Unseeded Japanese Kenichi Tago shocked Danish seventh seed Joachim Persson 16-21, 21-14, 21-13 in the men’s singles first round at the world badminton championships yesterday.
Tago fought back from a game down to win in 57 minutes on a day when the championships were hit by an (A)H1N1 virus threat, with a Malaysian coach quarantined with swine flu symptoms.
Eight people have died of swine flu in India, with hundreds infected. The southern state of Andhra Pradesh, of which Hyderabad is the capital, has recorded 76 positive cases.
PHOTO: AFP
Ninth-seeded Hsieh Yu-hsing of Taiwan scraped past India’s Arvind Bhat 21-14, 19-21, 24-22 in just over an hour in another first round match.
Indonesia’s former Olympic and world champion Taufik Hidayat and Chinese second seed Chen Jin were scheduled to open their campaigns later.
Also yesterday, Chen Hsiao-huan of Taiwan lost to Hong Kong’s Wang Chen 21-14, 19-21, 24-22, and in mixed doubles play, Taiwan’s Fang Chieh’min and Cheng Wen-hsing were defeated by China’s Zhang Yawen and Xie Zhongbo.
The championships are being played under tight security after England pulled out citing a “specific terrorist threat,” following media reports the event could be targeted by the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba.
The group has been blamed for the raid on Mumbai in November in which 166 people were killed.
The 2025 International Federation of Bodybuilding and Fitness (IFBB) Mr Universe Chinese Taipei competition began yesterday at Xinzhuang Gymnasium in New Taipei City, with more than 150 athletes showcasing their physiques. It is the first time in 16 years that the IFBB has held a competition in Taiwan, the last being the 2009 World Games in Kaohsiung. The professional bodybuilding contest is bringing together athletes from Taiwan and 16 other countries, including Malaysia, Japan, the US, France and Mexico. IFBB Chinese Taipei president Hsu An-chin said in an interview yesterday that the event came to Taiwan thanks to his lobbying efforts at last
Top seeds Alexander Zverev of Germany and American Coco Gauff on Tuesday advanced to the third round of the Canadian Open after both players were pushed hard by their opponents. World No. 3 Zverev, playing in his first match since his first-round loss at Wimbledon, was far from his best, but emerged with a 7-6 (8/6), 6-4 win over Adam Walton under the lights in Toronto. Momentum shifted firmly in Zverev’s favor when he won a 52-shot rally in the first set tiebreak and he sealed the win on a double fault by the Australian in the second set. “It was a very
Cycling great Marianne Vos won the opening stage of the women’s Tour de France with a brilliant late attack on Saturday. The 38-year-old Dutchwoman overtook her Visma–Lease a Bike teammate Pauline Ferrand-Prevot approaching the line, and then held off Mauritian rider Kim Le Court in the closing meters of a grueling uphill finish. Ferrand-Prevot looked set to win the stage, but the Frenchwoman attacked too early from 600m and could not withstand the late surge from Vos, who punched the air with her left fist as she crossed the line. Moments later, Vos hugged an exhausted-looking Ferrand-Prevot, the Paris-Roubaix winner. “I didn’t know if
TAIWANESE EXITS: Fellow Australian Christopher O’Connell joined Tristan Schoolkate as a winner following his 6-1, 6-2 defeat of Tseng Hsin-chun Australian qualifier Tristan Schoolkate on Monday dispatched rising Brazilian talent Joao Fonseca 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 at the ATP Toronto Masters, ensuring a breakthrough into the world top 100. The 24-year-old from Perth moved to 98th in the ongoing live rankings as he claimed his biggest career victory by knocking out the ATP NextGen champion from November last year. Schoolkate, son of a tennis coach, won his first match over a top-50 opponent on his sixth attempt as he ousted the world No. 49 teenager from Brazil. The qualifier played a quarter-final this month in Los Cabos and won through qualifying for his
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