Taiwan lost 3-2 to Denmark in their Group D Thomas Cup badminton match on Wednesday, while China easily beat defending champion Japan 5-0 in their final Group A match.
Denmark’s Viktor Axelsen breezed past Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen 21-16, 21-13 before Mads Conrad-Petersen paired with Mads Pieler Kolding to beat Lee Sheng-mu and Tsai Chia-hsin 22-20, 21-9, giving a 2-0 lead to already qualified Denmark.
Taiwan, which finished second in the group and also qualified for the quarter-finals, pulled one back through Hsu Jen-hao’s 13-21, 21-16, 21-19 victory over Jan O Jorgensen in a marathon match which lasted 79 minutes.
Photo: AFP
Mathias Boe and Mathias Christiansen then earned Denmark a decisive 3-1 lead when they beat Wang Chi-lin and Chen Hung-ling 21-17, 19-21, 21-17.
“We all knew how important it was to win this match and top the group,” Christiansen said. “It was about keeping our heads cool and we did that and managed to do well in the last few rallies.”
Wang Tzu-wei reduced the margin for Taiwan, beating Hans Kristian Vittinghus in a thrilling 21-13, 19-21, 25-23 win.
Japan felt the absence of Kento Momota as China, which had already qualified for the quarter-finals, topped its group with its third successive victory, which included wins by Lin Dan and Chen Long.
New Zealand, already out of the quarter-final race from Group D, got a consolation win when they beat South Africa 4-1 in their last group match.
Indonesia remained unbeaten in Group B when they blanked India 5-0 in the last group match. Hong Kong finished runner-up in the same group by defeating Thailand 4-1.
France got the consolation victory in Group A when they routed Mexico 5-0, which lost all three of their group matches.
In the women’s Uber Cup, India fought hard against group leaders Japan before losing 3-2 and finishing second in Group D.
China recorded a 5-0 victory against Denmark, which finished second in Group A.
South Korea topped Group B with a 4-1 win over Taiwan, which finished second.
Freddie Freeman homered and drove in four runs, Shohei Ohtani also went deep and Roki Sasaki earned his first major league win as the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Atlanta Braves 10-3 on Saturday night for their seventh straight victory. The Dodgers have won the first two games of the series to improve to 5-0 against Atlanta this year. Los Angeles’ three-game sweep at home early in the season left the Braves 0-7. Sasaki allowed three runs and six hits over five innings. The 23-year-old right-hander gave up a home run to Ozzie Albies, but received plenty of offensive support in his
INTER AWAIT: Superb saves by PSG ’keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma inspired the victory, as Arsenal were punished for misses, including one by Bukayo Saka Arsenal on Wednesday fell short on the big stage again as their painful UEFA Champions League semi-final exit against Paris Saint-Germain left Mikel Arteta to rue his club’s failure to provide him with enough attacking options. Arteta’s side were unable to reach the Champions League final for the first time in 19 years as PSG clinched a tense 2-1 win at Parc des Princes. Trailing 1-0 from last week’s first leg in London, the Gunners made a blistering start to the second leg, but could not convert their chances as Gianluigi Donnarumma’s superb saves inspired PSG’s 3-1 aggregate victory. Arsenal were punished for
Bayern Munich on Sunday were crowned German champions for the 34th time, giving striker Harry Kane his first major trophy, after second-placed Bayer 04 Leverkusen drew 2-2 at SC Freiburg. Bayern’s 3-3 draw at RB Leipzig on Saturday, when the Bavarians came from two goals down to take the lead before conceding a stoppage-time equalizer, meant defending Bundesliga champions Leverkusen needed to win at Freiburg to delay the title party. Leverkusen were two goals down before scoring twice in the final 10 minutes, but Xabi Alonso’s side could not find a third, as Bayern reclaimed the title at the first attempt after
THRILLER: Raphinha gave Barca a 3-2 lead with two minutes remaining of regular time, but Francesco Acerbi equalized the game in the second minute of added time Davide Frattesi on Tuesday fired Inter into the UEFA Champions League final with an extra-time winner that gave the Italians a stunning 4-3 triumph over Barcelona, 7-6 on aggregate. Italy midfielder Frattesi won a tie for the ages under a downpour in Milan when he lashed home in the 99th minute, sending a packed and rocking San Siro wild with joy. Simone Inzaghi’s team will face either Arsenal or Paris Saint-Germain at the end of this month in Munich, Germany, where they would feel they have a great chance to be crowned kings of Europe for a fourth time after
RSS