Singapore yesterday opened the doors to its state-of-the-art National Stadium for the first time, as the arena played host to a two-day international rugby 10s tournament.
Organizers said the inaugural World Club 10s, featuring eight professional teams from around the globe, is expected to draw about 12,000 people to the 55,000-seat arena over the weekend.
Participating teams include New Zealand’s Blues, captained by All Blacks scrumhalf Piri Weepu, Australian powerhouse the Brumbies and a selection of the Samoan national team. Also featuring are the Asia-Pacific Dragons, who are planning to enter the Southern Hemisphere Super Series with the new Singapore arena as its home base.
Singapore Rugby Union chief Low Teo Ping said the opening of the stadium was an “important moment” for sports in the wealthy island nation.
“A spanking new stadium equipped with ultramodern facilities and a retractable roof that can take care of the elements — fans have been waiting for this for a long time,” Low, who is also the vice-president of the Singapore National Olympic Council, told reporters.
The National Stadium, featuring a domed, retractable roof and air-conditioned seating, is the centerpiece of Singapore’s US$1 billion Sports Hub complex that is opening in stages this year. It is designed by London-based design and engineering firm Arup, which also played a part in designing Beijing’s iconic so-called “Bird’s Nest” Olympic Stadium.
The arena is designed like a horseshoe, with one side opening up to a view of Singapore’s glittering waterfront business district.
The 35-hectare Sports Hub complex also includes indoor arenas, an aquatics center and water sports facility, and a shopping mall. The Sports Hub complex is to host its first soccer match — between Italian side Juventus and a Singapore XI — on Aug. 16.
It is also to host tennis’ end-of-season WTA Championships in October, is the confirmed main venue for next year’s Southeast Asian Games and is also likely to hold high-key international rugby and Twenty20 cricket events, officials have said.
The facility is in Singapore’s riverside Kallang District on the site of the former national stadium, which was known for its famous “Kallang Roar” and fondly referred to as Singapore’s “Grand Old Dame.”
SS Lazio on Monday fired the far-right sympathizer who handles their eagle mascot after he posted online a series of videos and pictures of his erect penis. Falconer Juan Bernabe, who has been present at Lazio home matches with Olimpia the eagle since the 2010-2011 season, posted the footage on social media after having surgery on Saturday to implant a penile prosthesis to improve his sexual performance. Lazio said that they had “terminated, with immediate effect” their relationship with Bernabe “due to the seriousness of his conduct,” adding that they were “shocked” by the images. The Serie A club added that Bernabe’s dismissal
Doping fears prevented former US Open champion Emma Raducanu from treating insect bites on the eve of the Australian Open, she said, with players increasingly wary about ingesting contaminated substances. The British player was speaking in the wake of high-profile doping cases involving Iga Swiatak and Jannik Sinner. “I would say all of us are probably quite sensitive to what we take on board, what we use,” the 22-year-old said, recalling an incident on Friday. “I got really badly bitten by, I don’t know what, like ants, mosquitoes, something. I’m allergic, I guess,” she added. The bites “flared up and swelled up really a
TWO IN A WEEK: Despite an undefeated start to the year playing alongside Jiang Xinyu of China, Wu Fang-hsien is to play the Australian Open with a Russian partner Taiwan’s Wu Fang-hsien yesterday triumphed at the Hobart International, winning the women’s doubles title at the US$275,094 outdoor hard-court tournament, while McCartney Kessler lifted the trophy in the women’s singles. Fourth-ranked Wu and partner Jiang Xinyu of China took 1 hour, 15 minutes to defeat Romania’s Monica Niculescu and Fanny Stollar of Hungary, 6-1, 7-6 (8/6) at the Hobart International Tennis Centre, their second title in a week. Wu and Jiang on Sunday won the women’s doubles title at the ASB Classic in Auckland, beating Serbia’s Aleksandra Krunic and Sabrina Santamaria of the US. Their winning ways continued in Australia as they stretched
Dubbed a “motorway for cyclists” where avid amateurs can chase Tadej Pogacar up mountains teeming with the highest concentration of professional cyclists per square kilometer in the world, Spain’s Costa Blanca has forged a new reputation for itself in the past few years. Long known as the ideal summer destination for those in search of sun, sea and sand, the stretch of coast between Valencia and Alicante now has a winter vocation too. During the season break in December and January, the region experiences an invasion of cyclists. Star names such as three-time Tour de France winner Pogacar, Remco Evenepoel and Julian Alaphilippe
RSS