■BULGARIA
Skipper Berbatov retires
Bulgaria captain Dimitar Berbatov retired from international soccer on Thursday saying he wants to focus on his family and protecting his health. “It was a difficult decision, but I made it,” Berbatov said in Sofia. The Manchester United striker has been captain of the national team for the last three years, but failed to lead the team to the World Cup in South Africa. “Everything has a beginning and an end, and that is today,” he said. The 29-year-old Berbatov made his international debut in 1999 and is Bulgaria’s all-time leading scorer with 48 goals in 77 appearances.
■SERBIA
Partizan seal league title
Partizan Belgrade sealed a record third successive league title with a match to spare after a 3-0 win at neighbors OFK gave them an unassailable seven-point lead over closest rivals Red Star Belgrade. Brazilian striker Cleo rounded the goalkeeper and stroked in an early opener and substitute Brana Ilic produced almost a blueprint copy in the 89th minute after a good solo run. Serbia midfielder Radosav Petrovic put the icing on the cake with a header in stoppage-time. Red Star, who needed OFK to avoid defeat to keep alive any hopes of taking the title race to the final day, slumped to a 3-1 home defeat by BSK Borca. Mladi Radnik Pozarevac were relegated after a 4-1 home defeat by fellow strugglers Cukaricki Belgrade, while Napredak Krusevac boosted their chances of avoiding the drop with a 2-1 win over Rad Belgrade.
■SWITZERLAND
Young Boys deposed
Young Boys Berne, who have led the Swiss Super League for almost the entire season, were knocked off the top with one match to play on Thursday after an extraordinary 5-1 defeat at FC Luzern. FC Basel overtook them on goal difference by beating Neuchatel Xamax 3-0, helped by two goals from Switzerland’s record international scorer Alexander Frei. Young Boys, runners-up in the last two seasons, will host Basel tomorrow in their final match, needing a win to clinch their first title since 1985-1986. Luzern’s win clinched a fourth-place finish, which gives them a place in the Europa League qualifiers along with third-placed Grasshoppers.
■AUSTRIA
Salzburg clinch the title
Red Bull Salzburg scored twice in three minutes to clinch the Austrian Bundesliga title for the second year running on Thursday with a 2-0 win at Sturm Graz on the last day of the season. German midfielder Simon Cziommer fired Salzburg ahead in the 14th minute and Roman Wallner scored direct from a free-kick two minutes later. It was Salzburg’s sixth Austrian title, three of them coming since the club was bought and rebranded by the Red Bull soft drinks company in 2005 amid protests by the fans. They finished with 76 points, one ahead of Austria Vienna and a further two in front of Rapid Vienna.
■GERMANY
Eigler gives Nuremberg edge
Christian Eigler scored with a late glancing header to give Nuremberg a 1-0 victory over Augsburg in the first leg of the playoff for a place in the Bundesliga on Thursday. Nuremberg need only a draw in Augsburg tomorrow to remain in the top division. Eigler scored in the 84th minute. Augsburg goalkeeper Simon Jentzsch saved a penalty in the 67th minute. Augsburg finished third in the second division to earn the right to play the 16th-placed finisher in the top tier, Nuremberg, for a place in the first division.
‘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