Marco Fu of Hong Kong remaind on course to become the first Asian snooker player to win the World Championship when he outplayed Scotland's Alan McManus 13-7 on Monday in Sheffield, England and reached the quarterfinal.
Leading 10-7 overnight, 25-year-old Fu won three frames in just 43 minutes at the Crucible Theater and now faces Stephen Lee for a place in the semifinal.
"You have got to bring the game overseas to try and popularize the sport," said Fu, who has taken over from Thailand's James Wattana as the top Asian player.
PHOTO: AFP
"James was the best Asian player ever because he got to number three in the world. And he also twice reached the semifinals here.
"I don't think there are too many more top players in Hong Kong at the moment. But there are a lot of good youngsters in China and in two or three years I'm sure you'll see a couple of them breaking through."
Fu's success in snooker's biggest tournament comes at a time when Asian sports is reeling because of the severe acute respiratory ayndrome (SARS) outbreak which has hit China and Hong Kong.
"We've been going through a tough time lately," he said in reference to his family back home. "And hopefully, if I can keep playing well, it will keep them happy."
SARS has infected more than 4,000 people, mostly in Asia but also in 20 other countries. More than 300 people have died.
As a result, sports has been badly affected. Many events in Asia have been canceled and fears have also spread to Europe.
Aston Villa and Everton in England and Germany's Bayern Munich canceled postseason tours to Asia, and Portugal withdrew from two friendly matches in South Korea and Japan scheduled for June.
Next month's World Badminton Championships in Birmingham, England, are likely to be called off because they are usually dominated in Asian players. But the World Table Tennis Championships in Paris the following week are still on track.
Shohei Ohtani and his wife arrived in South Korea with his Los Angeles Dodgers teammates yesterday ahead of their season-opening games with the San Diego Padres next week. Ohtani, wearing a black training suit and a cap backwards, was the first Dodgers player who showed up at the arrival gate of Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul. His wife, Mamiko Tanaka, walked several steps behind him. As a crowd of fans, many wearing Dodgers jerseys, shouted his name and cheered slogans, Ohtani briefly waved his hand, but did not say anything before he entered a limousine bus with his wife. Fans held placards
Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals at the All England Open, beating Kim Ga-eun of South Korea 21-17, 21-15. With the win, Tai earned a semi-final against China’s He Bingjiao, who beat Michelle Li of Canada 21-9, 21-9. Defending champion An Se-young defeated India’s P.V. Sindhu 21-19, 21-11. An on Wednesday cruised into the second round, unlike last year’s men’s winner, Li Shifeng, who suffered a shock defeat. South Korea’s An, the world No. 1, overcame Taiwan’s Hsu Wen-chi 21-17, 21-16 to set up the match against Sindhu. In other women’s singles matches, Taiwan’s Sung Shuo-yun lost 21-18, 24-22 against Carolina Marin of
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