BADMINTON
Lin, Chen win in England
Five-time champion Lin Dan said he had been learning from his younger rivals as the Chinese kept alive his bid for a sixth All-England Championship title on Thursday. The 31-year-old, who has played irregularly since 2012, showed the mental strength that produced two Olympic titles to secure a 21-15, 21-19 last-16 win over compatriot Tian Houwei. Hard-hitting Tian threw everything at fifth-seeded Lin, but could not build on mini comebacks in each game, including a tenacious set of rallies to level from 14-10 down in the opener. In the last eight, Lin’s faces Japan’s Kento Momota, who edged past Marc Zwiebler of Germany, a former All-England semi-finalist. Lin could face a potential semi-final meeting with world champion and holder Chen Long, who had little difficulty dispatching Taiwan’s Hsu Jen-hao 21-7, 21-9. Earlier, Olympic bronze medalist Saina Nehwal saw the women’s singles draw open up to her advantage, but the Indian shuttler will first have to overturn a Chinese hoodoo. Third seed Nehwal had to show speed, control and variation to see off Taiwan’s Kim Hyo-min 21-15, 21-15, setting up a last eight showdown with Wang Yihan, the 2009 All-England champion.
FOOTBALL
Peyton Manning signs
Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning has passed his physical and signed a revised contract. The five-time NFL MVP agreed on Thursday to a US$4 million pay cut to US$15 million, but he can earn all of it back through incentives. The sides hashed out a new deal on Wednesday, contingent on his passing his physical.
BASEBALL
Orioles release Yoon
The Baltimore Orioles have released right-hander Yoon Suk-min. The move enables the 28-year-old to return to South Korea, where he will reportedly sign with the Kia Tigers. Yoon signed a three-year contract with the Orioles in February 2013 for US$5.575 million, but was removed from the 40-man roster in August last year. After going 4-8 with a 5.74 ERA for Triple-A Norfolk, Yoon was not invited to major league spring training this year.
GOLF
Rookie leads in Puerto Rico
US PGA Tour rookie Mark Hubbard capped a four-under-par 68 with a birdie at his final hole on Thursday to seize a one-shot lead at the Puerto Rico Open. Hubbard, who teed off on the 10th hole at Trump International Golf Club, had two birdies and a bogey in his first nine holes, and defied the windy weather as he got hot coming in. He birdied three in a row from the fourth and after a bogey at eight seized a one-shot lead with a birdie at the par-four ninth. Hubbard had a one-stroke edge over Americans Chris Smith and Billy Mayfair, and Argentina’s Emiliano Grillo.
GOLF
Holmes tames Blue Monster
American J.B. Holmes tied the tournament record with a 10-under 62 to take a four-shot lead over a world-class field in the opening round of the WGC-Cadillac Championship on Thursday. The 32-year-old from Kentucky tamed Doral’s Blue Monster course by hitting 15 of 18 greens as he goes for his first title of the season. Holmes, who shared second place at the Farmers Insurance Open early last month, started on the back nine. He got off to a flying start with two birdies followed by an eagle on the par-five 12th. He two-putted for a birdie on the 10th then drained a 35-foot birdie putt on the 11th. His approach at 12 landed a foot away from the cup for an eagle.
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
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but
Taiwanese gymnast Lee Chih-kai failed to secure an Olympic berth in the pommel horse following a second-place finish at the last qualifier in Doha on Friday, a performance that Lee and his coach called “unconvincing.” The Tokyo Olympics silver medalist finished runner-up in the final after scoring 6.6 for degree of difficulty and 8.800 for execution for a combined score of 15.400. That was just 0.100 short of Jordan’s Ahmad Abu Al Soud, who had qualified for the event in Paris before the Apparatus World Cup series in Qatar’s capital. After missing the final rounds in the first two of four qualifier