■ BRAZIL
Sao Paulo take the title
Sao Paulo won their third straight Brazilian league title on Sunday after beating Goias 1-0 with a goal from striker Borges. Borges’ 22nd-minute goal secured victory for a team that needed only a draw to win the championship. Gremio, who beat Atletico Mineiro 2-0, were the only team capable of denying the champions a sixth title, but that had depended on Sao Paulo losing. Sao Paulo also won the Brazilian league in 1977, 1986 and 1991. Sao Paulo trailed Gremio by 11 points just after the midway point of the competition, but steadily moved up the standings. They could have clinched the title a week ago by beating Fluminense, but could only draw 1-1 in front of nearly 70,000 fans at Morumbi Stadium. Besides Sao Paulo and second-place Gremio, Palmeiras and Cruzeiro also won the right to play in next year’s Copa Libertadores. Four-time champions Vasco da Gama were relegated to the second division after losing 2-0 to Vitoria. Also going down were Figueirense, Portuguesa and Ipatinga.
■ARGENTINA
Wins set up thrilling finale
San Lorenzo and Tigre won on Sunday to go level on points at the top of the Argentine championship with Boca Juniors and set up a thrilling finale to the title race. Boca, who had started the weekend with a two-point lead, were held 0-0 at Gimnasia-La Plata. Unfashionable Tigre came from two goals behind to win 3-2 at Rosario Central and San Lorenzo thumped floundering Independiente 4-1. The trio each have 36 points from 18 games with one match to play. Lanus, two points behind in fourth place after a 2-0 win at Velez Sarsfield, also have an outside chance. Goal difference is not used to decide the title, so a playoff will be held if two teams are still level after next Sunday’s final games and a three-way tournament will take place if all three sides finish on the same number of points. The biggest drama involved Tigre, who were 2-0 down after only 11 minutes at Rosario Central following goals by Milton Caraglio and Ezequiel Gonzalez. But Carlos Luna struck twice to pull Tigre level by halftime and substitute Leandro Lazarro grabbed the winner in the 81st minute, scoring from near the penalty spot after Leonel Altobelli pulled the ball back.
■MEXICO
Toluca, Cruz Azul make final
Toluca beat champions Santos Laguna 2-1 on Sunday to reach the final of the Mexican championship despite conceding a goal for the first time in nine games. The Red Devils will face Cruz Azul in the two-leg final after their win at home in the semi-final second-leg followed a goalless draw in the first match last week. Edgar Castillo put the Santos ahead in the 26th minute after exchanging passes with Daniel Luduena, the first goal conceded by goalkeeper Hernan Cristante in 772 minutes of play. Toluca quickly recovered from the blow and leveled a minute later with a goal by Edgar Duenas. Chilean forward Hector Mancilla scored the winner four minutes before halftime after a one-two with Antonio Naelson.
■PORTUGAL
Benfica hit six to go top
Benfica routed a 10-man Maritimo 6-0 on Sunday to move top of the Portuguese league for the first time in more than three years. Nuno Gomes and David Suazo scored two goals each, while defender Luisao added another in the 65th minute. Jose Antonio Reyes had opened the scoring at the Barreiros Stadium with a 20th-minute penalty. Maritimo’s Marcos Oliveira was red-carded after 16 minutes to give Benfica the advantage.
‘SOURCE OF PRIDE’: Newspapers rushed out special editions and the government sent their congratulations as Shohei Ohtani became the first player to enter the 50-50 club Japan reacted with incredulity and pride yesterday after Shohei Ohtani became the first player in Major League Baseball to record 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in a single season. The Los Angeles Dodgers star from Japan made history with a seventh-inning homer in a 20-4 victory over the Marlins in Miami. “We would like to congratulate him from the bottom of our heart,” top government spokesman Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters in Tokyo. “We sincerely hope Mr Ohtani, who has already accomplished feat after feat and carved out a new era, will thrive further,” he added. The landmark achievement dominated Japanese morning news
When Wang Tao ran away from home aged 17 to become a professional wrestler, he knew it would be a hard slog to succeed in China’s passionate but underdeveloped scene. Years later, he has endured family disapproval, countless side gigs and thousands of hours of brutal training to become China’s “Belt and Road Champion” — but the struggle is far from over. Despite a promising potential domestic market, the Chinese pro wrestling community has been battling for recognition and financial stability for decades. “I have done all kinds of jobs [on the side]... Because in the end, it is very
No team in the CPBL can surpass the Taipei Dome attendance record set by the CTBC Brothers, except when the Brothers team up with Taiwanese rock band Mayday. A record-high 40,000 fans turned out at the indoor baseball venue on Saturday for Brothers veteran Chou Szu-chi’s first farewell game, which was followed by a mini post-game concert featuring Mayday. This broke the previous CPBL record of 34,506 set by the Brothers in early last month, when K-pop singer Hyuna performed after the game, and the dome’s overall record of 37,890 set in early March, which featured the Brothers and the
With a quivering finger, England Subbuteo veteran Rudi Peterschinigg conceded the free-kick that sent his country’s World Cup quarter-final into extra-time before smashing his plastic goalkeeper on the floor in frustration. In the genteel southern English town of Tunbridge Wells, 300 elite players have gathered to play the game they love. “I won’t say this is the best weekend I’ve ever had in my life, but it’s certainly in the top two,” said Hughie Best, 58, who flew in from Perth, Australia, to compete and commentate at the event. Tunbridge Wells is the “spiritual home” of Subbuteo, which was invented there in 1946