■ FORMULA ONE
Schumacher drops hints
Former Toyota driver Ralf Schumacher dropped heavy hints yesterday that he would leap at the chance to fill the McLaren seat vacated by Fernando Alonso, calling it the most desirable in Formula One. "It's no secret that the seat at McLaren-Mercedes is by far the most coveted there is," Schumacher told Bild am Sonntag newspaper. "Every driver out there in the market would love to sit in their super car." The 32-year-old Schumacher said there had been no contact with McLaren "so far," but that he felt he was good enough to challenge and even beat McLaren's Lewis Hamilton. The German won six grands prix at Williams before moving to Toyota, where he was a disappointment. He was replaced for next season by compatriot Timo Glock.
■ GOLF
Teshima wins Casio Open
Japan's Taichi Teshima birdied the last two holes to beat overnight leader Chris Campbell of Australia for a one-stroke victory at the Casio Open men's tournament in Kochi, Japan, yesterday. Starting the day three strokes behind Campbell, Teshima carded eight birdies against one bogey for a 65 to finish with a four-round total of 13-under-par 275. South Korea's I.J. Chang was third on 277, followed by Japan's Yusaku Miyazato on 279 and Tomohiro Kondo on 280, while American rookie Brandt Snedeker was tied in sixth place with three Japanese golfers on 281. "I've been playing overseas this year and this is my fifth tournament in Japan. I played terrible in the previous tournaments, but this victory brushed aside those bad memories," Teshima, 39, said.
■ CRICKET
Atapattu takes parting shot
Marvan Atapattu made his final goodbye to Sri Lankan cricket yesterday with another scathing attack on the selectors he had earlier described as "Muppets headed by a joker." The 37-year-old, who retired from international cricket earlier this month during the Australian tour, flew out of Colombo to play in the rebel Indian Cricket Twenty20 League, which begins on Friday. Atapattu told local media yesterday the selection process had to be overhauled. "The entire process of selection is highly subjective," the former Test captain said. Atapattu, who had a running feud with chief selector Asantha de Mel over the past year, was quoted saying. "An objective selection process needs to be adopted. Personal feelings and vested interests should be set aside and cool judgements made."
■ Soccer
Rafa asks for understanding
Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez said the club's American owners need a better understanding of the European soccer transfer market. Benitez is reportedly feuding with George Gillett Jr and Tom Hicks, who bought Liverpool in March, over how much he can spend on new signings in January's transfer window. "They don't understand what the transfer window means in Europe," Benitez said on Saturday. ``They need to understand how difficult it is to sign players. I was trying to explain, now we try to keep focus and win games. If they understand what the market means they will understand we are trying to do the best for the club.'' Gillett and Hicks released a statement Thursday asking Benitez to concentrate on the players he has rather than look to the month-long transfer window in January.
Taiwan last night defeated Cuba 2-0 in their World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Premier12 Group B game at the Taipei Dome and finished the group second. At the Taipei Tianmu Baseball Stadium, South Korea yesterday defeated Australia 5-2, while Japan last night won 11-3 against the Dominican Republic. On Sunday, Taiwan scored two three-run homers in an 11-3 blowout win over Australia at the Taipei Dome to advance to the Super Round. Fresh off a defeat at the hands of defending Premier12 champions and Group B winners Japan the previous day, Taiwan’s offense came out slugging against Australia from the
OFFENSE SHINES: First baseman Pan Chie-kai hit a solo homer in the fifth inning as all 10 batters Taiwan used contributed at least one hit toward their team total of 14 One day after their first shutout loss at the WBSC Premier12, Taiwan yesterday bounced back with a commanding 8-2 victory over the US, keeping their hopes for a spot in tomorrow’s final alive. The win in the Super Round marked Taiwan’s first triumph over the US at a top-tier international baseball tournament since 2003. Their previous win over the US was at the 2003 Baseball World Cup, with only one win in the previous 10 matchups since 1999. Yesterday’s game was tightly contested through the first six innings, with the margin never exceeding two runs. However, the tide turned in the top of
Taiwan scored two three-run homers in an 11-3 blowout win over Australia at the Taipei Dome last night to advance to the Super Round of the 2024 World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Premier12 tournament. Fresh off a defeat at the hands of defending Premier12 champion and Group B winner Japan the previous day, Taiwan’s offense came out slugging against Australia from the off. After taking a walk to first base, Taiwan’s Chen Chieh- hsien (陳傑憲) then stole second before Tseng Song-en (曾頌恩) drew a walk to first in the top of the first inning. Chen then
TWO-NIL LOSS: Taiwan’s best chance to score came at the top of the fifth with the bases loaded and one out, but Venezuela’s Liarvis Breto got out of the jam Taiwan yesterday suffered a shutout 2-0 loss to Venezuela in the opening game of the WBSC Premier12 Super Round at the Tokyo Dome. Taiwan had seven hits, one more than Venezuela’s six, but catcher Carlos Perez’s two-run homer to left field in the bottom of the fourth inning delivered the only runs scored by both teams and secured victory for Venezuela. Taiwan’s best chance came at the top of the fifth inning with the bases loaded and only one out. However, Venezuela reliever Liarvis Breto struck out Chen Chen-wei before reliever Pedro Garcia finished the inning by allowing an infield flyball by Lin
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