RUGBY UNION
Springboks dominate Wales
Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu on Saturday starred as South Africa ran in 11 unanswered tries to inflict a record 73-0 home defeat on Wales in their Autumn Nations Series international Test in Cardiff. The loss surpassed Wales’ 68-14 defeat to England in the Six Nations in March. It was also the first time they had been kept pointless in Cardiff in the professional era — the last time Wales were kept at nil in the capital was in 1967 in a 3-0 loss to Ireland. They were also beaten 51-0 by France in 1998 at Wembley in what was technically a home game. The comprehensive victory marked the second successive season that the Springboks have completed an Autumn Series clean sweep.
Photo: AFP
SOCCER
Kashima in sight of
Kashima Antlers yesterday moved within sight of a record-extending ninth J1 League title, but Kashiwa Reysol ensured the championship race would go down to the final day. Antlers beat Tokyo Verdy 1-0, but Reysol stayed one point behind them in the table after a 3-1 win over the league’s bottom side Albirex Niigata. Antlers can wrap up their first title since 2016 when they host Yokohama F-Marinos on Saturday, but any slipup could hand Reysol their second crown.
OLYMPICS
Hockey stadium not finished
There is no backup stadium if the main ice hockey arena for the Milan Cortina Winter Games is not ready on time. Construction on the arena that is set to welcome NHL players back to the Olympics for the first time in more than a decade is behind schedule and its completion is going right down to the wire. A test event at the Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena — the new, 16,000-seat venue on the outskirts of Milan — had to be moved, and new test events are not scheduled until Jan. 9-11 next year. “There is no plan B,” Milan Cortina head games operations officer Andrea Francisi said on Saturday. “So necessarily we have to be able to organize the competition in an impeccable manner at Santagiulia.” The first scheduled Olympic hockey game at the arena is a women’s preliminary round match on Feb. 5 next year, one day before the opening ceremony.
BOBSLEDDING
Team asks for donations
The Belgium women’s team on Friday said they had started a donation page after traveling to Norway for a competition before finding out they were not registered to race. The Belgian Bullets arrived in Lillehammer only to find their names missing from the start list for the Europe Cup, despite having paid for travel and accommodation. A few weeks ago, their coach noticed an incorrect registration for an event on the same weekend in Innsbruck, Austria, 2,000km away. They asked the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation for a change, but to no avail. “We started a GoFundMe campaign to help us pay for our new plan toward the Winter Olympics,” they said. On Thursday, team members Kelly Van Petegem, Jienity de Kler and Dora de Haseleer posted a heart-felt video pleading for help. “As a self-funded team, where all the athletes pay for themselves, this will have a massive impact on us,” De Kler said.
A runner who stopped during a marathon in China to pose doing the splits and another who hoarded energy gels have been banned for two years, the local athletics association said yesterday. The incidents happened during Sunday’s marathon in Sichuan Province’s Chengdu and were widely shared online. Videos showed a female runner stopping suddenly and dropping to the ground in the splits position, holding up her arms in a heart shape as she apparently posed for a photograph. She “committed obstructive fouls during the race, affecting the safe participation of other runners,” the Sichuan Athletics Association said in a statement, which identified
Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli yesterday vowed to “keep raising the bar” after winning the Japanese Grand Prix to become the youngest driver in Formula One history to lead the championship standings. The 19-year-old Italian took advantage of a mid-race safety car to jump into the lead after a dreadful start from pole position, crossing the line ahead of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. Antonelli’s Suzuka victory came two weeks after the first grand prix win of his career in China, and sent him top of the championship standings after three races, nine points ahead of team-mate George Russell. Mercedes are struggling to
Teng Kai-wei, the only Taiwanese player on an opening-day roster in this year’s Major League Baseball (MLB) season, took his first win of the year with the Houston Astros in his season debut. Teng entered in relief in the top of the fifth inning against the Los Angeles Angels on Saturday, with the Astros trailing 5-0. He pitched 2-1/3 scoreless innings with two strikeouts, as Houston scored 11 runs during his outing to snatch an 11-9 comeback victory. The win is the Astros’ first of the season and the third of Teng’s MLB career. “It’s my first time pitching for the Astros, so
Workers are hammering, cranes are swinging and seats are being bolted into place — but the clock is ticking. Mexico City’s famous Azteca stadium, reborn as Estadio Banorte, is in a frantic race to be ready for its grand reopening on Saturday. Drone footage showed crews installing seats and attaching the new stadium name to the facade, with cranes looming overhead 48 hours before the gates are due to open for a high-profile friendly between Mexico and Portugal. For residents, the breakneck pace of construction has done little to inspire confidence. “I know they are working practically seven days a week, 24 hours
RSS