GOLF
Taiwan’s Cheng grabs third
Taiwan’s Cheng Ssu-Chia on Saturday shot a five-under-par 66 to tie for third at the Dana Open in Sylvania, Ohio. The 26-year-old had six birdies, four of them in the last six holes, and a single bogey to leave her 11-under par after the third round, tied with defending tournament champion Linn Grant of Sweden and Xiyu Lin of China. “I just stay patient out there,” Cheng said. “I didn’t really have the best start like today or even just like the past two days. I just kind of stayed patient out there and just one shot at a time.” Taiwanese Hou Yu-sang was tied at 31st after carding a two-under-par 69 with an eagle on the ninth hole, three birdies and three bogeys. Thailand’s Chanettee Wannasaen was leading the tournament with a 16-under 197.
RUGBY
Savea to join Moana Pasifika
World player of the year Ardie Savea yesterday announced he would play for Moana Pasifika next season in a major coup for the Super Rugby side. Savea, who played club rugby in Japan this year, said he was sad to end more than a decade’s association at Wellington Hurricanes. The All Blacks back-row forward said the time was right to honor his Samoan family and “give back to my heritage.” The deal with Moana Pasifika is for three seasons and leaves him eligible to represent New Zealand through to the 2027 Rugby World Cup in Australia. Auckland-based Moana are made up of players with a Pacific islands family background, including Savea’s older brother Julian Savea, a former All Blacks wing who switched from Hurricanes last year.
MOTORSPORTS
Hamilton’s slump continues
Lewis Hamilton has a record 104 Formula One pole positions, but Saturdays have become tricky for Mercedes’ seven-time world champion and Hungary marked a year since he last qualified fastest. Hamilton returned, emotionally, to the top of the podium at Silverstone on July 7 — his first win since 2021 — but the 39-year-old has outqualified teammate George Russell only three times so far this season. Hamilton qualified fifth at the Hungaroring on Saturday — a circuit where he has had a record nine career poles — while Russell was only 17th. McLaren’s Landon Norris took pole position, while teammate Oscare Piastri was second and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was third.
OLYMPICS
Teams voice toilet worries
A possible lack of toilets on the barges used for carrying athletes during the Paris Olympics opening ceremony on Friday has thrown national teams an unexpected curve ball. The opening ceremony is to take place on the Seine River with athletes on barges floating past spectators in one of the most anticipated events of the Games. However, some of the vessels would not have toilets. “Being one of the larger delegations, we haven’t yet had confirmation whether we will have a boat with a toilet but we do hope so,” Australian chef de mission Anna Meares told a news conference on Saturday. “But preparations in the case that we don’t have a toilet on the boat are under way, and making sure that we have access to facilities both prior to and on the departure of the boat.” Athletes would be pleased to hear that the expected time on the water for the opening ceremony would only be about 45 minutes.
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
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