■FORMULA ONE
Lotus ready to start tests
The new Malaysian-backed Lotus F1 team are ready to start wind tunnel tests on a scale model of their car only a month after they were handed a place on next year’s starting grid. “The start of any wind-tunnel testing is an important step in the development of a new Formula One car, but it is particularly exciting for us as we continue preparations for our first season,” chief technical officer Mike Gascoyne said in a statement on Wednesday. “We had been working on the entry for several months, so we already had aspects of the team infrastructure in place — the finances, the factory and the top management. Once our entry was confirmed in mid-September, we were able to accelerate our recruitment and car development process.”
■GYMNASTICS
He, Hong push for gold
Olympic champions He Kexin of China and North Korea’s Hong Un-jong made their push for gold at the world gymnastics championships on Wednesday. He, the gold medalist in Beijing in the uneven bars, topped qualification with 15.975 points ahead of promising US talent Rebecca Bross (15.050) and North Korea’s Cha Hong-gwa (15.025). Hong, gold medalist in the pommel horse at the Olympics, was second after qualifying with 14.787 points, just behind Kayla Williams of the US with 14.812. Britain’s Beth Tweddle blew her chance of a medal on the uneven bars, but the 2007 world champion did secure a place in the floor final. Tweddle slipped during her uneven bar performance while trying to execute the “Tweddle” — the move named after her.
■BASEBALL
Clubs chase young pitcher
The Boston Red Sox are among several major league teams lining up to woo Japanese high school pitcher Yusei Kikuchi. The 18-year-old left-hander, who throws a fastball that has been clocked as high as 155kph, is the latest Japanese amateur pitcher to draw interest from major leagues teams. Kikuchi will hold talks with the Red Sox, Los Angeles Dodgers, Texas Rangers and the San Francisco Giants on Monday, Nikkan Sports newspaper reported. The New York Yankees, New York Mets and Seattle Mariners are to meet with him on Tuesday.
■TENNIS
Minar handed doping ban
The Czech Republic’s Ivo Minar was handed an eight-month doping ban on Wednesday that will rule the 25-year-old out of December’s Davis Cup final against Spain, the International Tennis Federation (ITF) announced. Minar tested positive for a banned stimulant, methyl-hexanamine, during the Davis Cup quarter-final victory over Argentina in July. The player said that the substance had entered his body through a nutritional supplement called “Tight! Xtreme,” claiming he had taken it on professional advice unaware that it was on the banned list. “The ITF accepted Minar’s explanation, but it is the responsibility of each player to be aware that a banned substance does not penetrate his body,” a Czech tennis federation statement said.
■SOCCER
French Muslim club banned
Amateur soccer club Creteil Bebel were permanently banned from the French amateur league on Wednesday after refusing to play a match against a gay team. Last week, Paris Foot Gay said its members were victims of homophobia when Creteil, a team of Muslim players, refused to play them earlier this month. The league said it had excluded Creteil for “refusing the match on discriminatory grounds.”
Taiwanese world No. 1 women’s doubles star Hsieh Su-wei on Saturday overcame a first-set loss to win her opening match at the Madrid Open. Top seeds Hsieh and partner Elise Mertens of Belgium, with whom she last month won her fourth Indian Wells women’s doubles title, bounced back from a rocky first set to beat Asia Muhammad of the US and Aldila Sutjiadi of Indonesia 2-6, 6-4, 10-2. Hsieh and Mertens were next to face Heather Watson of the UK and Xu Yifan of China in the round of 16. Thirty-eight-year-old Hsieh last month reclaimed her world No. 1 spot after her Indian
EYES ON THE PRIZE: Armed with three solid men’s singles shuttlers and doubles Olympic champions, Taiwan aim to make their first Thomas Cup semi-final, Chou Tien-chen said Taiwanese badminton star Tai Tzu-ying yesterday quickly dispatched Malaysia’s Goh Jin Wei in straight sets, while her male counterpart Chou Tien-chen beat Germany’s Kai Schaefer, as Taiwan’s women’s and men’s teams won their Group B opening rounds of the TotalEnergies BWF Thomas and Uber Cup Finals in Chengdu, China. World No. 5 Tai beat Goh 21-19, 22-20 in a speedy 33 minutes, her fourth straight victory over the world No. 24 shuttler since they first faced each other in the quarter-finals of the 2018 Malaysia Open, where Tai went on to win the women’s singles title. Malaysia followed up Tai’s opening victory
Chen Yi-tung (陳奕通) secured a historic Olympic berth on Sunday by winning the senior men’s foil event at the 2024 Asia Oceania Zonal Olympic Fencing Qualifiers in United Arab Emirates. Chen defeated Samuel Elijah of Singapore 15-4 in the final in Dubai to secure the only wild card in the event, making him the first male Olympian fencer from Taiwan in 36 years and only the sixth Taiwanese fencer to ever qualify for the quadrennial event. The last appearance by a Taiwanese male fencer at the Olympics was in 1988, when Wang San-tsai (王三財) and Cheng Ming-hsiang (鄭明祥) competed in Seoul. The
Rafael Nadal on Tuesday lost in straight sets to 31st-ranked Jiri Lehecka in the fourth round at the Madrid Open, while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei advanced to the semi-finals in the women’s doubles. Nadal said that he was feeling good about his progress following his latest injury layoff. Nadal called it a “positive week” in every way and said his body held up well. “I was able to play four matches, a couple of tough matches,” Nadal said. “So very positive, winning three matches, playing four matches at the high level of tennis. I enjoyed a lot playing at home. I leave here with