OLYMPICS
IOC inspects Rio’s readiness
Organizers of the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in 2016 hope they have turned a corner in preparations, spurred on by Brazil’s better-than-expected FIFA World Cup and the role of International Olympic Committee (IOC)-appointed troubleshooter Gilbert Felli. Organizers will learn where they stand after committee inspectors complete a three-day visit that began yesterday, checking venues and gauging tight deadlines with South America’s first Games less than two years away. Rio Mayor Eduardo Paes and Felli have acknowledged that the World Cup should boost confidence and help shield Rio’s Olympics from the type of harsh criticism World Cup preparations received. Paes said last week that some of Rio’s problems were related to its Latin image. “It is harder ... when you have a bad reputation. You have to prove yourself several times to show that you are doing things right,” he said.
MOTOGP
Rossi checks out of hospital
Valentino Rossi has checked himself out of hospital in defiance of doctor’s advice to continue his recovery from concussion in his motorhome. The 35-year-old Yamaha rider — a nine-time a world champion in all categories — was taken to hospital after falling heavily early in Sunday’s race at the Motorland Aragon circuit won by Spaniard Jorge Lorenzo. Rossi tweeted a picture of himself saying he was fine apart from the “headache.” “Valentino is progressing very well. In Alcaniz the CT scan was negative and although the local doctor wanted to keep him at the hospital overnight, Valentino discharged himself,” MotoGP medical director Michele Zasa said in a statement issued by his Yamaha team. “Now he’s in his motorhome relaxing, and in any case the Clinica Mobile is keeping him under observation for the whole night.”
RUGBY
Coles, Crotty back for NZ
Hooker Dane Coles and center Ryan Crotty will rejoin the All Blacks squad for their final match in the Rugby Championship against South Africa on Saturday. Coles missed New Zealand’s Test against Argentina on Saturday last week after returning home for the birth of his first child. The All Blacks beat Argentina 34-13 to clinch the Championship title with one round remaining. Crotty has recovered from a broken cheekbone suffered in New Zealand’s 51-20 win over Australia earlier in the tournament and played last weekend for his Canterbury Province. Star flyhalf Dan Carter also turned out for Canterbury in his first match since he suffered a broken leg. He kicked three penalties and a conversion, but played only the first half in Canterbury’s 28-26 loss to Southland.
GOLF
Cook wins at Pebble Beach
John Cook on Sunday won the First Tee Open at Pebble Beach for his 10th Champions Tour title, closing with a three-under 69 for a one-stroke victory over Tom Byrum. The 56-year-old Cook birdied the par-four 13th and parred the final five holes to finish at 11-under 204. He won the 1981 Bing Crosby National Pro-Am at Pebble Beach for the first of his 11 PGA Tour titles and also the 1975 California State Amateur at the course. Byrum also shot a 69. Winless on the 50-and-over tour after winning once on the PGA Tour, he bogeyed the par-five 14th and par-three 17th. Skip Kendall, playing his second Champions Tour event, tied for third with England’s Roger Chapman. Kendall shot 70 and Chapman a 65. Davis Love III, a 20-time PGA Tour winner also making his second Champions Tour start, had a 74 to drop into a share of 24th at three-under.
Taiwanese world No. 1 women’s doubles star Hsieh Su-wei on Saturday overcame a first-set loss to win her opening match at the Madrid Open. Top seeds Hsieh and partner Elise Mertens of Belgium, with whom she last month won her fourth Indian Wells women’s doubles title, bounced back from a rocky first set to beat Asia Muhammad of the US and Aldila Sutjiadi of Indonesia 2-6, 6-4, 10-2. Hsieh and Mertens were next to face Heather Watson of the UK and Xu Yifan of China in the round of 16. Thirty-eight-year-old Hsieh last month reclaimed her world No. 1 spot after her Indian
EYES ON THE PRIZE: Armed with three solid men’s singles shuttlers and doubles Olympic champions, Taiwan aim to make their first Thomas Cup semi-final, Chou Tien-chen said Taiwanese badminton star Tai Tzu-ying yesterday quickly dispatched Malaysia’s Goh Jin Wei in straight sets, while her male counterpart Chou Tien-chen beat Germany’s Kai Schaefer, as Taiwan’s women’s and men’s teams won their Group B opening rounds of the TotalEnergies BWF Thomas and Uber Cup Finals in Chengdu, China. World No. 5 Tai beat Goh 21-19, 22-20 in a speedy 33 minutes, her fourth straight victory over the world No. 24 shuttler since they first faced each other in the quarter-finals of the 2018 Malaysia Open, where Tai went on to win the women’s singles title. Malaysia followed up Tai’s opening victory
Chen Yi-tung (陳奕通) secured a historic Olympic berth on Sunday by winning the senior men’s foil event at the 2024 Asia Oceania Zonal Olympic Fencing Qualifiers in United Arab Emirates. Chen defeated Samuel Elijah of Singapore 15-4 in the final in Dubai to secure the only wild card in the event, making him the first male Olympian fencer from Taiwan in 36 years and only the sixth Taiwanese fencer to ever qualify for the quadrennial event. The last appearance by a Taiwanese male fencer at the Olympics was in 1988, when Wang San-tsai (王三財) and Cheng Ming-hsiang (鄭明祥) competed in Seoul. The
Rafael Nadal on Tuesday lost in straight sets to 31st-ranked Jiri Lehecka in the fourth round at the Madrid Open, while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei advanced to the semi-finals in the women’s doubles. Nadal said that he was feeling good about his progress following his latest injury layoff. Nadal called it a “positive week” in every way and said his body held up well. “I was able to play four matches, a couple of tough matches,” Nadal said. “So very positive, winning three matches, playing four matches at the high level of tennis. I enjoyed a lot playing at home. I leave here with