■ Athletics
Denise Lewis retires
Denise Lewis, UK Olympic heptathlon gold medallist at the 2000 Sydney Games, has quit athletics. The 32-year-old had been expected to compete at both the World Championships in six weeks and chase a third title in the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne next March. Lewis claimed her first major title at the 1994 Commonwealth Games and retained the title four years later in Kuala Lumpur. The victory in Malaysia came only weeks after winning the European title in Budapest and the following year, as she shrugged off injury problems, she finished runner-up at the World Championships. Then came her Olympic Games success in Sydney. Lewis has been hit by injury since then and it was three years before she contested her next competition, finishing fifth at the World Championships.
■ Soccer
Collina gets another season
Top referee Pierluigi Collina will be allowed to carry on for another season, Italian football federation (FIGC) president Franco Carraro confirmed on Wednesday after a meeting of their federation council. It was agreed to make an exception for the 45-year-old Collina, as the FIGC proceed to change the retirement age for international referees from 45 to 46. Collina will be able to handle Italian league and Champions League matches up to June 30 next year but will be ruled out of the 2006 World Cup. Voted world referee of the year five times, Collina has been a referee for 28 years. The pinnacle of his career was when he officiated at the 2002 World Cup final between Brazil and Germany. Instantly recognisable for his bald head and bulging eyes, Collina is a celebrity in his own right in Italy, often appearing on television shows.
■ Baseball
Japan must decide
Japan professional baseball yesterday said it has tentatively agreed to take part in the inaugural 16-nation World Baseball Classic subject to the approval of the Japanese baseball players' association. Japanese baseball officials were responding to an end-of the month deadline set by the US' Major League Baseball (MLB) for Japanese owners and players to decide on whether to take part in the World-Cup style tournament set for March next year. The Japanese players' association will hold a meeting on July 22 to decide whether to take part. MLB and its players' association have already approved the tournament. MLB officials and union traveled to Japan earlier this month and set an end-of-the-month deadline for Japan to reach a decision. MLB wants to make an announcement about the tournament on July 11, the day before the All-Star game in Detroit.
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