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.”
Shohei Ohtani and Clayton Kershaw on Friday joined their Los Angeles Dodgers teammates in sticking their fists out to show off their glittering World Series rings at a ceremony. “There’s just a lot of excitement, probably more than I can ever recall with the Dodger fan base and our players,” manager Dave Roberts said before Los Angeles rallied to beat the Detroit Tigers 8-5 in 10 innings. “What a way to cap off the first two days of celebrations,” Roberts said afterward. “By far the best opening week I’ve ever experienced. I just couldn’t have scripted it any better.” A choir in the
The famously raucous Hong Kong Sevens are to start today in a big test for a shiny new stadium at the heart of a major US$3.85 billion sports park in the territory. Officials are keeping their fingers crossed that the premier event in Hong Kong’s sporting and social calendar goes off without a hitch at the 50,000-seat Kai Tak Stadium. They hope to entice major European soccer teams to visit in the next few months, with reports in December last year saying that Liverpool were in talks about a pre-season tour. Coldplay are to perform there next month, all part of Hong Kong’s
Shohei Ohtani, Teoscar Hernandez and Tommy Edman on Thursday smashed home runs to give the reigning World Series champions the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5-4 victory over Detroit on the MLB’s opening day in the US. The Dodgers, who won two season-opening games in Tokyo last week, raised their championship banner on a day when 28 clubs launched the season in the US. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts shuffled his batting lineup with all four leadoff hitters finally healthy as Ohtani was followed by Mookie Betts, then Hernandez and Freddie Freeman in the cleanup spot, switching places with Hernandez. “There’s a Teoscar tax to
Marcus Rashford’s first goals for Aston Villa on Sunday inspired a 3-0 win against Preston North End that sent his side into the FA Cup semi-finals for the first time in 10 years. Rashford struck twice in the second half at Deepdale to end Preston’s stubborn resistance before Jacob Ramsey wrapped up Villa’s long-awaited return to the last four. Villa are to face Crystal Palace — 3-0 winners at Fulham on Saturday — in the semi-finals at Wembley Stadium in London. Revitalized since joining Villa on loan from Manchester United during the January transfer window, Rashford is beginning to show the form that
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