CRICKET
Formosa trounce TCA
Formosa yesterday trounced TCA in their Group B Taiwan Premier League match at the Yinfeng Cricket Ground in Taipei’s Songshan District. Formosa won the toss and elected to bat, putting together 141-4 in their 20 overs. Man of the match Sandeep Patel hit 43 from 36 deliveries, his five boundaries all sixes as he top-scored for Formosa. In reply, TCA slumped to 80 all out, with none of their top eight batsmen reaching double figures. Himanshu Rathee returned the best bowling figures of 3-19 to help his side win by 61 runs. In the afternoon match, TCA made 139-7 batting first against the Raging Bulls, who were 94-3 in 12.1 overs when it began to rain, ending play for the day.
BOXING
Davis predicts winning KO
Gervonta “Tank” Davis on Saturday night made a triumphant return to the ring after more than a year away, once again showing why he is one of the top pound-for-pound boxers. Armed with a punching power not typically associated with a lightweight, Davis made full use if his skills in dominating Frank Martin and knocking him out at one minute, 29 seconds of the eighth round to retain the WBA championship. “I knew the way he fell he wasn’t getting back up,” Davis said. Davis delivered a right and two lefts to Martin’s face to send the Indianapolis resident to the canvass for his first career loss after winning his first 18 fights. Davis again proved to be one of boxing’s most ferocious punchers, improving to 30-0 — all but two by knockout. He predicted before the fight that its would end in an eight-round knockout. “I was just throwing that out there. Next fight in the first round,” Davis said, smiling.
OLYMPICS
Swimmer’s family scammed
British Olympic freestyle gold medalist Matt Richards has urged the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to do more to help families of competing athletes attend events at the Paris Olympics after his parents lost money in an online ticket scam. Richards took gold at Tokyo 2020 in the 4x200m freestyle relay and could be competing in six events this summer. He won individual 200m gold at the last year’s World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka, Japan. “I do find it crazy that when competing at an Olympic Games, the families of the athletes have to source and fund tickets themselves,” Richards wrote on Instagram, addressing @Olympics. “Given that you won’t pay the athletes who compete in the event (that creates billions every year in revenue) due to it ‘not being the Olympic spirit’... do you not think it’s time that you support the families of the people competing, by giving them tickets to the events that their family members are competing in?” Richards then apologized for the “rant,” but said he felt it was a really important subject. Richards’ mother Amanda told the BBC separately that the family had been scammed of ￡2,500 (US$3,165) by a ticket Web site that “looked perfectly legitimate.” They had been unable to afford tickets in the official ballot where only the most expensive were left by the time they got their turn. “We couldn’t afford to buy tickets for everything he’s swimming in, but we wanted to be there for sort of the important ones,” she said. “We don’t have masses of savings. We just don’t have the money to be able to just buy another set of tickets. We’re devastated... I feel like a fool.”
The Washington Capitals and Winnipeg Jets on Saturday did not disappoint in a thrilling midseason matchup in front of a fired-up sellout crowd of more than 18,500 fans. The top two teams in the NHL delivered with a combined nine goals, including the 877th of Alex Ovechkin’s career to put him 18 back of breaking Wayne Gretzky’s record. That tied the score, the Jets pulled it out in overtime and just about everyone involved got their money’s worth out of the 5-4 game. “We knew how we were both sitting in the standings and both having real good years,” Winnipeg coach Scott
BACK-TO-BACK: The League One club, which is owned by stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, is sparing no expense to clinch promotion to the Championship Hollywood endings are pricey, even in England’s third division. In pursuit of their third straight promotion, Wrexham AFC splashed some cash at League One rival Reading to secure the services of striker Sam Smith. The Welsh club owned by actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney confirmed the signing of the 26-year-old Smith on Friday. He is one of the top scorers in the third division. The transfer fee was not disclosed, but British media widely reported it to be about ￡2 million (US$2.48 million) — not extravagant, but a hefty price at this level and it would be about the same figure that
Manchester City have reached do-or-die territory in the UEFA Champions League earlier than expected ahead of what Pep Guardiola has described as a “final” against Club Brugge today. City have disproved the suggestion a new format to Europe’s top club competition would remove any jeopardy for the top clubs as Guardiola stares down the barrel of failing to make the Champions League knockout stages for the first time in his career. The English champions have endured a torrid season both in their English Premier League title defense and on the continent. A run of one win in 13 games, which included Champions League
Less than a week after splashing out a world-record fee for Naomi Girma, Chelsea has spent big again to bring England midfielder Keira Walsh back to the English Women’s Super League. Walsh left European champions Barcelona after more than two years to join Chelsea for a reported ￡400,000 (US$496,000) on Friday. Walsh was the world’s most expensive player for two years after moving to Barcelona from Manchester City for a reported ￡400,000 in 2022. That status now belongs to Girma, the US defender who cost Chelsea a reported ￡900,000 to sign from the San Diego Wave. Still, it means 27-year-old Walsh — a technically
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