BASEBALL
Taipei Dome adds seating
An additional 4,700 seats would be available at the Taipei Dome for the Asian Baseball Championship finals on Sunday, Farglory, the builder and operator of the stadium, said yesterday. With the addition of the infield seats, the Taipei Dome will be able to accommodate 22,000 spectators for the championship game, Farglory said, adding that the opener between Taiwan and South Korea on Sunday last week drew nearly 17,000 fans. The 4,700 seats to be added will all be on the upper deck of the newly completed venue, which has a capacity of about 40,000, it said. The games on Sunday are to start at 12:30pm with the third-place game, followed by the final at 6:30pm. Taiwan face Japan today in the Super Round.
CRICKET
England level series
Sam Curran took three wickets and Jos Buttler scored a half-century on Wednesday to help England claim a six-wicket victory over the West Indies in the second ODI, leveling the three-match series at 1-1. Set a target of 203 for victory in North Sound, Antigua, England romped home in less than 33 overs to set up a series finale in Barbados tomorrow. Buttler made 58 not out in a 90-run partnership with Harry Brook (43) to get the tourists over the finish line. Gudakesh Motie was the pick of West Indies’ bowlers, picking up the wickets of Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett in back-to-back overs. Earlier, Curran (3-33) decimated the hosts’ top order in a devastating spell, claiming the wickets of Brandon King, Keacy Carty and Shimron Hetmyer.
TENNIS
Raducanu to play in NZ
Britain’s Emma Raducanu has accepted a wild card to play at the Auckland Classic in the New Year after missing out on one in the initial batch offered by the Australian Open. The former US Open winner has had a lengthy absence from the tour following operations on both wrists and an ankle this year, but hopes to be fit for the start of next season. The 21-year-old is set to return to Auckland with a protected ranking of 103 and a year on from exiting the tournament in tears after rolling her ankle during a second-round match moved indoors due to wet weather. “Despite the fact she had to retire this year, she was really happy to come back,” tournament director Nicolas Lamperin told New Zealand media yesterday. Raducanu joins a field featuring reigning champion and US Open holder Coco Gauff and former world No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki.
RUGBY LEAGUE
Nawaqanitawase switches
Wallabies star Mark Nawaqanitawase yesterday announced that he would jump codes and join rugby league team the Sydney Roosters, with beleaguered Rugby Australia voicing disappointment. Nawaqanitawase, 23, played 11 Tests and was a standout performer for Australia in their disastrous Rugby World Cup campaign in France this year. “We’re delighted to have secured Mark’s services and look forward to welcoming him to our club in 2025,” Roosters head of recruitment Daniel Anderson said in statement of the two-year deal. “We are disappointed — Mark has been a strong player over the last 12 months,” Rugby Australia chief executive Phil Waugh said of the NSW Waratahs player.
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
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
Nick Castellanos, Trea Turner and Kody Clemens homered on Wednesday as the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Chicago Cubs 9-6 and clinched a first-round bye in the playoffs. Castellanos had three hits and scored three times. Bryson Stott also had three hits and Brandon Marsh drove in three runs for the Phillies, who on Monday claimed their first National League East title in 13 years. Coupled with the Milwaukee Brewers’ 2-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates, Philadelphia secured the bye and home-field advantage in the NL Division Series. The Phillies owned the tiebreaker with the Brewers after winning the season series against 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