GOLF
Vegas shares Bob Hope lead
PGA Tour rookie Jhonattan Vegas overcame an erratic start with a sizzling finish to retain a share of the lead after the fourth round of the Bob Hope Classic at La Quinta, California, on Saturday. Venezuelan Vegas, joint pacesetter overnight with American Gary Woodland, birdied his last five holes for a six-under-par 66 at La Quinta Country Club, one of four venues hosting the five-round pro-am celebrity event. Vegas rolled in an 18-foot putt on his final hole, the par-four ninth, to draw level with Woodland at the top on 24-under 264. Britain’s Martin Laird carded a 66 on the Nicklaus layout, to finish at 22 under, a stroke in front of defending champion Bill Haas (62), Chris Kirk (66), Daniel Summerhays (64) and Keegan Bradley (66).
GOLF
Kaymer atop leaderboard
Holder Martin Kaymer moved five shots clear of the field after the third round on Saturday to close in on a third Abu Dhabi Championship title in four years. The German fired a 66 to move to 18-under. He has dropped just one stroke during the 54-holes in his first event of the year and that was a bogey at his 12th hole in the first round. Kaymer’s Ryder Cup teammate Rory McIlroy is his nearest challenger after the Briton holed a 30-foot eagle putt at the last in a round of 65 for a 13-under par tally. Briton David Lynn is in third place at 12-under, while South African Charl Schwartzel (71) is tied with Sweden’s Alex Noren (67) at 10-under.
SOCCER
Minnows roll in French Cup
Amateurs Chambery continued their dream French Cup run by claiming another Ligue 1 scalp after beating Stade Brestois 29 on penalties to reach the last 16 as top flight clubs suffered further embarrassment on Saturday. Girondins de Bordeaux, the 2009 French champions, slumped to a 1-0 defeat at Ligue 2 Angers as only eight Ligue 1 clubs were left in the competition. Chambery won the shootout 4-3 after the match had finished 1-1 after extra-time. Bruno Grougi had fired Brest ahead in the first extra period, but Malick Faye equalized. In another upset, Bordeaux barely threatened Angers and the hosts were rewarded for their domination in the 65th minute when midfielder Sebastien Renouard fired home from 18 meters. Nancy needed a Julien Feret double to see off Ligue 2 Nimes 2-1 after extra-time. Mid-table Ligue 1 side Lorient needed extra-time to dispose of fourth division Fontenay Le Comte 1-0.
RUGBY UNION
World Cup in doubt for Fiji
Fiji’s participation in the rugby World Cup is in doubt after the International Rugby Board (IRB) wrote to the union’s board and told them not to cede to pressure from the military-led government, New Zealand media reported yesterday. The Fiji Rugby Union (FRU) and the government have been at loggerheads since the country’s Commerce Commission conducted an investigation into a lottery held to raise funds for the World Cup. The government said earlier this month it would give 3 million Fijian dollars (US$1.61 million) to help prepare the team for the Sept. 9 to Oct. 23 tournament in New Zealand, but only if the FRU board resigned. The board and FRU chief executive Keni Dakuidreketi all resigned and a special board meeting was due to be held next week to elect new board members. However, the Fiji Sun said the interim board had rejected Dakuidreketi’s resignation and canceled the meeting following the IRB’s letter. The IRB also told the FRU they faced a ban if they did not adhere to their constitution.
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