Top seed Lu Yen-hsun progressed to the semi-finals of the OEC Kaohsiung ATP Challenger yesterday, but perhaps not in the way he would have wanted, after his opponent Jimmy Wang retired at the end of the first set.
World No. 64 Lu took the opening set 6-4 after which fellow Taiwanese Wang, the No. 8 seed, called it a day.
It was Lu’s seventh win in 11 matches against the 151st-ranked Wang and it earned him a semi-final showdown today against No. 6 seed Matthew Ebden of Australia, who breezed past South Korea’s Lim Yong-kyu 6-1, 6-2 in just over an hour yesterday.
Photo: Huang Chih-yuan, Taipei Times
Qualifier Yuki Bhambri of India continued his surprise run to beat No. 4 seed Alejandro Gonzalez of Colombia 6-3, 2-6, 6-2, while Jack Sock of the US, the No. 2 seed, defeated John-Patrick Smith of Australia 7-6 (9-7), 6-3.
In the doubles semi-finals top seeds Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah of Colombia beat No. 3 seeds Ruben Gonzales and Treat Huey of the Philippines 6-4, 3-6, 12-10.
Twenty-one-year-old Bhambri had even more cause to celebrate after he and Wang Chieh-fu of Taiwan defeated Ebden and Danai Udomchoke of Thailand 6-3, 6-4 in the other semi-final.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB