BASEBALL
Wang’s granny found dead
An elderly man who was found dead on Sunday in the southern city of Tainan has been identified as the grandfather of Taiwanese baseball pitcher Wang Chien-ming, police said. A paperboy reported around 5 am on Sunday that he had seen someone hanging by the neck from an electric cord tied to a horizontal bar in a park in Tainan’s Guanmiao district. The police later identified the body as that of an 82-year-old man surnamed Huang. There was no suicide note and the Huang family said Huang did not show any abnormal behavior before the incident. He was the father of Wang’s biological mother. Wang was adopted at birth and raised by his uncle. According to Huang’s neighbors, he never boasted that he had a grandson who played in the Major League but he did care a lot about the 31-year-old baseball star. The 19-game winner returned to the Major mound on July 30 after a serious shoulder injury that kept him out of competition for more than two years.
JUDO
Taiwan scoops 12 medals
Sunday was a big day for Taiwanese athletes, as a judo team in Thailand brought home 12 medals, including two golds, ahead of a win by golfer Yani Tseng in the British Open. Competing among hundreds of participants from 13 countries, the 17-member Taiwan team at the Thailand International Judo North Bangkok University Championships 2011 finished with two gold, three silver and seven bronze medals. One of the gold medalists, Lin Chueh-cheng, had retired from competition but was recruited to represent Taiwan in the men’s 66kg division. The other gold medalist, 19-year-old Huang Tzu-chin, won in the women’s 78kg division. Huang is seen as one of the country’s best prospects in the sport, according to team coach Cheng Chia-te.
CRICKET
Bangladesh eye victory
Bangladesh’s batting crumbled for a second time at the Harare Sports Club on Sunday, but the tourists remain on course to win their only warm-up game against a Zimbabwe XI before next week’s one-off Test. At the close of the second day, the hosts were struggling in their quest for the 223 they needed for victory, having scored just three runs for the loss of opener Tino Mawoyo and number three Kyle Jarvis. Resuming on 42 for four in their first innings, Zimbabwe slipped to 113 all out on Sunday morning, conceding a deficit of 75, as Shafiul Islam and Rohiul Islam took three wickets each.When Bangladesh batted again, they continued to find it hard going on a pitch that Zimbabwe bowling coach Heath Streak described as “two-paced and rather unreliable.” Shakib Al Hasan top-scored with 40 as the Bangladeshis were bowled out for 147, setting the hosts 223 to win. Zimbabwe are fielding only five of the possible Test team that will face Bangladesh in Harare from Thursday.
CYCLING
Kittel takes first stage
Marcel Kittel, a German cyclist with Dutch team Skil-Shimano, has won the first stage of the Tour de Pologne on Sunday. Kittel took the yellow jersey in a ride of 101.5km over flat terrain from Pruszkow in central Poland to the capital, Warsaw. He finished the stage in 2 hours, 7 minutes, 26 seconds, just ahead of Norwegian BMC rider Alexander Kristoff. Italy’s Francesco Chicchi of the Quick Step team was third. The 68th edition of the Tour de Pologne is made up of seven stages covering 1,113km.
ANFIELD BLUES: Kylian Mbappe arrived at Anfield on a run of 21 goals in 17 games, but he managed just three attempts in the match, none of them hitting the target Kylian Mbappe has been nearly unstoppable this season, but he hit a roadblock in their UEFA Champions League match at Anfield on Tuesday. For the second year running, the Real Madrid forward had a night to forget at Merseyside as Liverpool won 1-0. Mbappe looked a shadow of the player who has been tearing defenses apart all season. “We were lacking that threat in the final third,” said Madrid coach Xabi Alonso, without naming Mbappe individually. The FIFA World Cup winner for France rarely looked capable of finding a breakthrough against a Liverpool team who have been so defensively fragile for much of the
LOCAL SUCCESS: In the doubles, Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia defeated Italians Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini in straight sets Elena Rybakina on Monday punched her ticket to the WTA Finals last four with an impressive 3-6, 6-1, 6-0 victory over second seed Iga Swiatek in round-robin play in Riyadh. After cruising past Amanda Anisimova in her opener on Saturday, Rybakina claimed her second win of the week to guarantee herself top spot in the Serena Williams Group. Anisimova on Monday rallied back from a set and a break down to triumph 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 in her all-American battle with seventh seed Madison Keys, who has been eliminated from the competition. “Madi was playing so well, it was quite a battle out there,”
Jemimah Rodrigues on Thursday hit an unbeaten 127 as India pulled off a record chase of 339 against Australia to set up a Women’s World Cup final against South Africa. Rodrigues and skipper Harmanpreet Kaur, who hit 89, put on 167 runs for the third wicket as India won with nine balls and five wickets to spare at DY Patil Stadium, on the outskirts of Mumbai. The hosts finished on a total of 341-5 in reply to Australia’s impressive 338 and ensured there would be a new name on the 50-over trophy tomorrow. Amanjot Kaur hit the winning boundary to trigger wild celebrations
Jannik Sinner on Thursday eased past Francisco Cerundolo 7-5, 6-1 at the Paris Masters to set up a quarter-final clash with Ben Shelton, while reigning champion Alexander Zverev earned a straight-sets win over Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the third round. A maiden crown in the French capital would return Sinner to No. 1 in the world rankings after current incumbent Carlos Alcaraz suffered a shock early exit at the hands of Britain’s Cameron Norrie. The Italian four-time Grand Slam champion is yet to drop a set in the tournament as he hones in on what would be a fifth title of the
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