TENNIS
Wozniacki beats Peng
Danish world No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki warmed up for the French Open in style on Saturday with a three-set win over Chinese hope Peng Shuai in the WTA Brussels Open final. Wozniacki, yet to land a Grand Slam, started nervously as Peng landed the first set 6-2, but righted herself to win 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 and take her 16th career title. The Dane had already gained a boost in the semis with her three-set win over reigning French Open champion Francesca Schiavone. Wozniacki now heads for Paris where she faces Japan’s Kimiko Date-Krumm in her first round match on the red clay. Peng, ranked No. 31 in the world, had seen off No. 2 seed Vera Zvonareva of Russia in her semi, but was unable to capitalize on her strong start as Wozniacki roared back for her fourth title of the season having had treatment to her left thigh in the opening set.
TENNIS
Petkovic takes Strasbourg
Andrea Petkovic of Germany won her second career title on Saturday after her opponent, Marion Bartoli of France, retired while trailing 6-4, 1-0 in the final of the Strasbourg International. The top-seeded Bartoli asked for a medical timeout at 5-4 to have her left thigh strapped, but a few games later she decided to pull out. Bartoli may now be a doubt for the French Open. “I didn’t want to win this way at all,” Petkovic said. “I hope Marion will be fine for the French Open because she plays very well and I think she could play very well in Paris.”
GOLF
Hoey, Elson share lead
Northern Ireland’s Michael Hoey shot a 5-under 67 on Saturday for a share of the third-round lead with England’s Jamie Elson in the Madeira Islands Open in Portugal. Elson had a 68 to match Hoey at 9-under 207 at Porto Santo Golf Club, the Seve Ballesteros-designed course that features 150m seaside cliffs. England’s Chris Gane (70), Scotland’s Alastair Forsyth (69) and France’s Francois Delamontagne (71) were two strokes back in the event sanctioned by the European Tour and the developmental European Challenge Tour.
TENNIS
Almagro wins Nice title
Spaniard Nicolas Almagro recovered from a sluggish start to beat Romanian Victor Hanescu 6-7, 6-3, 6-3 in the final of the Nice Open on Saturday. Third seed Almagro made a string of unforced errors and found himself trailing when the towering Hanescu claimed the opening set tiebreak 7-5. World No. 12 Almagro eventually found his range from the baseline and outpowered Hanescu to clinch his 10th ATP title. Clay court specialist Almagro will be seeded 11th at the French Open and will face a qualifier in the first round.
TENNIS
Argentina level Team final
Defending champions Argentina leveled the World Team Cup final 1-1 against Germany on Saturday in the singles after Juan Ignacio Chela beat Philipp Kohlschreiber in straight sets. Chela earned a 6-4, 7-6 (7/4) win over Kohlschreiber to make it all square after Germany’s Florian Mayer had earlier sealed a straight-sets 7-6 (7/4), 6-0 win over Juan Monaco. The final will now be decided by the doubles. Germany is bidding to win the cup for the first time since 2005, when they beat Argentina, having also captured the title in 1989, 1994 and 1998. Argentina are playing their seventh final in Dusseldorf having won in 1980, 2002, 2007 and last year.
INDYCAR
Tagliani grabs Indy 500 pole
Canada’s Alex Tagliani edged New Zealand’s Scott Dixon to win pole position for the 100th anniversary edition of the Indianapolis 500 in Saturday’s qualifying. The 38-year-old, who was forced to assemble his own team for Indy on a shoestring budget, completed the fastest four-lap qualifying average around the 2.5 mile (4km) Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval at 227.472mph (366.08kph). “When I heard the team screaming on the radio I was really happy,” Tagliani said. “I’m going to pinch myself tonight.” Dixon, who won the Indy 500 from the pole in 2008, settled for second-best at 227.340mph after running out of fuel in the fourth turn. “It would have been damn close if we had finished that last lap,” Dixon said.
RUGBY SEVENS
Kiwis win IRB sevens title
England’s failure to qualify out of their group in front of a record crowd at Twickenham on Saturday saw New Zealand win the IRB Sevens World Series title with a day remaining of the London event. A crowd of 54,357, a record in the series’ 12-year history, saw England win just one out of their three pool matches. The hosts, fortunate to see off the US 31-21 after Ben Gollings appeared to drop the ball in the act of scoring a try, lost 21-14 to France after conceding a late try to Mathieu Acebes. England had to beat Argentina to secure a quarter-final spot, but were instead held to a 12-12 draw. Meanwhile New Zealand, who will face the Pumas in the last eight, recorded convincing wins over Spain (40-7), Kenya (28-12) and Wales (31-12).
CRICKET
Punjab ousted by Deccan
Shikhar Dhawan cracked an unbeaten 95, while Amit Mishra took a hat-trick as the Deccan Chargers knocked the Kings XI Punjab out of the IPL with an 82-run victory on Saturday. The second match between the Delhi Daredevils and the Pune Warriors was abandoned because of rain. Delhi, who finished last in the 10-team league, were 56-3 off 10.1 overs when play was called off. Left-handed opener Dhawan, who hit one six and 14 fours in his 57-ball knock, put on 131 for the opening wicket with Ravi Teja (60) as Deccan made 198-2, before bowling Punjab out for 116. Skipper Adam Gilchrist top-scored with a 37-ball 51 for Punjab, who put in a below-par batting and fielding performance. The captain, who hit two sixes and six fours, added 61 for the third wicket with Dinesh Karthik (11). Deccan virtually wrapped up the match when Australian paceman Daniel Christian dismissed Gilchrist and Karthik in the space of three balls to reduce Punjab to 84-4 in 11 overs.
BASEBALL
Gary Carter has brain tumors
Hall of Fame catcher Gary Carter has been diagnosed with four “very small” brain tumors, the 11-times All-Star said in a statement issued by the New York Mets on Saturday. “Earlier today, I learned that four very small tumors have been found on my brain, following an MRI on Friday at a West Palm Beach facility,” the 57-year-old said. “I am scheduled to be examined further Thursday at Duke Medical Cente, and we will learn more at that time about my diagnosis.” Nicknamed “Kid,” Carter hit .262 with 324 home runs and 1,225 RBIs during a 19-year career in the majors from 1974-1992.
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