■ Ski Jump
Ahonen sets hill record
Finland's Janne Ahonen soared to a hill record in Willingen, Germany on Sunday and won a World Cup ski jumping event for the 11th time in 13 tries this season. Ahonen was sixth after his first leap of 135m, but then landed a second jump of 152m in front of 25,000 spectators. The Finn was awarded 279.1 points, while Austrian Martin Hoellwarth earned 274.8 off jumps of 137m and 146.5m. Ahonen's second jump broke the hill record set by Poland's Adam Malysz by a half-meter, but television replays seemed to show he actually jumped further. With the wind conditions optimal for the first time in two days at Willingen, Ahonen appeared to land well past the 150m mark on the slope. His jump was first ruled 155.5m, then reduced although many observers felt he clearly jumped further.
■ Speedskating
Two world records set
Shani Davis of Chicago broke two world records in Salt Lake City, Utah on Sunday at the North American long track qualifying meet for the World All-Around Championships. Davis won the men's 1,500m in 1 minute, 43.33 seconds, .62 seconds faster than Olympic gold medal winner Derek Parra, who set the mark at the 2002 Salt Lake City Games. Davis also set the mark for overall points with 149.359. Fellow American Chad Hedrick had 150.478 at the worlds last year in Norway.
■ Cycling
Bates wins more gold
Katherine Bates of Australia won her third gold medal in three days when she won the women's scratch race at the track cycling World Cup in Manchester, England on Sunday. Olympian Bates won the points race on Friday and the individual pursuit on Saturday. Following Bates were second-placed Rebecca Quinn of the US, and third-placed Virginie Moinard of France. Britain's team sprint trio bounced back from its Olympic disappointment. Chris Hoy, Jason Queally and Craig Maclean won in 44.493 seconds.
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
EYEING TOP SPOT: A victory in today’s final against Storm Hunter and Katerina Siniakova would return 38-year-old Hsieh Su-wei to the world No. 1 ranking Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens on Thursday secured a spot in the women’s doubles finals at the BNP Paribas Open after dispatching Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez 6-2, 7-6 (7/5) at Indian Wells. Hsieh and her Belgian partner Mertens, who won the Australian Open in late January, coasted through the first set after breaking their opponents’ serve twice, but found the going tougher in the second. Both pairs could only muster one break point over 12 games, neither of which were converted, leaving the set to be decided by a tiebreaker. Hsieh and Mertens took a 6-3 lead,
DOUBLES PAYBACK: Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Martens avenged their defeat in the quarters at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open against Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei on Wednesday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California. Hsieh and partner Elise Mertens of Belgium dispatched Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani 6-1, 6-4 to set up a clash against Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez for a spot in the final of the WTA 1000 tournament. Hsieh and Martens made a blistering start to their rematch after they lost to Schuurs and Stefani in the quarter-finals at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open last month, winning three games without reply at the start of the first set