BASKETBALL
Teams pull out of merger
The P.League+’s (PLG) Taipei Fubon Braves, Taoyuan Pilots and Kaohsiung Steelers on Monday withdrew from a proposed merger with the rival T1 League. The decision not to participate in the new professional basketball league was tough, but necessary, the three teams said in a joint statement. They said that their bottom line was that the PLG was to be the main body under the merger, which was the consensus reached at the six-team internal PLG meeting on June 26 and was verbally agreed on by the preparation committee. “We negotiated in good faith to communicate a way to integrate by maintaining the autonomy of the PLG, or to retain the two-league structure with exchanges during match season, but could not reach an agreement,” they said. The three teams are to remain in the PLG and prepare for the new season, striving to protect the people, players, passion, professionalism and principles of the league, they said. The three teams also announced they would be holding an independent draft on Friday. Meanwhile, Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chuang Jui-hsiung has been appointed president of the newly merged league, the merger preparation committee said. Chuang said that he was honored and would do his best to lead the league to the next level.
BASKETBALL
Taiwan face-off at Jones Cup
Taiwan’s national women’s A team beat Taiwan’s B team 73-53 on the penultimate day of the five-day William Jones Cup in Taipei yesterday. The A team were up 23-9 in the first quarter, and although the B team were close on their heels during the remaining three quarters, they could not erase the deficit. In yesterday’s other games, the Philippines beat Thailand 68-58, despite Thailand’s Sasiporn Wongtapha putting up a leading 18 points, and Japan thrashed Malaysia 84-34, maintaining their spot on top of the table after having won all four of their games.
RUGBY UNION
France players arrested
Two members of the France national rugby team touring South America were on Monday arrested in Argentina following an allegation of sexual assault, a justice official in Mendoza Province said. Hugo Auradou and Oscar Jegou, who featured in France’s 28-13 Test victory over Argentina on Saturday, were detained in Buenos Aires and are to be taken to Mendoza where the crime allegedly took place. “Today a commission from the province of Mendoza is traveling to Buenos Aires to bring them and proceed with doing the relevant examinations,” said Martin Ahumada, a spokesman for the Mendoza prosecutor’s office. “If the examinations align with the testimony of the victim, the related charge will be made,” he said. The alleged attack took place at the Diplomatic Hotel in Mendoza, where France’s players and staff were staying for last weekend’s Test match, local media reports said. “If the facts are proven, they are incredibly serious. You must spare a thought for the young woman,” French Rugby Federation president Florian Grill said. “It’s the opposite of everything that rugby is, of everything that rugby does, of everything that rugby builds... But you must let the investigation, which is necessary, take place.”
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to
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