FOOTBALL
NFL debuts kick-off rule
The NFL’s new one-year trial kick-off format was debuted on Thursday in a pre-season opener halted early by a storm. The Hall of Fame Game in Canton, Ohio, ended with the Chicago Bears 21-17 winners over the Houston Texans after play was suspended with 3 minutes, 31 seconds remaining in the third quarter and did not resume. Under the new rule, kickers struck the ball at their 35-yard line while the other players lined up on the opposition 40 and 35-yard lines except for two receiving players in the reception zone between the goal line and the 20-yard line. Players are not allowed to move until the ball is touched by a receiver. If the ball hits the ground or is downed in the end zone, the receiving team take possession at their own 30-yard line. As a result, kickers must now aim to put the ball in a 20-yard landing zone rather than smash it beyond the back of the end zone. In the first half, five kick-offs under the new rule saw an average return of 20 yards, with average starting position being just beyond the 25-yard line. Former Chicago star Devin Hester was shocked that the format did not produce breakaway runbacks. “I’m surprised we’re not seeing no big runs. It’s shocking,” Hester said. “This is the first season, first game, so I’m figuring a lot of coaches are going to evaluate this game and try to figure out what they can do to utilize and get some more big plays in there.”
Photo: AFP
TENNIS
Taiwan’s Wu makes semis
Wu Fang-hsien of Taiwan on Thursday won in the women’s doubles quarter-finals at the Washington Open. Wu and partner Jiang Xinyu of China defeated Yana Sizikova and Anastasia Potapova of Russia 6-4, 7-6 (7/5) on the hard courts at the William H.G. FitzGerald Tennis Center. The win earned them a match against Aldila Sutjiadi of Indonesia and Japan’s Miyu Kato at the US$2,100,230 event, with their semi-final to be played after press time last night.
RUGBY UNION
Perenara to go to Japan
All Blacks scrumhalf T.J. Perenara is to leave New Zealand Rugby (NZR) and the Wellington Hurricanes at the end of this year after signing a three-year deal with Japan League One side Black Rams Tokyo, NZR said yesterday. The 32-year-old debuted for the All Blacks in 2014 and lifted the Rugby World Cup a year later. Perenara has earned 81 Test caps over a decade and is set to play in the Rugby Championship for six Tests against Argentina, South Africa, and Australia. “I’m grateful for every opportunity in the black jersey and as long as I can I’ll keep competing and contributing to the All Blacks,” Perenara said in a statement. “It’s an exciting time to be involved with a new coaching group and the motivation to represent New Zealand is as strong now as it was when I made my debut.” New Zealand are to begin their Rugby Championship title defense with two matches against Argentina on Saturday next week and Aug. 17.
‘DEVASTATED’: Argentina’s win was a reversal of their 28-24 defeat last week, with Australian forward Fraser McReight adding that ‘we did the same thing last week’ Argentina flyhalf Santiago Carreras punished an undisciplined Australia with 23 points off the tee as the Pumas held on grimly for a 28-26 win in Sydney yesterday to breathe new life into their Rugby Championship campaign. A try-fest beckoned in afternoon sunshine at Sydney Football Stadium, but Argentina needed only one through captain Julian Montoya, with Carreras doing the damage with seven penalties and a conversion in front of a sell-out crowd. A week after letting a 14-point lead slip in a 28-24 defeat to Australia in Townsville, Argentina saw most of a 21-point advantage erased in the final quarter as the
Captain Vijay Kumar led the way yesterday as the Hsinchu Titans claimed the Taiwan Premier League title at the Yingfeng Cricket Ground in Taipei’s Songshan District (松山), beating PCCT by 27 runs. The weather was a topic again, but not the rain that played a role in previous matches in the often-delayed tournament. Kumar, who made 80 not out from 63 deliveries, and teammate Vishwajit Kumar (58 from 43) rescued the Titans from a precarious state at the end of the power play in the T20 match. The visitors were put in to bat and struggled to 26-3 as PCCT
China’s state-run People’s Daily newspaper on Monday published an essay about Chinese basketball it said was written by LeBron James, but a representative for the NBA star said on Thursday that the article was based on a series of interviews. The paper, better known as the mouthpiece of the Chinese Communist Party, had said James authored the essay, “Basketball is a Bridge that Connects Us,” a tribute to Chinese players and fans of the sport written in the first person. “LeBron James Pens an Article in the People’s Daily,” read a post published on the newspaper’s official WeChat account. On Thursday, a representative
San Francisco Giants pitcher Teng Kai-wei impressed against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Monday despite an 8-1 loss in the opener of the team’s nine-game road trip. Teng, the only Taiwanese pitcher active in MLB, struck out five while allowing two hits and one walk over four innings at Chase Field to finish with a no decision, as the teams were tied 1-1 when he finished his outing. He surrendered the lone run of his outing in the bottom of the first, which began with a walk, a hit-by-pitch and two strikeouts. Diamondbacks leadoff hitter Geraldo Perdomo advanced to third on
RSS