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.
Hong Kong-based cricket team Hung See this weekend found success in their matches in Taiwan, even if none of the results went their way. Hung See played the Chairman’s XI on Saturday morning, the Daredevils that afternoon and PCCT yesterday, with all three home teams winning. The team for Chinese players at the Happy Valley-based Craigengower Cricket Club sends teams on tour to “spread the game of cricket.” This weekend was Hung See’s second trip to Taiwan after visiting Tainan in 2016. “The club has been traveling to all parts of the world since 1982 and the annual tradition continues [with the Taiwan
‘TOUGH TO BREATHE’: Tunisian three-time Grand Slam finalist Ons Jabeur suffered an asthma attack in her 7-5, 6-3 victory over Colombia’s Camila Osorio Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei yesterday cruised into the second round of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while Iga Swiatek romped into a third-round women’s singles showdown with Emma Raducanu and Taylor Fritz was just as emphatic in his pursuit of a maiden Grand Slam title. Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia, the third seeds, defeated Slovakia’s Tereza Mihalikova and Olivia Nicholls of Britain 7-5, 6-2 in 90 minutes in Melbourne. Ostapenko and Hsieh — who won the women’s doubles and mixed doubles at the Australian Open last year — hit 25 winners and converted five of nine break points to set
HARD TO SAY GOODBYE: After Coco Gauff dispatched Belinda Bencic in the fourth round, she wrote ‘RIP TikTok USA’ and drew a broken heart on a television camera lens Defending champion Hsieh Su-wei of Taiwan yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while compatriot Chan Hao-ching on Saturday dominated her opponents in the second round, as world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka swept into the quarter-finals. Third seeds Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia toppled Hungary’s Timea Babos and Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US 6-4, 6-3, hitting 24 winners and converting three of seven break points in 1 hour, 18 minutes at 1573 Arena. Although rivals at last year’s Australian Open — where Hsieh and Belgium’s Elise Mertens beat Ostapenko and Ukraine’s Lyudmyla Kichenok 6-1, 7-5
Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei yesterday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while Coco Gauff’s dreams of a first women’s singles title in Melbourne were crushed in the quarter-finals by Paula Badosa. World No. 2 Alexander Zverev was ruffled by a stray feather in his men’s singles quarter-final, but he refocused to beat 12th seed Tommy Paul and reach the semi-finals. Third seeds Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia defeated Elena-Gabriela Ruse of Romania and Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine 6-2, 5-7, 7-5 in 2 hours, 20 minutes to advance the semi-finals. Hsieh and Ostapenko converted eight of 14 break
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