GOLF
Thomas begins title defense
Justin Thomas yesterday began his title defense with an eight-under 64 at the CIMB Classic, making nine birdies and a bogey to move into a three-way tie with Keegan Bradley and Derek Fathauer for the first-round lead. Thomas, who won his first PGA Tour title at last year’s CIMB Classic in a record total 26-under-par 262, said he felt at ease in the opening round of the PGA Tour-sanctioned event. “If there’s such a thing as an easy eight-under, it was,” Thomas said. “I wedged it great. I took advantage of the first three par-fives. I was just very comfortable and hit it in there close a couple of times and made a couple putts, but it was a pretty low-stress day.” Taiwan’s Chan Shih-chang carded an opening-round score of one-under-par 72.
FOOTBALL
Bon Jovi quashes rumor
Jon Bon Jovi’s upcoming album is titled This House is Not For Sale, and apparently neither are the Tennessee Titans. Earlier this week, CBS Sports reported that Bon Jovi and Peyton Manning were “monitoring the Tennessee Titans ownership situation,” leading to speculation they were looking to purchase the Nashville-based team. That prompted Titans acting owner Amy Adams Strunk to say the team is not for sale. On Wednesday, Bon Jovi set the record straight. “Let me dispel the rumors right now,” he said with a laugh. “I wake up to these headlines with my name on them and they’re just not true. I want to make it perfectly clear that the team is not for sale, nor has it ever been, and I respect and admire [late franchise founder] Bud Adams’ legacy. End of story, I wish them all the success in the world.”
GOLF
Minjee Lee leads at Blue Bay
Minjee Lee yesterday birdied the final three holes for a seven-under 65 and a two-stroke lead in the Blue Bay LPGA, playing in perfect conditions two days after Typhoon Sarika hit the resort. Lee hit a long flop shot to a foot from a difficult angle on the par-five 18th on Jian Lake’s Blue Bay course, back in top shape after a large cleanup effort. The 20-year-old Australian was delayed traveling from the event last week in South Korea and finally got to the resort on Wednesday. The US’ Jessica Korda and Germany’s Sandra Gal shot 67 on the long course with large rolling, tiered greens with small effective landing areas. Kaohsiung-born Candie Kung carded a one-under 71, Yani Tseng fired a three-over 75 and Min Lee hit a five-over 77.
DOPING
Five countries face censure
Brazil, Greece and Indonesia are among five countries facing censure from the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) over flaws in their drug testing programs, the watchdog announced on Wednesday. A statement said the three countries, along with last year’s European Games host Azerbaijan and Guatemala, risked being declared non-compliant with the agency’s code when WADA’s Foundation Board meets in Glasgow on Nov. 19. WADA said its Compliance Review Committee last month reported that the national anti-doping organizations of each country were not in compliance with the agency’s rules. The five countries have been given until Nov. 10 to prove their compliance with WADA’s anti-doping code.
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