SOCCER
Socceroos coach resigns
Graham Arnold has resigned as head coach of the Australian men’s soccer team after six years in charge and following two recent poor performances by the Socceroos in their 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign. Soccer Australia yesterday said that Arnold advised them earlier this week of his decision to resign. It said the organization would begin a search for a new head coach. Arnold had served as the head coach of the team since August 2018, marking his second term with the side after a brief interim role from 2006 to 2007. His departure comes after the Socceroos picked up just one point from a possible six in their opening two games of the third round of World Cup qualifying. The team lost 1-0 to Bahrain on the Gold Coast in Australia and was held scoreless in a 0-0 draw away to Indonesia. “After deep reflection, my gut has told me it’s time for change, both for myself and the program,” Arnold said in a statement issued by Football Australia.
HORSE RACING
Freehold Raceway to shut
Freehold Raceway, the oldest horse racing track in the US, is shutting down at the end of the year. Track officials made the announcement on Thursday after a meeting with employees. Horse racing has been conducted at the half-mile track in central New Jersey since the 1830s. Harness racing became the staple when The Monmouth County Agricultural Society was formed in late 1853, and it held harness racing the following year at an annual fair at Freehold Raceway.
GOLF
LIV golfers Ryder eligible
LIV Golf players would still be eligible for the Ryder Cup and the PGA Championship, the PGA of America announced on Thursday in a move made to ensure access to top talent. Since the early days of the upstart Saudi-backed series, the US PGA Tour has banned LIV players from competing in its events, making it hard for LIV players to earn world ranking points and qualify for majors. However, PGA and LIV players have faced each other at major tournaments in recent years, with LIV’s Brooks Koepka winning last year’s PGA Championship for his fifth major crown and receiving a captain’s pick place on last year’s US Ryder Cup team. “To ensure the PGA Championship will continue to deliver the strongest field in golf and that the US Ryder Cup team will continue to have access to the best American players, the PGA of America board has determined that LIV Golf players will be eligible for both,” the PGA of America statement said.
GOLF
Baldwin leads BMW PGA
England’s Matthew Baldwin eclipsed a powerful field to lead the BMW PGA Championship by one stroke after the first round at Wentworth on Thursday. Baldwin signed for a seven-under round of 65 to top the leaderboard from Denmark’s Niklas Norgaard and Belgium’s Thomas Detry who carded six-under rounds. Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy was one of 11 players on five-under although the former world number one would remember his opening round after snapping a club. McIlroy described it as a “weird feeling” after the bizarre incident in the par-five 12th where the clubhead detached from the shaft of his nine iron while playing his approach. Incredibly, McIlroy still birdied the hole.
‘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