BASKETBALL
Howard to meet Warriors
Eight-time All-Star Dwight Howard is to meet with the Golden State Warriors next week, The Athletic Web site reported on Friday. The 37-year-old free agent center did not play in the NBA last season, competing professionally in Taiwan instead. The Warriors reportedly have been exploring the addition of a veteran big man for the 2023-2024 campaign. Howard is a three-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year who led the league in rebounding five times and blocks two times earlier in his 18-year career.
SOCCER
Sancho’s future uncertain
Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag on Friday said that he does not know whether Jadon Sancho would play for the club again amid the forward’s exile from the first team over a disciplinary issue. Sancho, 23, is training away from United’s first team after saying in a now-deleted statement on social media that he had been made a “scapegoat” following his omission from the squad for their 3-1 defeat against Arsenal on Sept. 3. Ten Hag said at the time that Sancho had been left out because of his poor performance in training. Speaking at a news conference before United hosted Brighton & Hove Albion, which was to start after press time last night, the Dutch coach did not confirm if Sancho remained a part of his long-term plans at the club. “I don’t know,” Ten Hag said when asked whether Sancho would play for United again. “He is not available, so in this moment, he is not important, because he can’t contribute.” The decision “is not about me. This is in favor of the team... I don’t think about that [Sancho’s social media post] and I don’t talk about that, because I have to win a game.”
GOLF
Bale added to video game
Gareth Bale’s love for golf has been well-documented and the former Real Madrid and Wales forward has swapped the pitch for the green after becoming a playable character in the PGA Tour 2K23 video game. Bale, 34, made his PGA Tour debut at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am in February after calling time on his soccer career at the start of the year. He also teed off alongside Rory McIlroy at this week’s BMW PGA Championship Celebrity Pro-Am. The former Wales captain, who featured on the cover of Electronic Arts’ FIFA 14 video game alongside Lionel Messi, has now been added to PGA Tour 2K23, which includes a course custom-designed by him.
‘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