GOLF
Taiwanese tied at third
Taiwan’s Cheng Ssu-chia and Hsu Wei-ling were on Saturday tied at third place, two strokes behind South Korea’s Jenny Shin, entering the final round of the ShopRite LPGA Classic in Galloway, New Jersey. Cheng, 26, shot a six-under 65 in the second round with five birdies and an eagle on the third hole, which with her 69 on Friday put her at eight-under for the tournament. Hsu, 29, shot a 69 on Saturday, after firing off eight birdies in the first round for a 65. They were tied with Meghan Khang of the US and South Korea’s Narin An, one shot behind Switzerland’s Albane Valenzuela.
OLYMPICS
No men in artistic swimming
Despite World Aquatics’ bold move to let men compete in artistic swimming at the Olympics, no male swimmers among the 10 countries in the team event in Paris would participate, after the US left pioneer Bill May out of their squad. “This should have been a landmark moment for the sport,” the global federation said in a statement. “We understand that it was always going to be a challenge for men to earn a spot on a team in time for Paris 2024, considering that their eligibility was only confirmed 18 months ago, but we were still hopeful that some would succeed.” The 45-year-old May has long been one of the leading voices on male inclusion. Battling for a spot with women half his age, he was part of the squad at the World Aquatics Championships in February and helped the US win silver in the acrobatic routine at the 2023 World Aquatics Championships, becoming the first American male to climb the world medal podium in a team event.
CRICKET
W Indies dominate Uganda
Left-arm spinner Akeal Hosein’s career-best figures of five for 11 devastated an inept Ugandan batting line-up as the West Indies romped to a 134-run victory in a Group C match of the T20 World Cup at the Guyana National Stadium on Saturday. Set a daunting target after the tournament cohosts posted 173 for five batting first, the World Cup debutants looked completely out of their depth in being routed for 39 off 12 overs. The score equaled the record of the Netherlands against Sri Lanka at the 2014 tournament for the lowest innings total in the T20 World Cup. In Barbados, England suffered a 36-run defeat to ruthless Australia in Group B, while in New York, South Africa overcame a stunning early batting collapse to seal a four-wicket victory over bogey team the Netherlands in Group D.
HORSE RACING
Dornoch wins Belmont
Dornoch on Saturday won the 156th Belmont Stakes, with jockey Luis Saez piloting the 17-1 longshot to victory in the third jewel in US flat racing’s Triple Crown at Saratoga Race Course. “It was perfect,” Saez said after Dornoch held off a challenge from Mindframe in the final straight. Sierra Leone, the Kentucky Derby runner-up, was third. Trainer Danny Gargan claimed a first Triple Crown race win, while Saez earned his second Belmont victory. The Panamanian won in 2021 aboard Essential Quality. This year’s edition had a different feel, having shifted to the track in Saratoga Springs because of renovations at Belmont Park.
The qualifying round of the World Baseball Classic (WBC) is to be held at the Taipei Dome between Feb. 21 and 25, Major League Baseball (MLB) announced today. Taiwan’s group also includes Spain, Nicaragua and South Africa, with two of the four teams advancing onto the 2026 WBC. Taiwan, currently ranked second in the world in the World Baseball Softball Confederation rankings, are favorites to come out of the group, the MLB said in an article announcing the matchups. Last year, Taiwan finished in a five-way tie in their group with two wins and two losses, but finished last on tiebreakers after giving
North Korea’s FIFA Under-17 Women’s World Cup-winning team on Saturday received a heroes’ welcome back in the capital, Pyongyang, with hundreds of people on the streets to celebrate their success. They had defeated Spain on penalties after a 1-1 draw in the U17 World Cup final in the Dominican Republic on Nov. 3. It was the second global title in two months for secretive North Korea — largely closed off to the outside world; they also lifted the FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup in September. Officials and players’ families gathered at Pyongyang International Airport to wave flowers and North Korea flags as the
For King Faisal, a 20-year-old winger from Ghana, the invitation to move to Brazil to play soccer “was a dream.” “I believed when I came here, it would help me change the life of my family and many other people,” he said in Sao Paulo. For the past year and a half, he has been playing on the under-20s squad for Sao Paulo FC, one of South America’s most prominent clubs. He and a small number of other Africans are tearing across pitches in a country known as the biggest producer and exporter of soccer stars in the world, from Pele to Neymar. For
Coco Gauff of the US on Friday defeated top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka 7-6 (7/4), 6-3 to set up a showdown with Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen in the final of the WTA Finals, while in the doubles, Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching was eliminated. Gauff generated six break points to Belarusian Sabalenka’s four and built on early momentum in the opening set’s tiebreak that she carried through to the second set. She is the youngest player at 20 to make the final at the WTA Finals since Denmark’s Caroline Wozniacki in 2010. Zheng earlier defeated Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic 6-3, 7-5 to book
RSS