Top-ranked female golfer Yani Tseng of Taiwan has been nominated in two categories of this year’s ESPY Awards, while Jeremy Lin, the first NBA player of Taiwanese descent, will vie for the Best Breakthrough Athlete award.
Tseng, the youngest golfer to garner five major titles, at 22, is the only female nominee in the Best International Athlete category at the Excellence in Sports Performance of the Year (ESPY) Awards, dubbed the “Oscars of sports,” according to the nomination list released on Wednesday by the US TV network ESPN, the organizer of the annual event.
The other three nominees are Novak Djokovic, world No. 1 men’s tennis player, and star soccer players Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, who play for Barcelona and Real Madrid in Spain respectively.
Tseng dominated the world of women’s golf last year by first winning the LPGA Championship and then defending her title at the British Open to snatch her fifth major victory. The golf star has also been nominated in the Best Female Golfer category.
Meanwhile, New York Knicks point guard Jeremy Lin, who sparked “Linsanity” by leading the team on a seven-game winning streak when he went from the bench to a starting player, faces stiff competition in his category.
Lin is up against NBA draft prospect Anthony Davis, Robert Griffin III of the Washington Redskins, Rob Gronkowski of the New England Patriots and US women’s soccer star Alex Morgan, ESPN said. Online voting will continue through noon on July 10, Taiwan time.
The winners will be determined by fan ballots and input from sportswriters, broadcasters and executives.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
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