SOCCER
Real Madrid celebrate title
Real Madrid yesterday celebrated its La Liga title with fans, meeting with government officials and parading through the streets of the capital. Madrid clinched its 36th league title last weekend, with four rounds to spare, but it could not celebrate the triumph right away because it still had to play the second leg of the UEFA Champions League semi-finals. Madrid rallied with two late goals by striker Joselu to defeat Bayern Munich 2-1 on Wednesday at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, advancing 3-2 on aggregate to the final against Borussia Dortmund on June 1 in London. “I’m sure that in three weeks we will be back here,” Madrid midfielder Toni Kroos said, while addressing the crowd yesterday.
OLYMPICS
Torch relay has issue
The Paris Olympics torch relay had its first glitch on Saturday when the cauldron, which is lit at the end of each day, stubbornly refused to ignite. On the third stage of its 78-day journey at Manosque to the north of Marseille, French swimmer Ophelie-Cyrielle Etienne, a bronze medalist from the 2012 Olympics in London, twice tried without success to ignite the cauldron with the flame. Officials said there was a technical problem even though the cauldron had been lit successfully on the two previous evenings in Marseille and Toulon. The torch relay, which would reach Paris in time for the opening ceremony on July 26, had taken place without incident on Saturday as it made its way through the rural and mountainous setting of Alpes-de-Haute-Provence.
BOXING
Lomachenko wins title
Ukrainian boxing great Vasiliy Lomachenko clinched the International Boxing Federation (IBF) lightweight world title yesterday after producing a supreme performance to stop Australian George Kambosos in the 11th round in Perth, Australia. In the main event at a sold-out 15,000 RAC Arena, heavy favorite Lomachenko defied the rowdy home crowd and dominated throughout. Lomachenko left the Australian bloodied and sealed the belt in the 11th round after dropping Kambosos several times before the fight was stopped by the referee. It was the first IBF lightweight belt in the glittering career of former World Boxing Association and World Boxing Council lightweight champion Lomachenko, who has also won world titles featherweight and super featherweight.
SOCCER
Al-Hilal win 19th title
Cristiano Ronaldo and Al-Nassr missed out on the Saudi Pro League title for the second consecutive season when Al-Hilal on Saturday defeated Al-Hazm 4-1 and clinched first place. Two goals from Aleksandar Mitrovic, signed from Fulham in the English Premier League in the summer last year, did the damage. Sergej Milinkovic-Savic scored and an own goal from Ahmed Al-Juwaid completed the win for Al-Hilal. Al-Hilal collected a record-extending 19th league title. It was 12 points ahead of Riyadh rival Al-Nassr with three games remaining. Ronaldo is still set to top the goal-scoring chart. On Friday, he notched his 33rd goal in a 3-2 win at Al-Okhdood and was nine clear of Mitrovic in second. The five-time Ballon d’Or winner is just a goal behind the league record set by Abderrazak Hamdallah in 2019.
‘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