Jul 10, 2020
England's Dom Bess, left, fields the ball during the third day of the first cricket Test match between England and West Indies, at the Ageas Bowl in Southampton, England, Friday, July 10, 2020. (Adrian Dennis/Pool via AP)
On Friday, two Asian powerhouses meet in Qatar. Saudi Arabia and South Korea have had some titanic clashes over the years — not least when the Taeguk Warriors lost 2-0 in Dammam, Saudi Arabia, in 2005, which resulted in head coach Jo Bonfrere losing his job despite the team qualifying for the World Cup. Just four years later, Korea went on to win in the Kingdom and qualify for the 2010 tournament in South Africa. Now they meet in Qatar in a friendly game that was supposed to be preparation for January’s Asian Cup. However, due to conflict in the region, it has been postponed from January to the following December. It leaves a big hole in the calendar not just for Korea, but all the national teams that had planned to participate. It also creates uncertainties for interim coach Robert Moreno, whose contract runs through the end of November, — with the possibility of an extension through to the Asian Cup and the possibility of permanent appointment, if all went well. Now there is no tournament to prepare for, removing some of the urgency for the coach and players. Indeed, a number of
Former South Korean football star Park Ji-sung has reunited with legendary coach Guus Hiddink to celebrate his 80th birthday, bringing back memories of the country's historic run at the 2002 FIFA World Cup more than two decades ago. On Wednesday, Park's wife, Kim Min-ji, shared a photo on her social media account showing herself, Park and Hiddink smiling together. Alongside the photo, she posted a heartfelt message celebrating the Dutch coach's milestone birthday and reflecting on the lasting impact of the 2002 tournament. "What were you doing during the 2002 World Cup?" Kim wrote, recalling a question that she said could instantly spark an hourlong conversation among Koreans old enough to remember the tournament. She said the question holds a special place in the collective memory of South Koreans, regardless of where or how they first met. According to Kim, even people who rarely talk about themselves cannot resist sharing their personal memories when someone brings up the 2002 World Cup. "If someone mentions the 2002 World Cup at a gathering of Koreans, no matter how unexpected the tim
Franz Wagner put up a season-high 33 points, Desmond Bane and Wendell Carter Jr. contributed key hoops to two lead-stretching runs in the second half and the Orlando Magic snapped a four-game losing streak with a 107-100 road triumph over the Sacramento Kings on Tuesday.
Giannis Antetokounmpo had 30 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Miami Heat to a 115-109 victory over the Utah Jazz on Tuesday night in Salt Lake City.
Jordan Goodwin had 18 points on six 3-pointers, Devin Booker added 17 points and the host Phoenix Suns made a season-high 22 3-pointers in a 133-110 blowout of the Los Angeles Clippers on Tuesday.
MANILA, Philippines — La Salle Green Hills (LSGH) standout Behrouz Mohammad "Madi" Mojdeh served immediate notice of his might, capturing a gold and a silver medal as the NCAA Season 102 swimming competitions kicked off at the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex. Mojdeh joined forces with Rodevic Gonzalvo, Gerald Esquivel, and Ram Ubiadas to seize the gold medal in the 4x50m medley relay. The LSGH quartet clocked a blistering 1 minute and 51.82 seconds to secure top honors, outclassing Colegio de San Juan de Letran, which settled for second place at 1:55.25. "I felt really good during the preliminaries, especially since it was my first time competing in the NCAA finals. But during warm-up, I started feeling a little heavy," Mojdeh shared. Mojdeh added a silver medal in the 200m backstroke with a time of 2:17.83, finishing behind teammate Titus Rafael Sia, who clocked an impressive 2:14.96. Aishel Cid Evangelista of Emilio Aguinaldo College placed third with 2:18.79. "I had to quickly reset for my 200m backstroke finals because we had very little recovery time. I felt strong at the start, although I rushed some of my turns. I'm glad I still managed another personal best, a podium finish, and a relay gold with my teammates," Mojdeh said. Mojdeh aims to add more hardware on Day 2 of the tournament, where he is set to compete in the 400m freestyle and 200m breaststroke. "I have the 400m freestyle and 200m breaststroke next. Hopefully, I can carry today's lessons into those races and perform even better," he added. LSGH teammate Kristian Yugo Cabana also bagged a silver medal in the 200m Individual Medley (IM) after submitting a time of 2:11.73. "I'm really happy with my performance in the 200m IM because I improved my time a lot. I tried pushing on the breaststroke leg, and it gave me good momentum going into the freestyle and finishing strong," Cabana said. This marked Cabana's debut appearance in the NCAA. "It was also my first event in the NCAA, so the excitement and adrenaline were definitely there. However, I was disappointed with my 100m freestyle. My two events were scheduled back-to-back, and I felt that I didn't have enough time to fully recover," Cabana admitted. "I believe that if I had even 15 more minutes to rest and prepare, I could have had a better chance of making the podium. Still, that's part of racing, and I have to learn how to manage these situations better." Like Mojdeh, Cabana faces another pair of events on the second day of competition. "I have another set of back-to-back events, so I'm hoping we'll have a little more recovery time to properly swim down and prepare for the next race. I'm determined to bounce back and give everything I have." Earlier, Mojdeh narrowly missed the podium in the 200m IM, finishing fourth with a time of 2:13.42. "In my 200m IM, I tried a different strategy by pushing harder on my backstroke leg, but I felt the fatigue during the breaststroke and freestyle. I also glided into the finish, which I think cost me a podium spot. I was disappointed, but I'm still happy I achieved a new personal best," Mojdeh reflected. TMT
