CRICKET
Super 11 win in Taipei
Taipei Super 11 yesterday won their opening match in Group A of the Taiwan Premier League, beating the Taipei Indians by three wickets at the Yingfeng Cricket Ground in Taipei’s Songshan District. The Indians reached 136-8 batting first and had their eye on two points for the win when they had reduced Super 11 to 99-6 on the fifth ball of the 16th over in the T20 tournament. However, Sathishkumar Chinnapaiyan walked to the crease and smacked 30 not out from just 11 deliveries, four of which went for six, to guide his team home with one ball to spare. In the afternoon game, the Taiwan Stars’ Adeel Ahmad Jamil struck 86 not out from 38 deliveries to lead his side to a three-wicket win over Formosa in Group B.
CRICKET
US reach Super Eight
The US on Friday made history by reaching the second round in their debut at the T20 World Cup after their last group game against Ireland was washed out. Rain meant the match at Broward County Stadium was abandoned without a ball bowled, advancing the US to the Super Eight stage and automatically qualifying them for the 2026 T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka. In other games, New Zealand thrashed Uganda by nine wickets in a Group C clash of already-eliminated teams in Trinidad, while South Africa survived a scare from Nepal in scrambling a one-run victory in their final Group D match in St Vincent.
SOCCER
Messi scores brace
Lionel Messi on Friday scored twice and assisted on another goal in his first international start since November last year as Argentina outclassed Guatemala 4-1 to complete their Copa America preparations. Messi played the full 90 minutes for manager Lionel Scaloni after playing 35 minutes off the bench in a 1-0 win over fellow Copa America contenders Ecuador in Chicago last weekend. He previously missed a pair of international friendlies in March with a hamstring issue. His sharp performance on Friday should ease Argentine concerns ahead of their Group A opener against Canada in Atlanta, Georgia, on Thursday.
OLYMPICS
Tests deem Seine unsafe
Water in the Seine River had unsafe elevated levels of Escherichia coli less than two months before swimming competitions are scheduled to take place in it during the Paris Olympics, test results published on Friday showed. Contamination levels in the first eight days of this month, after persistent heavy rain in Paris, showed bacteria such as E. coli and enterococci beyond limits judged safe for athletes. The report was published by monitoring group Eau de Paris one day after a senior International Olympic Committee executive said there were “no reasons to doubt” races would go ahead as scheduled in a historic downtown stretch of the Seine near the Eiffel Tower. The final decision on approving the events safe for athletes rests with the governing bodies of individual sports. According to European standards, the safe limit for E coli is 900 colony-forming units per 100ml. During the first eight days of this month, test results showed that E coli levels frequently exceeded the threshold. Enterococci levels were better, mostly staying within safe limits.
Rugby organizers in Taiwan hope that a tournament in Singapore next week would be the catalyst to boost the sport in the nation. However, with a team of mostly university students up against more experienced players from their two opponents, Taiwan face a stern challenge at the first edition of the Unions Cup. Taiwan coach Huang Chi-hsang at a training session at the University of Taipei yesterday said that the other two teams — Singapore and Thailand — can draw on a wider pool of players, including those with overseas experience. Taiwan captain Chien Tzu-fan is one of the older hands on the
KING OF QUEEN’S: In London, Tommy Paul became the first US player to win the Queen’s Club Wimbledon warm-up since Sam Querrey in 2010 Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens of Belgium on Sunday claimed the Rothesay Classic doubles title in Birmingham, England, while Kazakhstan’s Yulia Putintseva won her first senior grass-court women’s singles title. Top seeds and reigning Australian Open champions Hsieh and Mertens defeated Zhang Shuai of China and Miyu Kato of Japan 6-1, 6-3 at the Edgbaston Priory Club in 59 minutes. “I’ve already played two doubles finals here and I lost all of them, so I’m very happy to win this one,” Mertens told the Lawn Tennis Association Web site. “Birmingham is of course very important in the lead up to Wimbledon,
The New Taipei Kings on Thursday captured the 2023-2024 P.League+ title after defeating the Taoyuan Pauian Pilots 103-97 in overtime. The win gave the Kings a 4-1 victory in the best-of-seven series and their first championship in the league that began in the 2020-2021 season. The Kings made the P.League+ Finals last year, but lost 4-2 to the Taipei Fubon Braves, who won the league’s first three championship series. Facing an elimination game at home, the Pilots went for broke, including Treveon Graham in the starting five along with the league’s regular-season Most Valuable Player Lu Chun-hsiang and Import Player of the Year
Four of the P.League+’s six teams and all five of the T1 League’s clubs have signed a letter of intent to join a proposed new basketball league, New Taipei Kings chairman Walter Wang said on Saturday. The planned league of at least 10 teams would include the Kings, which Wang founded, and one from Southeast Asia, he told a news conference in New Taipei City. It is time to take professional basketball in Taiwan to the next level by forming a new league, he said, adding that he has been in discussions with many team owners and was working to convince the