■BASEBALL
Asia Series in doubt
Japan professional baseball has proposed a one-off game between the Japan Series champions and the winners of the South Korean professional baseball league. The proposed game, to be played in November, would replace the Asia Series that features the top teams from Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and China, the Nikkan Sports newspaper reported yesterday. Teams from Japan have won all four Asia Series titles since the event began in 2005, but the four-nation tournament, held at the 45,000-seat Tokyo Dome, has struggled financially.
■YACHTING
Puma leads fleet for last leg
Puma’s Il Mostro, skippered by American Ken Read, led the fleet for the 10th and final leg of the around-the-world Volvo Ocean Race on Thursday after a 10-day stay in the Swedish capital. Sailing in 10-12 knots of breeze, Puma, Telefonica Blue and Ericsson 4 were the frontrunners off the start line. A huge crowd and about 1,000 smaller boats were on hand on the outer edge of the Stockholm archipelago to see the fleet leave. Little is at stake as the 67,600km race finishes today in St Petersburg, Russia. Five-time Olympic medalist Torben Grael of Brazil sailed Ericsson 4 to overall victory by finishing third in the ninth leg that finished in Stockholm on June 16. Puma has clinched second overall. Telefonica Blue will take third after losing the battle for second when the boat finished last in leg nine after going aground off Marstrand, western Sweden. The fleet must arrive in St Petersburg this morning in order to clear customs and pass through two bridges, which will be raised specially in order to let the fleet into the historic city.
■BASEBALL
MLB won’t suspend Soto
Puerto Rico catcher Geovany Soto will not be suspended by Major League Baseball (MLB) or his Chicago Cubs club after testing positive for marijuana at this year’s World Baseball Classic. Soto, last season’s National League rookie of the year, drew a two-year ban from international competition by the International Baseball Federation. Soto’s result will be treated by MLB like a first-time positive test. There is no suspension, but players can be fined and are subject to medical review.
■SWIMMING
Steffen sets world record
Double Olympic champion Britta Steffen on Thursday set a new world record for the women’s 100m freestyle in a time of 52.85 seconds at the German national championships in Berlin. The previous record of 52.88 was held by Australian Libby Trickett.
■BASEBALL
Chinese schools seek talent
Four Chinese universities will begin extending preferential enrollment policies for talented baseball athletes, promoters said on Thursday, in a bid to boost the sport’s growth in the world’s most populous country. The schools, all located in the country’s more developed east, will lower the minimum academic requirements for entry to athletes who show promise, said a joint news release from the Chinese Baseball Association and QSL Sports Limited, which was named this month as the association’s partner in the China Youth Baseball League. Schools offering preferential admissions were listed as the Shanghai International Studies University, Beijing’s North China University of Technology, the Nanjing University of Technology and Shanghai’s East China University of Political Science and Law.
BUMRAH WATCH: Captain Jasprit Bumrah left the SCG for scans for back spasms and although he returned to the ground, there was no word on if he would play Rishabh Pant’s blistering counterattack yesterday capped a chaotic second day of the fifth and final Test between Australia and India, with 15 wickets falling and the star bowler of the series leaving the Sydney Cricket Ground with an ambulance escort. Yet the Border-Gavaskar trophy still remains very much in the balance as India reached 141-6, holding a 145-run lead over Australia with three days remaining. “Low-scoring games like this, it just heightens the pressure within it, so long way still to go,” Australia coach Andrew McDonald said. “There’s gonna be plenty of cricket, so we’ll see what happens.” Australia were bowled out for
Five-time Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek yesterday beat Elena Rybakina in straight sets to take Poland into the final of the mixed-teams United Cup with victory over Kazakhstan. Last year’s runners-up face the US today for the title in Sydney after they beat the Czech Republic in the other semi-final. “This win makes me really proud,” Swiatek said after seeing off Rybakina 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 to give Poland an unassailable 2-0 lead in the tie. It was a statement of intent from the world number two with the first major of the year to start on Jan. 12. “It is perfect preparation for the
Taiwan’s Wu Fang-hsien and Jiang Xinyu of China yesterday won the women’s doubles title at the ASB Classic in Auckland, while Naomi Osaka retired from the women’s singles final with an abdominal injury. Second seeds Wu and Jiang defeated Serbia’s Aleksandra Krunic and Sabrina Santamaria of the US 6-3, 6-4 on ASB Tennis Centre’s Stadium Court in 1 hour, 5 minutes. The WTA 250 victory was 25-year-old Wu’s second WTA Tour title, after winning the 2023 Hua Hin Championships in Thailand with Taiwanese partner Chan Hao-ching. Later that year, Wu and Taiwan’s Hsu Yu-hsiou won the mixed doubles gold at the World
SHORT-HANDED: Reigning champions the Boston Celtics were without stars Jaylen Brown and Kristaps Porzingis, but they still downed the Timberwolves Oklahoma City on Thursday stretched the NBA’s best winning streak to 13 games with a home victory, while reigning champions the Boston Celtics held on for a last-shot triumph at Minnesota. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had game highs of 29 points and eight assists to spark the Thunder over the Los Angeles Clippers 116-98, improving the Western Conference leaders to 28-5. The Thunder’s winning streak is the longest since the team relocated from Seattle after the 2007-2008 season. “It’s just being present, going day by day, working on ourselves, and I think we’re doing a good job on that,” said Isaiah Hartenstein, who added 11
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