ICE HOCKEY
Decider forced in Taipei
The Black Bears reversed their Game 1 result with a 7-2 victory over the Clouded Leopards in Game 2 of the Taipei Ice Hockey League finals series at the Iceland Arena on Sunday night. The win forces a third and deciding game, which is to be played on Friday night at 11pm. First Star Mal Turner scored three goals for the Bears and also added two assists as they romped to a 4-2 first-period lead and stretched it to 7-2 after the second before playing out a scoreless last. Steven Chiu and Samuel Tang got the goals for the Leopards.
GOLF
Jim Furyk snaps drought
American Jim Furyk birdied the par-three 17th hole to beat Kevin Kisner in a playoff and win the PGA Tour’s Heritage tournament in Hilton Head Island, Carolina, on Sunday. Furyk, who played in the third to last group, made birdie on both playoff holes after firing a closing round eight-under 63 to finish at 18-under-par 266. Though he trailed entering the final round, Furyk had blown nine 54-hole leads since his last win on the PGA Tour at the 2010 Tour Championship. “I’ve let so many slide by, I really kind of dug deep today and happy I got it done,” Furyk said. Kisner closed with a seven-under 64 as he birdied the final hole of regulation to force the playoff at the Harbour Town golf course. The pair returned to the 18th for the first extra hole. Both players found the fairway off the tee and Furyk landed his approach just inside eight feet. Kisner knocked his second shot to 17 feet, then drained a birdie putt to put the pressure on. Furyk also sank his birdie chance to extend the extra session. They headed to the 17th, and both players found the green with their tee shots. Kisner’s 22-footer for birdie failed to find the cup and he tapped in for par. Furyk converted his 12-foot birdie putt for his 17th PGA Tour title.
MOTOGP
Rossi wins Argentine GP
Italian Valentino Rossi won the Argentine MotoGP Grand Prix with a thrilling display after a clash with world champion Marc Marquez in the second-last lap saw the Spaniard crash out. Championship leader Rossi won with more than a 5 second lead over second-placed compatriot Andrea Dovizioso, with Britain’s Cal Crutchlow finishing third. The stage seemed set for Marquez to win his second straight race this season after building a lead of more than 4 seconds, but Rossi weaved his way from his eighth-placed start to the front. The nine-time world champion, who also won in Qatar, showed he is back to his best as he moved up to second place behind Marquez on the 11th lap. There was still plenty of work to do, though, to rein in Marquez, but Rossi gradually ate into his rivals’ advantage and was ready to pounce on the second-last lap. Rossi went wide on a corner and cut across Marquez, who collided with the Italian’s back wheel and went over. “I am sorry about this; he touched me on the corner and I hope he is okay. It was a great race,” Rossi told reporters. “The bike was great and now two victories already. I think we will be able to fight to the end.”
TENNIS
Pereira takes Claro Open
Brazil’s Teliana Pereira won the Claro Open Colsanitas on Sunday to become the WTA Tour’s first Brazilian winner in 27 years, beating fifth-seeded Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan 7-6 (7/2), 6-1. The 26-year-old Pereira is the first Brazilian woman to win on tour since Neige Dias in Barcelona in April 1988.
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