RUGBY UNION
Mo’unga focused on Japan
New Zealand playmaker Richie Mo’unga yesterday said that he can imagine playing in Japan “until I retire” and is not thinking about a return to the All Blacks. Mo’unga has moved to Toshiba Brave Lupus on a three-year deal, meaning he cannot play for the All Blacks during that time unless eligibility rules change to allow overseas-based players. The 29-year-old said he was “fully involved” in his move to Toshiba. “I’m focused on the present, I just want to give all I can to Toshiba,” the flyhalf told reporters. “I really can see myself playing here as long as I can until I retire.” Mo’unga is one of several All Blacks moving to Japan, including captain Sam Cane and World Rugby player of the year Ardie Savea. Flanker Shannon Frizell has also joined Mo’unga at Tokyo-based Toshiba.
CRICKET
Attendance record set
The Cricket World Cup attracted a tournament-record 1.25 million spectators during the six-and-a-half-week event that ended on Sunday with Australia beating India by six wickets for their sixth title. The International Cricket Council yesterday said that the tournament had 1,250,307 spectators. With six games to go, the spectator figures had already surpassed 1 million. The India attendance figures surpass the earlier marks of the 2015 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, which attracted 1,016,420 spectators, and the 2019 edition in England and Wales, which had 752,000 fans. There were 48 matches played in India for an average attendance of about 26,000.
MIXED MARTIAL ARTS
PFL buys Bellator
The Professional Fighters League (PFL) has bought rival Bellator MMA, in a bid to take on the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Backed by Saudi Arabia’s giant new sports fund, Washington-based PFL held its first event in 2018, making it a relatively new combat sports upstart. Its champions in each weight class earn US$1 million in prize money. The terms of the acquisition were not disclosed in a statement on Monday. Bellator is owned by Paramount Global. The PFL first put forward a potential deal in January, PFL’s founder and chairman Donn Davis said in an interview. Paramount has been looking to cut costs by selling off or shutting down a number of properties. Showtime Sports, one of the biggest boxing broadcasters of the past 40 years, is set to end at the end of the year. Saudi Arabia’s SRJ Sports Investments took a minority stake in the PFL in August. SRJ is a subsidiary of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, the organization that owns LIV Golf. PFL chief executive officer Peter Murray has signaled an interest in potentially collaborating with the UFC. “When the very best champions of PFL plays against the very best champions of UFC, those are fights the fans want to see,” Murray said in an interview. “We are certainly interested in it, but it takes two parties to bring that together.” After UFC 295, UFC CEO and president Dana White said he was not interested in a tie-up. PFL’s upcoming championship is to be held in Washington tomorrow, with heavyweight fighters including Kayla Harrison, Bubba Jenkins and Chris Wade to compete. The organization is also in talks to stage the next championship in Saudi Arabia in November next year, Murray said.
Taiwan kept their hopes of advancing to next year’s World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome on Saturday, backed by solid pitching. Taiwan last night played against Nicaragua. As of press time, Nicaragua was leading 6-0. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan on Saturday kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen struck out one and allowed no hits, except for a hit-by-pitch over
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
Team Taiwan are set to face Spain in a win-or-go-home match tonight for the final berth at the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC), despite losing to Nicaragua 6-0 in the WBC qualifier at the Taipei Dome on Sunday. The home team’s loss on Sunday means Nicaragua finish first in the qualifier round in Taipei with a perfect 3-0 record and advances to next year’s finals. After crushing South Africa 9-1 earlier on Sunday, Spain took second place in the four-team qualifier with a 2-1 record. With a 1-2 record, Taiwan finished third while South Africa placed at the bottom with
Team Taiwan avoided missing the World Baseball Classic (WBC) for the first time by defeating Spain 6-3 in a do-or-die game in Taipei last night. After narrowly escaping a mercy-rule loss to Spain in the WBC Qualifiers opener on Friday last week, the home team — winner of last year's WBSC Premier12 title three months ago — got their revenge against the 2023 European champions at Taipei Dome. "It felt quite different from when we won the Premier12," Taiwan captain Chen Chieh-hsien (陳傑憲) said after the game, recalling the ups and downs the team has experienced over the past few days. Unlike in
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