SOCCER
NZ tickets boost sought
FIFA Women’s World Cup cohosts New Zealand needs to lift ticket sales in coming weeks given the relatively modest “selling power” of the national Football Ferns team, FIFA chief women’s football officer Sarai Bareman told a New Zealand Herald podcast released yesterday. Bareman said that she had less concerns about cohosts Australia, with a record crowd of more than 40,000 expected for the Matildas’ World Cup warm-up match against France in Melbourne on July 14. “I have to say my focus is a little bit more on New Zealand as we don’t have the luxury of the Matildas here,” Bareman said. “In Australia, they are the darlings of the country. Sam Kerr is an absolute superstar and the whole country is in love with football because of the Matildas. There’s that selling power that the Matildas have that we don’t quite have here yet in New Zealand with the Football Ferns. So there’s a bit more of a lift to do in the coming weeks.” More than 1 million tickets have been sold for the July 20 to Aug. 20 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, putting the tournament on track to become the most attended, stand-alone women’s sporting event ever. New Zealand, which is hosting 29 of the 64 matches, had sold nearly 250,000 tickets, local organizers said last week.
RUGBY UNION
Whitelock set to return
All Blacks lock Sam Whitelock is expected to return from injury to play his 178th and last game for the Canterbury Crusaders in tomorrow’s Super Rugby Pacific final against the Waikato Chiefs. Whitelock missed the playoff matches against the Fijian Drua and the Auckland Blues with an Achilles tendon injury and New Zealand head coach Ian Foster said he doubted the No. 5 would recover in time to play in the title decider. However, Whitelock has made a massive effort to play one last match for the Christchurch-based team before he leaves to join French club Pau. Scrumhalf Mitchell Drummond said the news Whitelock would be fit for the final was a “massive” boost for the team. “He’s obviously a legend of our club and a legend of New Zealand rugby,” Drummond said. “I know he’s worked extremely hard over the last couple of weeks and [had] his fingers crossed hoping that we’d get to the final.”
RUGBY UNION
Japan to host England
Japan are to host England in a Test match for the first time in June next year, the Rugby Football Union (RFU) and Japan Rugby Football Union (JRFU) said in a statement yesterday. England toured Japan in 1971 and 1979, but those matches did not hold Test status. The teams have since met at the 1987 World Cup in Sydney, as well as at Twickenham in 2018 and last year, with England victorious on all three occasions. “This is a landmark occasion for our two rugby nations,” RFU chief executive Bill Sweeney said. “We have a lot of respect for Japanese rugby and I know there will be mutual excitement between fans from both countries for this fixture.” The teams, who did not play each other when Japan hosted the World Cup in 2019, are to meet in the Lipovitan D Challenge Cup on June 22 next year. The venue and kick-off time have yet to be confirmed. “We look forward to welcoming the team and English fans back to Japan and renewing the great rugby connection between our two nations,” JRFU president Masato Tsuchida said.
Taiwan kept its hopes of advancing to the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome last night, backed by solid pitching. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. The win was crucial for Taiwan, as a loss would have eliminated the team from contention for the next WBC. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen (沙子宸) struck out one and allowed no hits, except for
The Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) is considering reducing its pitch clock by two seconds to help players better adjust to the rules applied at the World Baseball Classic (WBC). The proposal aims to shorten the pitch timer from 25 seconds to 23 seconds with the bases empty, and from 20 seconds to 18 seconds with runners on base. Currently, the WBC mandates that pitchers deliver a pitch every 18 seconds with the bases empty and 15 seconds with runners on base. The issue was raised during a pre-season CPBL managers’ meeting on Tuesday by Rakuten Monkeys bench and batting
‘SETTING THE TONE’: Donovan Mitchell said that their determination to dominate had nothing to do with past results, but was about a potential post-season clash The Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday boosted their NBA-best record with a 142-105 romp past the New York Knicks, tightening their grip on the Eastern Conference lead with an all-around dominant display. Donovan Mitchell scored 27 points to lead six Cavs players to score in double figures, connecting on five of seven three-pointers as Cleveland drilled 19 from beyond the arc. “I think the biggest thing was just try to set the tone early,” Mitchell said, adding that the determination to dominate had nothing to do with the Knicks’ first-round playoff win over the Cavs two seasons ago and everything to do with
BELGIANS ADVANCE: Club Brugge gave Atalanta a lesson in efficiency, as Gian Piero Gasperini’s team had 29 efforts at goal, compared with seven from the visitors Seldom has a player’s sending off had such an influence on a game. AC Milan was to left rue Theo Hernandez’s second yellow card — for diving — as Feyenoord advanced to the UEFA Champions League last 16 at the former European champion’s expense with a 1-1 draw in the second leg of their playoff on Tuesday, giving the Dutch team a 2-1 win on aggregate. Bayern Munich, Club Brugge and Benfica also won their playoffs, eliminating Celtic, UEFA Europa League winner Atalanta BC and French team AS Monaco respectively. “In soccer everything changes in a second,” said Milan forward
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