GOLF
Hur Mi-jung ends drought
Hur Mi-jung fired a six-under-par 66 to win the LPGA Yokohama Tire Classic on Sunday, holding off a final-round charge from world No. 1 Stacy Lewis. The 24-year-old South Korean Hur won by four strokes over runner-up Lewis, who captured the event the last time it was held, in 2012. Hur, who is ranked 94th in the world, finished at a record 21-under par 267 and snapped a five-year victory drought on the LPGA Tour with her second win on the US-based circuit. “I have been struggling for five years, but now I have another win so I am happy,” Hur said. “The last two weeks I started to get my confidence back and that is why I had a great time this week.” American Lewis also closed with a 66 as she took second place with a 17-under total of 271 at the Capitol Hill Golf Club course in Prattville, Alabama. Rookie Paula Reto, who was the coleader after the third round with Hur, stumbled to a one-over 73. South Africa’s Reto took third finishing on 14-under-par 274.
GOLF
Luiten par secures win
Joost Luiten overcame a shaky start to shoot a level-par 71 and hang on for a one-shot victory at the Wales Open in Newport on Sunday. Luiten opened with two straight bogeys, but bounced back with three birdies on the back nine and then recovered from a poor tee shot on the 18th to make par for the victory. The Dutchman, who had led by two shots after the third round, finished with a 14-under total of 270. It was Luiten’s third European Tour victory and comes after he was overlooked as a captain’s pick for next week’s Ryder Cup in favor of Lee Westwood. “I knew when the qualification ended I needed to play better, so luckily I’m in good form now,” Luiten said. “I just wish the team all the best and hopefully they can win.” England’s Tommy Fleetwood (67) and Ireland’s Shane Lowry (7) shared second place. European Ryder Cup rookie Jamie Donaldson shot a 67 to share fourth place at 12-under.
TENNIS
Garcia upsets Radwanska
Caroline Garcia followed up her first-round win over Venus Williams with a 3-6, 7-6 (7/4), 7-6 (9/7) upset win over fifth-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska yesterday at the inaugural Wuhan Open in China. The 20-year-old Frenchwoman went for broke, continuing to hit big ground strokes despite piling up unforced errors as she tried to keep Radwanska on the back foot. In first-round matches, world No. 10 Jelena Jankovic beat Christina McHale of the US 6-4, 6-4 and world No. 11 Sara Errani of Italy reeled off the last six games to beat Heather Watson of Britain 7-5, 6-4. Ninth-seeded Ana Ivanovic, who won the title in Tokyo over the weekend, was among the four seeded players who lost yesterday. She retired with a thigh problem when Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova was serving for the match at 7-5, 6-5, while world No. 12 and Australian Open finalist Dominika Cibulkova retired with a left ankle problem at the start of the third set after splitting the first two sets with Madison Keys of the US. Sabine Lisicki of Germany beat world No. 14 Lucie Safarova 7-5, 2-6, 6-3 and Australian qualifier Jarmila Gajdosova ousted world No. 15 Flavia Pennetta 6-1, 6-4. Mona Barthel of Germany beat crowd favorite Peng Shuai of China 6-2, 7-6 (6/1) and Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic had a 6-4, 6-4 win over former US Open champion Sam Stosur.
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