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.
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to
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