GOLF
Laporta takes one-shot lead
Italian rookie Francesco Laporta, who came out of qualifying school in November last year, opened a one-shot lead at the Trophee Hassan II on Friday after a second round of 70. Playing on the tough Red Course at Royal Golf Dar Es Salam, the 25-year-old went into the second day with a share of the lead at four-under after an opening 68. His efforts on Friday allowed him to edge ahead of Australia’s Jason Scrivener, Spaniard Borja Virto Astudillo and Wang Jeung-hun of South Korea. Astudillo had set the clubhouse target at five-under in the morning, but Laporta soon moved past that with birdies on the 10th and 12th. A bogey on the 13th was followed by a double on the 14th, but he then made three birdies in four holes to turn in 35 and take the lead. Another gain on the second opened up a two-shot lead and he then missed birdie chances in a run of five pars before a missed short par putt on the eighth saw his advantage reduced. For the first time, the men’s and women’s European tours are playing at the same course, with the LPGA’s Lalla Meryem Cup taking place on the neighboring Blue Course. Florentyna Parker led after a second round 71. At six-under par, the 26-year-old Englishwoman was two strokes ahead of compatriot Liz Young and Frenchwoman Isabelle Boineau, with Norwegian Marianne Skarpnord also four-under after 17 holes.
SOCCER
Ekeng dies after match
Dinamo Bucharest and Cameroon midfielder Patrick Ekeng died on Friday after collapsing on the pitch during a match for his club. Ekeng, 26, fell to the ground shortly after coming on as a 62nd-minute substitute during a league match against Viitorul Constanta, his club said in a statement on their Web site. Media reports said he suffered a suspected heart attack and was pronounced dead in hospital two hours later. “Dinamo lost tonight, forever, footballer Patrick Claude Ekeng Ekeng,” the statement said. “On behalf of everyone at Dinamo, sincere condolences to the bereaved family. God rest his soul.”
HORSE RACING
Cathryn Sophia wins race
Cathryn Sophia took charge entering the stretch and rolled to victory on Friday in the 142nd Kentucky Oaks Friday at Churchill Downs. After running third last month in the Ashland at Keeneland, she got a good start along with favorite Rachel’s Valentina and stayed in the mix in the US$1 million showcase for three-year-old fillies. Cathryn Sophia found her opening at the top of the stretch, overtook the fading Lewis Bay and pulled away in the final furlong to win by 2-3/4 lengths over Land Over Sea. Cathryn Sophia claimed her first Grade 1 victory and gave trainer John Servis and Javier Castellano their first victories in the Oaks.
SAILING
‘Weekend sailor’ Carlin dies
Volvo Ocean Race officials say Ramon Carlin, the “weekend sailor” who overcame long odds to win the first Whitbread Round the World Race in 1973-1974, has died in Mexico City. He was 92 years old. Carlin was unknown in the sport when he entered the race, which later became the Volvo Ocean Race, after making a fortune manufacturing washing machines and other goods. He assembled a crew of unheralded sailors before upsetting some of the era’s leading names in offshore sailing, such as Britain’s Chay Blyth, by winning with his Swan 65, Sayula II.
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