SOCCER
White House for Gotham
US President Joe Biden is to welcome US National Women’s Soccer League champions Gotham FC at a White House reception on Monday, as the New York/New Jersey team become the first from the top-flight US women’s league to receive the honor. The White House regularly receives championship teams from the US men’s “Big Four” leagues and the move this year represents “a major benchmark moment for professional women’s soccer,” Gotham FC said in a statement. Retired fan-favorite Ali Krieger, championship Most Valuable Player Midge Purce and Juan Carlos Amoros, the 2023 NWSL coach of the year, are expected to attend along with commissioner Jessica Berman. Gotham beat Seattle Reign 2-1 to collect their first championship title in November last year and currently sit third in the table.
TENNIS
Osaka to return in NZ
Former world No. 1 Naomi Osaka would start her 2025 season at the ASB Tennis Classic in Auckland in January. The four-time Grand Slam singles winner returned to tennis this year after an 18-month break during which she gave birth to a daughter, Shai. She is ranked 76th in singles and lost in the second round of the US Open on Aug. 29. Osaka last played in Auckland in 2017, reaching the quarter-finals. Osaka last week split with her coach after her US Open loss. “Naomi is one of the premier players in tennis with an exciting and hard-hitting game,” tournament director Nicolas Lamperin said yesterday. “It is always challenging to return to this sport after extensive time away but Naomi has shown some extremely promising form.”
TENNIS
Gauff splits from coach
Coco Gauff split from coach Brad Gilbert after more than a year and one Grand Slam title together, the pair announced on Wednesday via separate messages on social media. The end of their partnership comes nearly three weeks after Gauff’s defense of her 2023 championship at the US Open unraveled amid 19 double-faults during a 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 loss to Emma Navarro in the fourth round at Flushing Meadows. That Sept. 1 loss was the latest in a series of disappointing-for-her results in recent months for Gauff, a 20-year-old American who recently dropped from No. 3 to No. 6 in the WTA rankings.
NBA
Sixers have mayor backing
The Philadelphia 76ers have a new teammate in their bid to build a new US$1.3 billion arena downtown. Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker on Wednesday announced that she has forged a deal with the team’s owners to keep the NBA franchise in town and would send it to the city council. The decision comes despite objections from nearby Chinatown residents and just weeks after New Jersey’s governor offered US$400 million in tax breaks to build the site across the river in Camden. “This is an historic agreement,” Parker said in a video posted on the social platform X. “I wholeheartedly believe this is the right deal for the people of Philadelphia. To the people of Chinatown, please know that I hear you. We have the best Chinatown in the United States, and I am committed to working together to support it.” Team owners say their planned 76 Place would improve a struggling retail corridor near City Hall and capitalize on the city’s public transit.
‘SOURCE OF PRIDE’: Newspapers rushed out special editions and the government sent their congratulations as Shohei Ohtani became the first player to enter the 50-50 club Japan reacted with incredulity and pride yesterday after Shohei Ohtani became the first player in Major League Baseball to record 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in a single season. The Los Angeles Dodgers star from Japan made history with a seventh-inning homer in a 20-4 victory over the Marlins in Miami. “We would like to congratulate him from the bottom of our heart,” top government spokesman Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters in Tokyo. “We sincerely hope Mr Ohtani, who has already accomplished feat after feat and carved out a new era, will thrive further,” he added. The landmark achievement dominated Japanese morning news
When Wang Tao ran away from home aged 17 to become a professional wrestler, he knew it would be a hard slog to succeed in China’s passionate but underdeveloped scene. Years later, he has endured family disapproval, countless side gigs and thousands of hours of brutal training to become China’s “Belt and Road Champion” — but the struggle is far from over. Despite a promising potential domestic market, the Chinese pro wrestling community has been battling for recognition and financial stability for decades. “I have done all kinds of jobs [on the side]... Because in the end, it is very
No team in the CPBL can surpass the Taipei Dome attendance record set by the CTBC Brothers, except when the Brothers team up with Taiwanese rock band Mayday. A record-high 40,000 fans turned out at the indoor baseball venue on Saturday for Brothers veteran Chou Szu-chi’s first farewell game, which was followed by a mini post-game concert featuring Mayday. This broke the previous CPBL record of 34,506 set by the Brothers in early last month, when K-pop singer Hyuna performed after the game, and the dome’s overall record of 37,890 set in early March, which featured the Brothers and the
With a quivering finger, England Subbuteo veteran Rudi Peterschinigg conceded the free-kick that sent his country’s World Cup quarter-final into extra-time before smashing his plastic goalkeeper on the floor in frustration. In the genteel southern English town of Tunbridge Wells, 300 elite players have gathered to play the game they love. “I won’t say this is the best weekend I’ve ever had in my life, but it’s certainly in the top two,” said Hughie Best, 58, who flew in from Perth, Australia, to compete and commentate at the event. Tunbridge Wells is the “spiritual home” of Subbuteo, which was invented there in 1946