TENNIS
Snake stops play
Dominic Thiem’s Brisbane International qualifying match yesterday against Australian James McCabe was suspended for 40 minutes after a snake slithered courtside. McCabe had just wrapped up the first set 6-2 against the 2020 US Open champion when the reptile was spotted among electrical wires on the side of the court in front of spectators. Play was halted until a snake catcher arrived and teased it into a bag. When play resumed, Thiem had to save three match points before leveling the match by winning the second set tiebreak. The 30-year-old then went on to clinch the deciding set for a 2-6, 7-6 (7/4), 6-4 win. “I really love animals, especially exotic ones, but they said it was a really poisonous snake and it was close to the ballkids, so it was a really dangerous situation,” Thiem said after the match. “It’s something that has never happened to me and is something I’ll definitely never forget.” The snake was identified as a 50cm eastern brown snake, one of Australia’s most deadly reptiles.
Photo: EPA-EFE
SOCCER
Crammed schedule criticized
The crammed playing schedule might force players to take legal action, Professional Footballers’ Association chief executive officer Maheta Molango said as he highlighted growing concerns about player welfare. Under the new format from the 2024-2025 season, the UEFA Champions League group stage is to expand to 36 teams from 32, playing in a single-league format. Each team will play a minimum of eight matches, all against different opponents. A host of Premier League managers have been vocal about the busy schedule and its impact on players. “I feel like we’ve reached a stage where people are ready to take legal action, where people are ready to take tangible action on the pitch to try to resolve it, because it’s a sad state of affairs,” Molango told Sky News. “I think it’s a defeat for football when the players need to take the justice in their own hands because they don’t feel protected.” FIFA’s revamped Club World Cup, planned for 2025 and set to feature 32 teams, is to be played from June 15 to July 13, while a new Intercontinental Cup is to be played annually starting next year.
MOTORSPORTS
Gil de Ferran dies
French-born Brazilian driver and Indianapolis 500 winner Gil de Ferran has died after a heart attack, the Brazilian Automobile Confederation (CBA) said on Friday. He was 56. De Ferran, who was working for McLaren as one of its directors, had a heart attack at a private motor racing club in Opa-locka, Florida, the confederation said. He was “promptly taken to a local hospital, but did not survive,” it said. De Ferran won the 2000 and 2001 Champ Car World Series driving for Team Penske. “On behalf of myself and the entire CBA family, we pray to God to receive our brother with all glory and to support his family, friends and millions of fans around the world,” CBA president Giovanni Guerra said in a statement.
‘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