The opening game at the baseball World Cup, which was to take place in Taipei yesterday, has been postponed because of heavy rain, organizers said.
The Taiwan-Italy match has been rescheduled for Monday, but yesterday's opening ceremony was to go on as scheduled, with 10 of the 16 teams participating to attend, organizers said.
Cuba are looking to clinch a 10th successive title at the 37th World Cup. It has had a stranglehold on the tournament since its inception, winning 25 of the 28 tournaments it has competed in, including the last nine.
"Their odds of successfully defending the championship are pretty high," tournament spokesman Jabbar Chia said.
Most of the players in this year's squad also took part in last year's World Baseball Classic, when Cuba finished second to Japan, Chia said.
He said Cuba's chances had received an additional boost from Japan, which has left several of its stars behind in preparation for Olympic qualifying next month.
But the Cubans will be facing stiff competition from the US, which has a number of players who have been in the US Major Leagues on the roster.
Cuba's first match-up in the 16-team competition is against Australia today.
Pool A groups Japan, the US and Panama, who are expected to easily advance to the next round, along with contenders Taiwan, Italy and Mexico, who will have to battle it out for a fourth spot.
In Pool B, Australia, the Netherlands and Venezuela are considered strong contenders alongside Cuba.
Champagne corks often pop and loud, boisterous cheers are usually heard around Constitution Dock when the Sydney Hobart Yacht Race line honors winner finishes in the Tasmanian state capital. There were no such celebrations this year when the defending champions on board LawConnect won the race in the early hours of yesterday morning, as it came about 24 hours after two sailors died on separate boats in sail boom accidents two hours apart on a storm-ravaged first night of the race. LawConnect, a 100-foot super maxi skippered by Australian tech millionaire Christian Beck, sailed up the River Derwent at just after 2:30am.
Elena Rybakina’s Kazakhstan yesterday dumped defending champions Germany out of the United Cup with world No. 2 Alexander Zverev sidelined by an arm injury barely a week away from the Australian Open. The upset in Perth sent the Kazakhs into the semi-finals of the 18-nation tournament. In Sydney, women’s world No. 2 Iga Swiatek led Poland into the last eight by winning a rematch of her 2023 French Open final against Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic. Britain also progressed to the quarter-finals with Katie Boulter’s dominant 6-2, 6-1 victory over Australia’s Olivia Gadecki enough to guarantee they won their group. The US and
HAT-TRICK PREP: World No. 1 Sabalenka clinched her first win of the season, as she aims to become the first woman in 20 years to win three Australian Opens in succession Coco Gauff, Jasmine Paolini and Taylor Fritz yesterday all clocked impressive wins as tennis powerhouses Italy and the US surged into the quarter-finals of the mixed-team United Cup. World No. 3 Gauff swept past Croatia’s Donna Vekic 6-4, 6-2 to avenge a loss at the Paris Olympics, while Fritz took care of Borna Coric 6-3, 6-2 in searing Perth heat. That was enough to put the Americans — last year’s winners — into a last-eight clash with China today, while Elena Rybakina’s Kazakhstan today are to meet defending champions Germany, led by Alexander Zverev, in the other Perth quarter-final. In Sydney, the in-form
Chess great Magnus Carlsen on Friday quit the World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships in New York after governing body FIDE barred the Norwegian from participating in a round at the tournament for wearing jeans. FIDE said in a statement that its dress code regulations were designed to “ensure professionalism and fairness for all participants.” It issued Carlsen a US$200 fine and gave him an opportunity to change into the correct attire, which the world No. 1 rejected, it said. Carlsen said he had a lunch meeting before the round and had to change quickly. “I put on a shirt, jacket and honestly like
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