SOCCER
N Korean joins Swiss club
North Korea defender Cha Jong-hyok has arrived in Switzerland to play for second-tier club FC Wil more than three months after his signing was announced during the World Cup. Wil says on its Web site that Cha joined teammates — including compatriot Kim Kuk-jin — for his first practice on Monday. The club says the 25-year-old player’s move was delayed by structural changes at the North Korean soccer federation. Cha started all three matches for North Korea at this summer’s World Cup in South Africa. Wil lie 14th in the 16-team Swiss second division.
TENNIS
Date downs Robson in Osaka
Four-time champion Kimiko Date Krumm needed just over an hour to beat Britain’s Laura Robson in the first round at the Japan Open in Osaka yesterday. The 40-year-old Japanese powered through 6-3, 6-3. The 16-year-old Robson hit six double faults and managed to break Date, the sixth seed in Osaka, only once in four attempts. Another former champion, Jill Craybas, joined Date in the second round by beating Natalie Grandin of South Africa 6-4, 6-2. Third seed Shahar Peer of Israel and seventh seed Iveta Benesova of the Czech Republic safely went through, but eighth seed Greta Arn of Hungary fell to Olga Savchuk of Ukraine 6-1, 6-2. Peer outclassed up-and-coming Japanese Misaki Doi 6-2, 6-3, while Benesova downed American Christina McHale 6-4, 6-3. Thai veteran Tamarine Tanasugarn overcame an early service break in the second set to beat Magdalena Rybarikova of Slovakia 6-2, 7-5.
SOCCER
Benjani quits internationals
Zimbabwe team captain Benjani Mwaruwari told state media yesterday that he has quit international soccer to concentrate on his career in England’s Premier League. The 32-year-old forward, who signed a one-year deal with Blackburn Rovers in August, announced his decision just days after Zimbabwe were held to a goalless draw by Cape Verde. “After the game I went to speak with [team coach] Norman [Mapeza] and thanked him for giving me a chance to play in the game against Cape Verde and that I was sorry we couldn’t do enough to win the game and get maximum points,” he said in the Herald newspaper. “I still have a few more years playing club football, but I feel that I have done my part for my country, and it’s sad that things didn’t work out the way we wanted and probably I didn’t get the number of goals that the supporters wanted me to score.”
HOCKEY
Tests show Pavelec fainted
Atlanta Thrashers goaltender Ondrej Pavelec apparently fainted in his team’s NHL season opener, but the Czech will undergo more medical tests as a precaution. Pavelec collapsed during Friday’s 4-2 victory over Washington, falling backward onto the ice and suffering a concussion seemingly for no reason while players were at the other end of the ice awaiting a face off. The Thrashers said on Monday that tests showed Pavelec had fainted, which could have been brought about by conditions such as stress and prolonged standing. Pavelec, 23, was unconscious and taken from the ice on a stretcher, not regaining consciousness until he was in an ambulance on his way to the hospital, where he spent two nights undergoing tests on his brain and heart. Doctors released Pavelec on Sunday after finding no major problems but he will have more tests. Only if all tests are negative will he be allowed to resume play after his concussion headaches clear.
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