RUGBY SEVENS
Taiwan grab last-game win
Taiwan exited the Malaysia leg of the Asian Sevens Series yesterday in 11th place after an easy 24-7, four tries to one win against the United Arab Emirates in the lowest bracket playoff. Earlier, Taiwan trailed 7-5 at halftime in their Bowl semi-final against the Philippines after Chen Chi-kun dived on a loose pass to score, but wilted in the second half, losing two players to the sin bin and conceding two tries to finish 19-5 down. They struggled to secure possession at all in the second spell and never made it out of their half.
BOXING
Frampton beats Martinez
Carl Frampton won the IBF super-bantamweight belt from Kiko Martinez of Spain by unanimous decision before an ecstatic home crowd of 16,000 in a purpose-built outdoor arena in the Titanic Quarter of Belfast, Northern Ireland, on Saturday. Frampton put Martinez down once in the fifth round of a fight he dominated, and which the judges agreed by 119-108, 119-108 and 118-111. The unbeaten Frampton (19-0, 13 KO) became the first Northern Irishman to hold a world title in 18 years. Last year, he also relieved Martinez (31-5 23 KO) of the European title in nine rounds.
GOLF
Minjee Lee turns pro
Top-ranked amateur Minjee Lee turned professional yesterday, a day after leading Australia to the women’s world amateur team championship. The 18-year-old Lee, who shot a seven-under 65 to lead Australia’s comeback win on Saturday in Japan, made the announcement in a light-hearted video with Matthew Pavlich, captain of the Fremantle Australian Rules football team. She will make her first appearance as a professional at this week’s Evian Championship in France. Lee, who was born in Perth and is a member of the Royal Fremantle Golf Club, won the US Junior Girls’ Championship in 2012 and back-to-back Australian amateur championships last year and this year. She also received the Mark H. McCormack Medal as the No. 1 women’s amateur this year. Lee was the low amateur at the Kraft Nabisco Championship in California in April in her first start in a major championship.
GOLF
Storm leads Masters
Graeme Storm of England fired a hole-in-one in his third round 6-under 64 to lead the European Masters in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, on Saturday. Storm’s 16-under total of 194 was one stroke clear of Englishman Tommy Fleetwood, who shot 63 on the sunbathed, 6,848-yard Severiano Ballesteros course. Using a 6-iron in thin Swiss Alps air, Storm aced the 217-yard par-three 11th to win a car worth US$186,000. Brooks Koepka of the US trailed Storm by two after making double-bogey on the par-four 18th, his only dropped shots in a 66. Another American, David Lipsky, shot 66 to be three strokes off the lead in fourth. Ryder Cup rookie Jamie Donaldson of Wales was a further stroke back, losing the lead after triple- and double-bogeys on par-fours coming home.
RUGBY LEAGUE
Roosters finish first
With a little help from their friends in North Queensland, the defending champion Sydney Roosters finished in first place heading into the National Rugby League finals. The Roosters beat South Sydney 22-18 on Thursday, then waited on the outcome of the North Queensland Cowboys match against Manly, when the Sea Eagles could have moved into first place with a win. Instead, the Cowboys beat Manly 30-16, giving the Roosters the minor premiership.
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was