Taiwan’s Chan sisters advanced to the doubles final at the Hong Kong Open yesterday, while top seed and world No. 1 Angelique Kerber fell to a shock defeat in the quarter-finals of the singles.
Top seeds Chan Hao-ching and Chan Yung-jan eased through the first set of their semi-final against fourth-seeded Japanese duo Shuko Aoyama and Makoto Ninomiya, but then had to rally from 5-1 down in the second before completing a 6-2, 7-6 (9/7) victory in 1 hour, 27 minutes.
The Taiwanese sisters, who failed to convert a match point at 6-5 in the second set and survived a set point against them in the tiebreak when Aoyama double-faulted, saved two of six break points and converted six of eight, winning 72 of the 132 points contested to advance to tomorrow’s final against either British duo Naomi Broady and Heather Watson or Nao Hibino of Japan and Aleksandrina Naydenova of Bulgaria, who are due to play their semi-final today.
Photo: AFP
In the singles, Kerber’s chances of finishing the year with the No. 1 ranking were dented when she fell to a shock 6-3, 6-1 defeat to eighth seed Daria Gavrilova of Australia in 1 hour, 14 minutes.
Also advancing were fifth seed Caroline Wozniacki, who defeated Wang Qiang 6-3, 7-5, and Kristina Mladenovic, who ousted Bethanie Mattek-Sands 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7/3).
STILL IN THE HUNT: Rasmus Hojlund took his goal tally for SSC Napoli to nine as the champions cruised to a win at US Cremonese and stayed two points behind the leaders Inter on Sunday stayed at the Serie A summit after beating Atalanta BC 1-0 to maintain their slender lead over local rivals AC Milan. Lautaro Martinez netted the only goal of the game in Bergamo for Inter, who lead Milan, 3-0 winners against Hellas Verona thanks to Christoper Nkunku’s first Serie A goals, by a single point at the top of the division. The Argentina striker has scored in four consecutive league matches to end what has been a tricky year in positive style. “I ended last season in a lot of pain... I kept going during the Club World Cup and international
Hosts Morocco on Friday were held to a 1-1 draw by Mali at the Africa Cup of Nations, ending their world record run of wins and leaving them still to make sure of progress to the next stage. Midfielder Brahim Diaz tucked away a penalty in stoppage-time at the end of the first half, but Mali equalized from the spot midway through the second half through Lassine Sinayoko. Both penalties were awarded after video reviews in a tempestuous clash at the end of a busy day of action at the tournament. Morocco were atop the Group A standings with four points, while Zambia,
Algeria on Sunday became the third country after Egypt and Nigeria to qualify for the knockout stage of the Africa Cup of Nations by edging Burkina Faso 1-0 in Rabat through a Riyad Mahrez penalty. Defending champions Ivory Coast failed to join the trio after drawing 1-1 with Cameroon in a lively showdown in Marrakesh. Elsewhere, Mozambique ended a 39-match wait for a first victory by beating Gabon 3-2, while Sudan got back into contention for a last-16 slot by beating Equatorial Guinea 1-0 in Casablanca. Captain Mahrez converted from the penalty spot midway through the first half and Algeria then held on
Supermaxis Master Lock Comanche and defending champions LawConnect yesterday continued their close duel on the second day of the 80th running of the Sydney to Hobart yacht race. Just over 27 hours into the race that began on Friday in Sydney Harbour and is to end on the island state of Tasmania, Comanche had a 4 nautical mile (7.4km) lead over LawConnect. LawConnect was forced to contend with a broken mainsheet and halyard overnight, but fixed both issues and remained in pursuit of Comanche, which is skippered by Matt Allen and James Mayo. “We had a few things slow us down and Comanche’s
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