ATHLETICS
Iran sports boss quits
The head of Iran’s athletics federation resigned on Sunday over a sporting event featuring women without the mandatory headscarf, state media reported, as the country toughens enforcement of hijab rules. “Hashem Siami resigned from his post due to the controversies that arose from the endurance [running] race organized in Shiraz,” the official Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) said. According to images from Friday’s competition published by Iranian media, some women were running without headscarves. Local organizers of the public event have also been summoned to provide “explanations,” the provincial prosecutor said in a statement on Sunday. Siami told IRNA that he was not involved in organizing the competition and that the unveiled athletes were not part of the national federation.
BASEBALL
Pitching legend Blue dies
Vida Blue, a hard-throwing left-hander who became one of baseball’s biggest draws in the early 1970s and helped lead the brash Oakland Athletics to three straight World Series titles before his career was derailed by drug problems, died on Saturday, the team said. He was 73. Blue died at a hospital in San Francisco of medical complications stemming from cancer, the team said. He had used a walking stick to assist his movement at a 50th anniversary of the 1973 A’s championship team on April 16. “He was engaging. He was personable. He was caring,” ex-teammate Reggie Jackson said on Sunday. “He was uncomfortable with the crowd.” Blue was voted the 1971 American League Cy Young Award and Most Valuable Player (MVP) after going 24-8 with a 1.82 ERA and 301 strikeouts with 24 complete games, eight of them shutouts. He was 22 at when he won MVP, the youngest to win the award. He remains among just 11 pitchers to win MVP and Cy Young in the same year.
SAILING
Australia win third title
Tom Slingsby and his Australian crew on Sunday clinched this season’s SailGP Championship in San Francisco Bay, notching up their third straight win, and with it another US$1 million prize. A dominant Australia held off a last-minute surge from runner-up Peter Burling’s New Zealand in the three-boat final, with Ben Ainslie’s Emirates Great Britain trailing in behind in what has been billed as sailing’s answer to Formula One. “We got ourselves right back in there at the end. We dug deep. We didn’t give up and we kept fighting, and I’m gutted to not pull it off, but you have to hand it to the Aussies, they are incredible,” Burling said.
GOLF
Thailand blank Australia
Thailand on Sunday captured the LPGA International Crown, blanking Australia 3-0 in the championship match to complete a near-perfect run in the global team event at Harding Park in San Francisco. Patty Tavatanakit defeated Hannah Green 4&3 and Atthaya Thitikul beat Stephanie Kyriacou 4&2 in singles to clinch the trophy before Ariya and Moriya Jutanugarn downed Minjee Lee and Sarah Kemp 4&3 in foursomes to complete the sweep. “It means a lot for all of us,” Thitikul said. “It’s incredible work we put in this week to get this trophy for our country.” She added: “We’re one of the best teams in the world and I think we can beat every team in the world.”
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
“Please love us. Please cheer us on. We have been working hard. Do not give up on us.” Taiwan captain Chen Chieh-hsien’s heartfelt plea echoed across the World Baseball Softball Confederation’s (WBSC) Premier12 tournament after a historic victory. Rather than boasting, Chen was making an earnest appeal after leading Taiwan to a 4-0 victory over Japan to claim their first major international baseball title at the senior level. Chen’s decisive three-run homer in the fifth inning and his Premier12 leading .632 batting average secured him the Premier12’s Most Valuable Player (MVP) title. He was also named one of the tournament’s outstanding defensive players
WELL-AGED: Although the youngest team in the tournament, Taiwan featured several veteran stars, including Sunday’s home-run hero Chen Chieh-hsien “I will never forget today,” veteran Taiwanese pitcher Chen Kuan-yu said after Taiwan on Sunday night blanked Japan to secure their first ever gold in the World Baseball Softball Confederation’s (WBSC) Premier12 championship. Chen, who at 34 is the oldest member on the team, said Taiwan “made every difficult step to come to today’s victory. I will never forget today.” Taiwan made history when they won their first gold medal of the Premier12 tournament, beating Japan in a 4-0 shutout victory in the final at the Tokyo Dome. It was a jaw-dropping victory for many baseball commentators who went into the game with
Nikola Jokic on Saturday scored 34 points and grabbed 13 rebounds to spark the Denver Nuggets over the Los Angeles Lakers 127-102, continuing their dominance of the NBA rivalry, while Scotty Pippen Jr scored a career-best 30 points to lead the Memphis Grizzlies past the Chicago Bulls, 142-131. The Nuggets won for the 13th time in the past 14 contests against the Lakers, including ousting the Lakers in the playoffs the past two seasons. Serbian star Jokic failed to achieve his sixth consecutive triple-double, managing only eight assists, but his effort was plenty as Michael Porter Jr added 24 points and 11
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