Taiwanese-Indian duo Hsu Ching-wen and Ankita Raina fell to the top seeds in the quarter-finals of the doubles at the OEC Taipei WTA Challenger yesterday, while Thailand’s Luksika Kumkhum upset Chinese eighth seed Wang Yafan in the second round of the singles.
Hsu and Raina were beaten 6-2, 6-2 by top-seeded Chinese pairing Han Xinyun and Zhang Kai-lin in just 57 minutes at the Taipei Arena.
The Chinese duo saved all three break points they faced and converted four of five, winning 54 of the 90 points contested to advance to a semi-final against Japanese duo Kanae Hisami and Kotomi Takahata, who defeated fourth seeds Amandine Hesse of France and Hiroko Kuwata of Japan 6-1, 3-6, 10-8 in 60 minutes.
In yesterday’s other quarter-final, third seeds Marina Melnikova of Russia and Elise Mertens of Belgium battled to a 6-4, 6-7 (4/7), 10-7 victory over Thai pairing Nicha Lertpitaksinchai and Peangtarn Plipuech in 1 hour, 48 minutes.
The third seeds next face either second seeds Chan Chin-wei of Taiwan and Junri Namigata of Japan or Taiwanese duo Lee Pei-chi and Yang Chia-hsien, who are due to play the remaining quarter-final today.
In the singles, Kumkhum rallied from a set down to oust the eighth seed 3-6, 6-3, 6-1 in 1 hour, 32 minutes.
The Thai world No. 195 saved four of six break points and converted five of nine, winning 80 of the 146 points contested to set up a quarter-final against Misaki Doi, after the Japanese top seed defeated Zhang Ling of Hong Kong 6-4, 6-4.
Also advancing to today’s quarter-finals were second seed Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan, who downed Hesse 3-6, 7-6 (7/2), 6-2; Russian third seed Evgeniya Rodina, who defeated Zhang Yuxuan of China 6-4, 6-3; fourth seed Timea Babos of Hungary, who cruised past Mertens 6-2, 6-2 in just 67 minutes; Belgian fifth seed Kirsten Flipkens, who ousted Zhang 6-3, 6-1; seventh seed Stefanie Voegele of Switzerland, who beat Maria Sakkari of Greece 6-1, 6-1; and China’s Liu Chang, who saw off Japanese veteran Kimiko Date-Krumm 6-3, 6-3.
EVERY DAY A VICTORY: Players on the women’s team faced pressure from society just getting out onto the field as they prepare for their first Women’s Asian Cup game today Bangladesh’s national soccer team face daunting odds at their first-ever Women’s Asian Cup, but have already scored a major victory by qualifying. In the South Asian nation of 170 million, social stigma, family expectations, poverty and religious hardliners have long relegated women and girls to sports sidelines. The first women’s soccer league matches took place in 2011 and the squad, known to fans as the Red and Green, have kept pressing forward despite deeply embedded prejudices. “Many more girls would have joined us if the community had been even slightly supportive,” captain Afeida Khandaker told AFP ahead of her side’s March 3
Soccer officials yesterday offered “full support and assistance” to the Iranian team in Australia for the AFC Women’s Asian Cup after the US and Israel launched massive attacks on their homeland. Iran’s 26-strong squad arrived on the Gold Coast days before the strikes on Saturday killed supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as Washington and Tel Aviv seek to topple the Islamic republic. They are due to open their tournament today against South Korea. The AFC in a statement said it “continues to closely monitor the recent developments in the Middle East during this challenging period.” “The AFC’s foremost priority remains the welfare, safety and
ROAD RASH: Marc Marquez retired after a crash, marking the first time after 88 consecutive races stretching back to 2021 that a Ducati bike failed to make the podium Marco Bezzecchi yesterday won the MotoGP season-opening grand prix in Thailand from pole position as defending world champion Marc Marquez retired late with a buckled wheel. Aprilia’s Bezzecchi led from start to finish to top the podium in Buriram, with KTM’s Pedro Acosta second and Trackhouse’s Raul Fernandez third. Ducati’s Marquez is chasing a record-equaling eighth world title this season, but he exited the race in dramatic fashion while in fourth place with five laps to go. The Spaniard, who started from second on the grid, took a corner wide, with the jolt to his bike dislodging the rear tire, badly damaging his
Liverpool on Tuesday suffered an embarrassing 2-1 defeat at Wolverhampton Wanderers as Andre’s stoppage-time strike sealed a dramatic victory for the English Premier League’s bottom club. Arne Slot’s side fell behind to Rodrigo Gomes’ strike in the closing stages at Molineux. Mohamed Salah hauled Liverpool level with his first goal in 11 top-flight games dating back to November last year. However, Andre’s first goal for Wolves inflicted the latest humbling loss in a chastening season for Liverpool. It was the first time the Premier League’s bottom club had beaten the reigning champions since Crystal Palace defeated Chelsea in 2017. Liverpool
RSS