Favorites India and second seeds Taiwan will meet in the Asian Hopman Cup final after easy victories in their last league outings yesterday.
India and Taiwan scored 3-0 wins over Japan and Thailand, respectively, to top their three-team groups to gain places in today's final.
The winner of the inaugural tournament will get a direct entry for the main Hopman Cup to be played in Australia next January.
In group B, Taiwan's Hwang I-hsuan, ranked 316 in the world drubbed her opponent Nudnida Lauangnam, who is ranked five places lower, 6-2, 6-1. Ti Chen ranked 310 won the men's singles 6-1, 6-4 against Weerapat Doakmaiklee ranked more than 500 places lower.
The Taiwanese pair, who scored an easy 3-0 win over the Philippines on Thursday, enjoyed a walk-over in the mixed doubles.
India scored an expected win over Japan in group A as Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna wrapped up their matches in straights sets and then ensured a clean slate by winning the mixed doubles.
Mirza, the highest-ranked player among both men and women in the championship at 67, scored a 7-5, 6-2 win over 245th-ranked Tomoko Yonemura in 75 minutes.
"We have to watch out in the final tomorrow," said Mirza. "[Taiwan] will be tough and we can't take things easy."
Bopanna, ranked 259 in the world, clinched the decisive lead for India with a 7-6 (7-2), 6-2 win over 488th-ranked Yuichi Sugita.
A hard-fought last game of the match saw 10 deuces but Bopanna managed his second service break of the second set to ensure the match did not stretch beyond 77 minutes.
"I got breaks when I needed them and it was tough for him to break my serve," said Bopanna, 26, a last-minute replacement for Leander Paes in the Indian team.
Mirza and Bopanna won the mixed doubles 6-0, 6-1 against the Japanese pair, who had lost 2-1 to China on Friday.
China, who had lost 3-0 to India on the opening day, put up an inconsistent display but still overcame an unimpressive Japan under lights in the second tie of group A.
In group B on Friday, Thailand beat the Philippines 2-1.
Laungnam scored an impressive 6-4, 6-4 win over Czarina Arevalo and Doakmaiklee overcame Patrick Tierro 6-7 (4-7), 6-3, 7-5 in the men's singles to ensure a decisive lead.
SSC Napoli’s Italian Serie A title hopes suffered a late setback on Sunday when they were held to a 2-2 draw at home against Genoa, setting up a thrilling season finale with closest rivals Inter just one point behind. The hosts remain top with 78 points, holding a slim lead over Inter, who won 2-0 at Torino earlier on Sunday, with two rounds remaining. To make matters worse for Napoli, midfielder Stanislav Lobotka, struggling with an ankle injury, was forced off just minutes after the match began. Scott McTominay delivered a perfect pass into the box where Romelu Lukaku got
Harry Kane opened the scoring ahead of lifting his first career silverware as Bayern Munich beat Borussia Moenchengladbach 2-0, with veteran Thomas Mueller playing his last home game for the club. Bayern officially won the title on May 4 when defending champions Bayer Leverkusen were held to a 2-2 draw at Freiburg, but were presented with the Bundesliga shield in front of their home fans at full-time. Dripping wet after being showered with beer by teammates, Kane said the title win was “an incredible feeling,” and hoped it would be “the first of many.” “It’s been lot of hard work, a lot of
INTER AWAIT: Superb saves by PSG ’keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma inspired the victory, as Arsenal were punished for misses, including one by Bukayo Saka Arsenal on Wednesday fell short on the big stage again as their painful UEFA Champions League semi-final exit against Paris Saint-Germain left Mikel Arteta to rue his club’s failure to provide him with enough attacking options. Arteta’s side were unable to reach the Champions League final for the first time in 19 years as PSG clinched a tense 2-1 win at Parc des Princes. Trailing 1-0 from last week’s first leg in London, the Gunners made a blistering start to the second leg, but could not convert their chances as Gianluigi Donnarumma’s superb saves inspired PSG’s 3-1 aggregate victory. Arsenal were punished for
Taiwanese e-sports veteran Lin “ET” Chia-hung yesterday successfully defended his King of Fighters XV title at this year’s Evolution Championship Series: Japan (EVO Japan), securing his second consecutive championship. Lin claimed victory with a 3-1 win over Japanese pro gamer “mok” in the grand final, repeating his earlier 3-1 win against the same opponent in the winners’ final. The 40-year-old earned a ￥1 million (US$6,897) cash prize at the two-day tournament, which drew 294 competitors. Mok, Lin’s toughest rival in the bracket, took home ￥400,000 as runner-up. Lin remains undefeated in match sets against mok in King of Fighters XV, holding a 10-0 record,
RSS