NEW YORK — The Boston Celtics beat Philadelphia 123-101 to replace the 76ers at the top of the NBA Eastern Conference as Jayson Tatum outshone his former teammate Jaylen Brown in a much-hyped showdown Tuesday. Brown's first regular season clash against the Celtics team he called home for a decade played out against reports of a beef with his 2024 NBA title-winning partner Tatum. The two men have exchanged cryptic public barbs, apparently disagreeing over Tatum's knowledge of -- or role in -- Brown's shock trade this summer to the Sixers. Tatum greeted Brown moments before tip-off but was seemingly blanked, and the game began in feisty fashion, with a fired-up Brown making two steals but conceding two fouls in the opening minutes. But Brown was ultimately restricted to just 13 points on a frustrating night, against Tatum's 21, as Boston weathered a Philadelphia third-quarter comeback and rode to victory. "No game is bigger than the other, definitely in the regular season, you know -- it's one game," said Tatum. "The hoopla is over, and now we get all ready for tomorrow." The Celtics took an early lead, even as the Philadelphia crowd booed Tatum's every move, jeering loudly as he wildly misplaced a pass under pressure from VJ Edgecombe. But as the game settled into its rhythm it was veteran Paul George — who went the other direction, from Philadelphia to Boston, as part of the Brown package — who dominated. George racked up 36 points across the night, on superb shooting form including six three-pointers from 11 attempts. In the third quarter, Tatum soared above LeBron James for a driving dunk. But Philadelphia rallied, levelling the score at 76-76 and again at 79-79 with a monster Maxey three-pointer. Boston regrouped and raced out of sight down the final stretch, with George paying credit to Tatum for soaking up the opposition's focus, leaving him free to score. "Obviously JT demands so much attention. Playing off him has allowed me to get a lot of easy opportunities," he said. "At this point in my career, there's only one thing that I want to do, and that's win. And so, for him, especially for JT, (my role is) to alleviate any pressure, any friction. "I'm here to help you. I'm in a way here to serve you, make you become the best player that you can become." The battle of the top two teams in the East saw Boston move to 9-2 with a fourth straight win, with Philadelphia now 9-3. Also in the NBA on Tuesday, the defending champion New York Knicks thrashed the struggling Milwaukee Bucks 117-85. Jalen Brunson scored 23 and Karl-Anthony Towns continued his fine form with 21 points plus 16 rebounds. The Bucks slump to 1-10, having lost their former star man Giannis Antetokounmpo this summer. The Celtics had initially attempted to trade Brown for Antetokounmpo, kick-starting the saga, before Antetokounmpo ultimately moved to the Miami Heat and Brown ended up at Philadelphia.
Paul George scored 36 points against his former team to highlight the Boston Celtics' 123-101 road victory over the Philadelphia 76ers on Tuesday night.
Karl-Anthony Towns continued his season-opening streak of double-doubles Tuesday night and the host New York Knicks rode dominant second- and fourth-quarter runs to a 117-85 win over the Milwaukee Bucks.
ANTIPOLO—Scottie Thompson and coach Tim Cone immediately shifted their focus after Barangay Ginebra survived San Miguel Beer in the PBA Governors’ Cup quarterfinals. And it isn’t Rondae-Hollis Jefferson and TNT just yet. Thompson, Cone and the Gin Kings turned back the Beermen, 110-94, on Tuesday at Ynares Center in the deciding Game 5 of their
LOS ANGELES — Wimbledon champion Linda Noskova upset Coco Gauff to storm into the last four of the WTA Finals at Indian Wells on Tuesday as Jessica Pegula reignited her challenge with victory over Ukraine's Marta Kostyuk. Czech eighth seed Noskova took advantage of a shaky serving performance by Gauff to complete a 6-3, 6-3 victory in group one to book her place in the semi-finals. Noskova broke Gauff's serve four times on her way to claiming the first set, and then grabbed the decisive break early in the second before sealing victory with her ninth ace of the match. "I'm very happy, obviously every win counts in this competition," Noskova said afterwards. "Coco is a big competitor so I had to be ready for everything that would come my way today. "You have to play to the very last point with Coco because she can always help herself out with her serve and fighting spirit. I felt like I played great to put some pressure on her," added Noskova, who defeated Ukraine's Kostyuk in her opening group match on Sunday. The defeat leaves Gauff and Pegula vying for the last remaining semi-final berth from group one. Pegula, beaten by Gauff in her opener Sunday, overcame a topsy-turvy second set to defeat Kostyuk 6-2, 7-5. Kostyuk is eliminated following Tuesday's defeat. "I feel like I'm playing well," Pegula said. "I felt my match against Coco was a super high-level match and that was a great match today. "It's so tricky with her because you just don't know what's gonna come — she will just step in and inject pace, she'll come and kamikaze the net, she goes for returns or her serve can get hot. That's what makes it difficult to play her." The 32-year-old American had looked in complete control in the first set, breaking Kostyuk in the first and seventh games to take the opener 6-2. A chaotic second set began with four consecutive service breaks before Kostyuk held for a 3-2 lead. The Ukrainian then had a break point in the next game but was unable to take advantage as Pegula held for 3-3. The next four games went with serve but Pegula finally grabbed the decisive break in the 11th game. She converted her fourth break point to take a 6-5 lead before holding for the match, sealing victory when Kostyuk smacked a forehand long.
DAKAR, Senegal—The burst of speed that carried her to a silver medal clocked faster than Naomi Marjorie Cesar’s realization of what she had just accomplished. “When I crossed the line, I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I just medaled at the Youth Olympics,’” she said. Cesar, fully certain she wouldn’t finish off the podium here,