wu Fang-hsien of Taiwan and Eri Hozumi of Japan 4-6, 6-3, 10-5. On Monday, Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Filipina Alexandra Eala were eliminated 3-6, 6-1, 10-7 by Russian Kamilla Rakhimova and Belarusian Aliaksandra Sasnovich.
DARTS
Late Littler misses event
World champion Luke Littler on Wednesday was ruled out of a Players Championship event after getting stuck in traffic and missing the registration deadline. The world No. 2 Briton had been due to appear at the tournament in Wigan, England, near his hometown of Warrington. Instead, the 18-year-old posted a photograph on Instagram from the passenger seat of a car with another vehicle in front. “Back to bed it is. Wonder who they are gonna call up,” he said in the caption. The deadline was 11am and media reported the post was made at 11:06am.
ICE HOCKEY
Marchand out to help friend
Brad Marchand is stepping away from the Florida Panthers to help a friend whose daughter died of cancer last week. Marchand on Wednesday night served as a guest coach for the under-18 March and Mill Co Hunters in his hometown of Halifax, Nova Scotia, in place of friend J.P. MacCallum. Marchand is a co-owner of the team. The game was a fundraiser for the family after the loss of 10-year-old Selah Panacci-MacCallum and included a raffle for an autographed Marchand jersey. “Please join us in celebrating an amazing night at the rink made possible by the ongoing giving nature of a 10-year-old girl that loved the game with all her [heart],” Marchand wrote on Instagram. Marchand missed Florida’s game on Tuesday night against the Anaheim Ducks. Coach Paul Maurice expects him to be available when the back-to-back defending Stanley Cup champions face the Dallas Stars tomorrow.
Barcelona star Lamine Yamal would be motivated by criticism ahead of the Clasico, Barcelona assistant coach Marcus Sorg said yesterday. Teenage winger Yamal has been in the spotlight in the Spanish capital after joking that Real Madrid “steal” and “complain” during an appearance on a social media stream. Champions Barca face Real Madrid today in La Liga at the Santiago Bernabeu, looking for a fifth consecutive win over their rivals. “Lamine is a top player and I think [the criticism] will be motivating for him,” Sorg told a news conference. “I hope we all see him tomorrow [give] the best performance.” The 18-year-old Spain
‘A HISTORIC moment’: ‘I think we all need to take a step back and appreciate Leo Messi is playing in Major League Soccer,’ league commissioner Don Garber said Lionel Messi raised the Golden Boot. He then got Inter Miami started with his head. The Argentine opened the scoring with a diving header in the first half, then capped the scoring in the 96th minute as Inter Miami opened the MLS playoffs with a 3-1 win over Nashville SC in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference best-of-three first-round series on Friday night. Messi and Ian Fray had the assists on Tadeo Allende’s second-half tally for Inter Miami, who now get two chances to advance out of the first round for the first time in Messi’s two-and-a-half-year tenure with the team. Game
‘COMPLETE GAME’: ‘To be honest, I’m not sure about the history, but I’m very happy about what I did today,’ Yamamoto said through a translator after the game Yoshinobu Yamamoto pitched a World Series game from another era. Sandy Koufax had October outings like this, and so did Orel Hershiser, but those types of performances have vanished in modern baseball. Until this 178cm starter from Japan delivered like the aces of old. Yamamoto threw a four-hitter for his second consecutive complete game, the first in the World Series since 2015, and the defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-1 on Saturday night to tie their best-of-seven matchup at one game apiece. “It’s kind of the throwback,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “When he starts a game, he
Japan’s narrow defeat by Australia showed they can compete with the best teams in the world, coach Eddie Jones said after his side fell to a 19-15 loss yesterday. Australia coach Joe Schmidt led the Wallabies for the first time against Eddie Jones, his predecessor and now Japan coach. During Jones’ second tenure as Australia coach, the Wallabies lost seven of nine tests and were eliminated in group play at the 2023 World Cup. “What I’m super pleased about is that now we [Japan] are a team that stays in the fight,” Jones told reporters. “We kept going, we could have won
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