GOLF
Schauffele wins The Open
Xander Schauffele on Sunday said a “sense of calm” helped him win The Open Championship, as the American claimed his second major just two months after triumphing at the PGA Championship. The 30-year-old Californian delivered a faultless, zen-like six-under-par final round at Royal Troon to emerge from a congested leaderboard and clinch the Claret Jug. Schauffele finished on nine-under par for the championship, two shots ahead of England’s Justin Rose and Billy Horschel of the USA. Taiwan’s C.T. Pan, who earned a berth after finishing second at the John Deere Classic earlier this month, was cut after the second round.
MOTORSPORTS
Norris lets Piastri win
Lando Norris on Sunday kept Formula One fans on tenterhooks as he ignored pleas by McLaren to hand back the lead to teammate Oscar Piastri at the Hungarian Grand Prix, but after finally giving way he conceded the Australian deserved to win. The Briton’s eventual compliance allowed Piastri to celebrate a first victory and a one-two finish that sent McLaren second overall. “I didn’t deserve to win the race today. Simple as that. So the fact I was in that position was incorrect,” Norris told reporters. “I shouldn’t have been in that position in the first place. I shouldn’t have been given that hope of ‘I’m here, I’m leading a race.’” Norris said he was always going to give back the place but, as a racing driver, was obviously going to question the situation and challenge the orders. “I was going to wait until the last lap, the last corner,” he added.
TENNIS
Energy off after loss: Nadal
Rafael Nadal would head to the Paris Olympics chasing a third gold medal, but on Sunday said his “level was so far from what it should be” after losing the Swedish Open final. The 38-year-old Spanish great went down to a straight-sets defeat to Portuguese journeyman Nuno Borges in his first final since capturing a 14th French Open in 2022. “The level was so far from what it should be. Probably the energy too,” Nadal said. “It has been a long week with long matches. Even if my body, I don’t have damage, that’s important — but mentally and physically, I am not used to playing four days in a row and playing long matches.” Nadal was playing his first tournament since an opening round exit at the French Open in May. He skipped Wimbledon to focus on the clay court ahead of the Olympics, which are being played at Roland Garros, the site of 14 of his 22 Grand Slam triumphs.
SOCCER
Fishcake fury cancels match
A match in the Norwegian top-flight between Rosenborg BK and Lillestroem was on Sunday suspended after fans showed their displeasure with the video assistant referee (VAR) by throwing fishcakes on the field. The protests started from kickoff and after a two-minute bombardment of fishcakes, the referee stopped the match and sent the players to the dressing room. The match was restarted, but the protests intensified, with tennis balls and smoke bombs being thrown onto the field. The referee abandoned the match around the half-hour mark with the score 0-0. VAR has stirred controversy in the Eliteserien, with several clubs’ supporter unions claiming that the time referees spend making decisions using the system ruins matches.
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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