Singapore caused the first upset at the Sudirman Cup world team championships yesterday with a whitewash victory over Sweden in Division 2 Group A.
The Swedes, relegated from Group 1 in Beijing two years ago, were seeded No.8, but lost the first three matches to the 11th-seeded Singapore, with Li Li clinching victory with a battling 21-17, 14-21, 21-17 win over Sara Persson in the women's singles.
Hendri Kurniawan Saoutra and Li Yujia claimed the first point with a 21-14, 21-16 victory over Henri Hurskainen and Elin Bergblom in the mixed doubles and Kendrick Lee made it 2-0 with a 23-21, 21-14 win over Magnus Sahlberg in the men's singles.
PHOTO: AFP
Hendra Wijaya and Ronadl Susilo then added the men's doubles and Jiang Yanmei and Li Yuija completed the clean sweep in the women's doubles.
In the other tie in Division 2 Group A, Taiwan earned a 4-1 win over the higher-ranked number 13 seeds Germany. The Germans claimed the first point with Xu Huaiwen defeating Cheng Shao-chieh in the women's singles, but Taiwan's Hu Chung-syan and Tsai Chia-hsin won the men's doubles and Hsieh Yu-hsing beat Roman Spitko in a tight men's singles.
In one of the tightest matches of the first session, Hsieh pulled off a 12-21, 25-23, 17-21 triumph and then Cheng Wen-hsing and Chien Yu-chin put the result beyond doubt for the No. 14 seeds with a 21-12, 21-11 win over Juliane Schenk and Nicole Grether in the women's doubles.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
Japanese players are moving to English soccer in record numbers and more look set to follow with clubs attracted by their quality, strong work ethic and value for money. Kaoru Mitoma is the standout talent of five Japanese players in the English Premier League, with eight more in the Championship and two in League One. Liverpool midfielder Wataru Endo, the captain of Japan, believes his compatriots are “being held in higher esteem” by English clubs compared with the past. “The staff at Liverpool ask me about lots of Japanese players, not necessarily with a view to a transfer, but just saying this or
Taiwan yesterday survived Bosnia and Herzegovina to win their Davis Cup World Group I tie at the Taipei Tennis Center. The tight series started on Saturday with world No. 123 Jason Tseng losing 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 to Mirza Basic in the opening singles matchup. However, teammate Tony Wu kept the tie even, dominating world No. 86 Damir Dzumhur 6-2, 6-1. Yesterday, 24-year-old Ray Ho and partner 25-year-old Hsu Yu-hsiou kept up the momentum, making short work of Basic and Nerman Fatic, winning 6-3, 6-4. Tseng then suffered another defeat, losing 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 to Dzumhur in a brutal match that lasted more than two