ARCHERY
Taiwan team take bronze
A team from Taiwan yesterday won bronze after beating a team from Singapore 227-226 in the compound women’s team event in Stage 3 of the Asia Cup World Ranking Tournament in Singapore. Lin Ming-ching, Hsu Yen-hua and Lo Yi-hsuan won the bronze medal playoff at Bukit Gombak Stadium. The Asia Cup compound event uses a total points system. Archers in each set shoot a total of six arrows (two for each competitor). After four sets, the team with the highest score wins. In the recurve women’s team event, Taiwan’s Sui Yun-ching, Su Hsin-yu and Li Tsai-chi finished fourth after losing 0-6 to a team from China in the bronze medal playoff.
MOTOR RACING
Rossi wins at Le Mans
Retired motorcycling legend Valentino Rossi’s switch from two wheels to four moved up a gear at Le Mans on Friday. The seven-time MotoGP world champion has his heart set on competing in next year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans in the GT3 class. The 44-year-old Italian got a first-hand look at the iconic Circuit de la Sarthe behind the wheel of a BMW for W Racing Team in the Road to Le Mans support race. Finishing second with his teammate Jerome Policand, the duo were declared the winners after the car in front picked up a penalty. “We had the speed, a good balance — that was fun,” said Rossi, stepping off the podium.
MOUNTAINEERING
Norwegian eyes record
A Norwegian woman yesterday climbed Mount Manaslu in Nepal, her ninth highest mountain in 45 days and is on track to become the fastest mountaineer to climb the world’s 14 tallest peaks in three months, a hiking official said. Kristin Harila, 37, scaled Manaslu, the world’s eighth-highest at 8,163m with Tenjen (Lama) Sherpa and five other guides before dawn. She climbed Shishapangma in Tibet on April 26 and has since completed Dhaulagiri, Kanchenjunga, Everest, Lhotse, Makalu, Cho Oyu and Annapurna. She next heads to Pakistan to climb Nanga Parbat, Gasherbrum I, Gasherbrum II, K2 and the Broad Peak, local sponsors said. Harila hopes to finish climbing all 14 peaks taller than 8,000m some time next month and if successful she would set the fastest climber record by beating Nirmal Purja from Nepal, who completed the peaks in six months and one week in 2019.
SOCCER
Beijing goes mad for Messi
Superstar Lionel Messi yeserday arrived in Beijing by private jet and was greeted by hundreds of jubilant fans, with his FIFA World-Cup-winning Argentina set to face Australia in a friendly match next week. “Messi, Messi,” chanted several hundred fans who were waiting for him at the airport, many wearing the blue-and-white striped jersey of the Albiceleste’s No. 10, photographs on social media showed. Several hundred others waited outside his hotel, not far from the banks of the Liangma River. World champions Argentina are to play a friendly against Australia on Thursday next week at Beijing’s newly renovated 68,000-capacity Workers’ Stadium. By mid-day, the arrival of global sporting superstar Messi was the most talked-about topic on Sina Weibo. The friendly marks the return of international soccer to China, after three years of strict COVID-19 restrictions.
Manchester City have reached do-or-die territory in the UEFA Champions League earlier than expected ahead of what Pep Guardiola has described as a “final” against Club Brugge today. City have disproved the suggestion a new format to Europe’s top club competition would remove any jeopardy for the top clubs as Guardiola stares down the barrel of failing to make the Champions League knockout stages for the first time in his career. The English champions have endured a torrid season both in their English Premier League title defense and on the continent. A run of one win in 13 games, which included Champions League
BACK-TO-BACK: The League One club, which is owned by stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, is sparing no expense to clinch promotion to the Championship Hollywood endings are pricey, even in England’s third division. In pursuit of their third straight promotion, Wrexham AFC splashed some cash at League One rival Reading to secure the services of striker Sam Smith. The Welsh club owned by actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney confirmed the signing of the 26-year-old Smith on Friday. He is one of the top scorers in the third division. The transfer fee was not disclosed, but British media widely reported it to be about ￡2 million (US$2.48 million) — not extravagant, but a hefty price at this level and it would be about the same figure that
Oklahoma City star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on Sunday poured in 35 points as the Thunder grabbed a bounce-back 118-108 victory in Portland to push their NBA-best record to 37-8. The Thunder, surprised by the short-handed Dallas Mavericks on Thursday, fended off a late surge from the Trail Blazers to snap their four-game winning streak. Jalen Williams scored 24 points and Isaiah Joe added 16 off the bench. Center Isaiah Hartenstein, back after a five-game absence with a calf injury, added 14 points, 11 rebounds, six assists and a big block. The Western Conference leaders were under pressure late as Portland, trailing by 15 heading
The Golden State Warriors on Wednesday withstood Oklahoma City star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s 52-point outburst to beat the Western Conference leading Thunder 116-109. Andrew Wiggins scored 27 points and Warriors superstar Stephen Curry scored 17 of his 21 points in the second half as Golden State erased a double-digit deficit and pulled away late for the victory. “We just stayed solid,” said Curry, who entered the contest mired in a shooting slump and had just four points on one basket in the first half. “Just all-around effort.” The Thunder, fueled by 31 first-half points from Gilgeous-Alexander, led by as many as 14 in the
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