CRICKET
Ashes Test too close to call
England extended their lead beyond 150 on the fourth morning of the opening Ashes Test against Australia as Ben Stokes’ risk-taking side again dictated a fast and furious tempo at a sunny Edgbaston in Birmingham yesterday. A compelling session ended with England on 155-5, 162 runs ahead at lunch, but with Australia only having played their first innings. With Joe Root and Harry Brook both falling just short of half centuries Australia were very much in the hunt with the opening match of the series delicately poised. The pressure was on for England’s sixth wicket partnership of Ben Stokes and Jonny Bairstow, both of whom survived reviews before lunch. Stokes was 13 not out with Bairstow on one.
TENNIS
Tiafoe breaks into top 10
Frances Tiafoe became only the third African-American man to reach the top 10 in the world rankings, joining Arthur Ashe and James Blake, after the 25-year-old captured the third title of his career in Stuttgart on Sunday. The US Open semi-finalist survived a championship point in the third-set tiebreak to seal a thrilling 4-6, 7-6 (7/1), 7-6 (10/8) win over German Jan-Lennard Struff for his first grass court crown. Tiafoe was born to immigrant parents who eventually settled in the US after fleeing civil war in Sierra Leone in the 1990s. He was exposed to the sport when his father worked as a caretaker at a tennis center in Maryland. “I’m a guy who shouldn’t even really be here doing half the things he’s doing, and now when you say his name, you can say he’s top 10 in the world. So [that is] something that no one can take from you, and I’m going to remember that forever,” Tiafoe said.
GOLF
Clark wins US Open
Wyndham Clark on Sunday held his nerve to win the 123rd US Open, capturing his first major title and denying four-time major winner Rory McIlroy his first in nine years. Clark, whose previous best finish in six prior major starts was a tie for 75th, shrugged off two late bogeys to close with a pair of confident pars for an even-par 70 to seal victory with a 10-under-par total of 270 at Los Angeles Country Club. That was good enough for a one-shot win over McIlroy, who also closed with a 70. Clark, ranked 32nd in the world, broke through for his first US PGA Tour victory at Quail Hollow just last month. “I just feel like it was my time,” he said of Sunday’s win.
CYCLING
Bike thefts mar tours
Stolen bikes prevented the Euskaltel-Euskadi and Baloise Trek Lions teams from completing the final stages of the Tour of Slovenia and the Tour of Belgium respectively, the teams said on Sunday. “Euskaltel-Euskadi suffered the robbery of a vehicle with all its bicycles in it at the Tour of Slovenia so we can’t start the fifth and final stage,” the Spanish team wrote on Twitter. The Belgian Baloise Trek Lions team suffered the same fate on the Tour of Belgium. “Last night we fell victim to a theft of bicycles and wheels,” the team said in a statement on Instagram. Bicycle theft is a common problem for cycling teams. Women’s Dutch team SD Worx had several of their bikes stolen in November last year, while earlier in the year Israel Cycling Academy were robbed of bikes at a training camp in Spain.
‘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