TENNIS
Taiwanese exit in UK
Taiwanese sisters Latisha Chan and Chan Hao-ching on Wednesday crashed out of the women’s doubles at the Rothesay Open Nottingham. The Chans exited in the round-of-16, beaten 6-3, 6-4 by British duo Heather Watson and Harriet Dart at the Nottingham Tennis Centre. Meanwhile, Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Wang Xinyu of China consolidated their No. 7 ranking for the WTA Finals with their victory in Paris this week. Hsieh and Wang have 2,060 points for the Oct. 31 to Nov. 7 tournament, 61 adrift of Demi Schuurs of the Netherlands and the US’ Desirae Krawczyk (2,121) in sixth. Eight pairs are to play at the finals in Shenzhen, China.
SOCCER
Women’s TV deal inked
FIFA agreed to a major European broadcasting rights deal with five key countries to show the Women’s World Cup, resolving a standoff with just over a month to go until the competition begins. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and FIFA extended their media rights partnership to broadcast the event on EBU’s free-to-air TV network across 34 European territories, including Britain, Germany, France, Spain and Italy, FIFA said in a statement on Wednesday. It was a major breakthrough and ended the threat of a blackout for TV viewers in Europe when the competition starts in Australia and New Zealand. “As part of this agreement, the EBU has committed to working towards broadcasting at least one hour of weekly content dedicated to women’s football on its own digital platform and broadcaster network,” FIFA president Gianni Infantino said in the statement.
SOCCER
Golfers eye Leeds stake
Rickie Fowler said that he and fellow American golfers Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas are looking to invest in Leeds United after 49ers Enterprises agreed on a takeover of the English soccer club. Leeds owner Andrea Radrizzani agreed to sell his stake to the investment arm of the San Francisco 49ers NFL franchise after they were relegated from the English Premier League. “There is the group that’s moving forward with being involved with Leeds. Myself, J.T. and Jordan potentially will be a part of it,” Fowler told Sky Sports. “It will be fun if we get to be a part of it. If not, we will continue to root for Leeds. I feel like it’s [soccer] continuing to get bigger in the [United] States, but still since I haven’t been to a game I don’t have the true appreciation until I’ve actually been able to go and be there and feel that energy.”
RUGBY UNION
SANZAAR clarifies schedule
The governing body of southern hemisphere rugby, SANZAAR, has apologized for any confusion about the prospect of the Rugby Championship moving from its traditional August-to-October window to earlier in the year. Reports earlier this year said that SANZAAR was considering the shift to a March-to-April window at the behest of South Africa and Argentina, whose players now mostly play club and provincial rugby in European competitions. However, SANZAAR said in a statement it “can reiterate that until 2026, the existing mini-tour match schedule is locked in. Furthermore, The Rugby Championship window will not change from 2026 with the national unions working on competition models for the August-September.”
The qualifying round of the World Baseball Classic (WBC) is to be held at the Taipei Dome between Feb. 21 and 25, Major League Baseball (MLB) announced today. Taiwan’s group also includes Spain, Nicaragua and South Africa, with two of the four teams advancing onto the 2026 WBC. Taiwan, currently ranked second in the world in the World Baseball Softball Confederation rankings, are favorites to come out of the group, the MLB said in an article announcing the matchups. Last year, Taiwan finished in a five-way tie in their group with two wins and two losses, but finished last on tiebreakers after giving
Taiwan suffered its first defeat of the 2024 World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Premier12, losing to defending champion Japan 3-1 at the Taipei Dome last night. Japan’s victory put Taiwan’s score at two wins and one loss in WBSC Premier12 championship Group B play. In the top of the first inning, a sacrifice fly from Japanese batter Shota Morishita allowed Masayuki Kuwahara to score a run on Taiwan’s starter Chen Po-ching (陳柏清). Taiwan’s attempt to catch up in the bottom of the first ended to no avail and an uneventful second inning saw the score
Taiwan scored two three-run homers in an 11-3 blowout win over Australia at the Taipei Dome last night to advance to the Super Round of the 2024 World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Premier12 tournament. Fresh off a defeat at the hands of defending Premier12 champion and Group B winner Japan the previous day, Taiwan’s offense came out slugging against Australia from the off. After taking a walk to first base, Taiwan’s Chen Chieh- hsien (陳傑憲) then stole second before Tseng Song-en (曾頌恩) drew a walk to first in the top of the first inning. Chen then
A debate over the soul of soccer is raging in FIFA World Cup holders Argentina, pitting defenders of the social role of the beautiful game against the government of libertarian Argentine President Javier Milei, who wants to turn clubs into for-profit companies. Argentina, which gave the world Diego Maradona and Lionel Messi, is home to some of the world’s most devoted soccer fans — a fact attributed by supporters like Gabriel Nicosia to the clubs’ community outreach. Nicosia is a lifelong supporter of San Lorenzo, a more than 100-year-old first division club based in the working-class Buenos Aires neighborhood of Boedo where
RSS