■ GOLF
Players enter Hall of Fame
Curtis Strange won consecutive US Open titles and Hubert Green major victories in the US Open and US PGA Championship. On Monday they were inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in St. Augustine, Florida. Inducted with them was Pak Se-ri, at 30 the youngest player inducted into the Hall of Fame. Beyond her five majors and 24 career victories on the US LPGA Tour, Pak became a pioneer for young players from South Korea. Kel Nagle of Australia, whose 76 victories around the world included the 1960 British Open at St. Andrews, was elected through the veteran's category. Inducted posthumously were golf course architect Charles Blair Macdonald and three-time British Amateur champion Joe Carr, both through the lifetime achievement category.
■ Rugby Union
It's D-Day for Henry
New Zealand rugby officials will put the World Cup performance of All Black coach Graham Henry under the microscope today following the team's shock quarter-final exit from the World Cup. The New Zealand Rugby Union said its rugby committee would meet to conduct performance reviews of Henry and his assistants Wayne Smith and Steve Hansen. The committee will report tomorrow to the NZRU board, which will decide on the next step in appointing a coach. All Black coaches have traditionally paid the price for failure at the World Cup, although there was considerable public support for Henry to keep his job immediately after the All Blacks loss to France last month. Canterbury Crusaders coach Robbie Deans is the favorite to take over from Henry after announcing he is keen to coach the All Blacks.
■ Tennis
Hawk-Eye use increased
Players will have more chances to challenge line-calls using video replays at January's Australian Open in Melbourne, a move organizers hope will help tennis create a more consistent policy regarding Hawk-Eye technology. Next year's Australian Open will adopt a "three-plus-one challenge system" for Hawk-Eye, tournament director Craig Tiley said yesterday. "That means players get three incorrect challenges during a set and a fourth challenge if it goes into a tiebreaker," Tiley said. This year's tournament had a two-plus-one system "Under the new system it will be highly unlikely that players run out of challenges," Tiley said. Australian Open organizers will extend the use of Hawk-Eye to Vodafone Arena for next year's tournament, in addition to the main Rod Laver Arena.
■ Swimming
BOC wants investigation
The Brazilian Olympic Committee (BOC) requested a criminal investigation on the doping tests taken by swimmer Rebeca Gusmao during the Pan American Games in July. In a petition sent to Rio de Janeiro's Public Safety Department on Monday, BOC president Carlos Arthur Nuzman requested "an investigation into eventual crimes" on the procedures involving Gusmao's tests. Gusmao, a double gold medalist at the Pan Ams, was temporarily suspended last week by FINA for testing positive for testosterone in an out-of-competition test on July 13. Then the Brazilian swimming confederation said there was evidence Gusmao's urine samples during the games were altered. The laboratory that conducted the tests said the samples they received appeared to belong to different donors.
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