Taiwan’s Chang Kai-chen began the New Year with a victory in qualifying at the Shenzhen Open yesterday, advancing to a first-round clash today with Switzerland’s Viktorija Golubic.
The Taoyuan-born world No. 131 advanced to the main draw at the WTA Tour tournament with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over world No. 164 Anastasia Pivovarova in 1 hour, 17 minutes.
Chang saved one of four break points and converted six of 13, winning 65 of the 121 points contested to level her career record against the Russian to 1-1 after she was thrashed 6-1, 6-0 in their only previous meeting in Seoul in 2008.
The Taiwanese 25-year-old faces a tougher challenge against Swiss world No. 57 Golubic today as she looks to start the year with back-to-back victories.
In first-round matches, eighth seed Alison Riske of the US, who was the losing finalist in Shenzhen last year, battled to a 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (7/5) victory over Chinese wild-card Zhu Lin.
“It was a really tough match for me — I felt a lot of different feelings during the entirety of the match,” Riske told the WTA Web site. “I was very focused. She was really good and that combination made for a really tough match. Even if I wasn’t nervous it was always going to be very tough because it’s the first match of the year... but all credit to her for playing a great match.”
Also advancing to the second round were seventh seed Monica Niculescu, fellow Romanian Sorana Cirstea, Tsvetana Pironkva of Bulgaria and Wang Qiang of China.
Greek swimmer Kristian Gkolomeev was the only athlete to “beat” a world record on Sunday at the Enhanced Games, winning the men’s 50m freestyle at the divisive competition where athletes were free to take performance-enhancing substances. His time of 20.81 seconds — which is not considered official — came in the final event of the night in Las Vegas, sparing the blushes of organizers who made claims that multiple world records would be surpassed due to a sophisticated doping regime. Gkolomeev, who was wearing a synthetic “supersuit” long banned at events such as the Olympics, outpaced Australia’s Cameron McEvoy’s 20.88 set in
Fred Kerley is competing unaugmented against drug-fuelled athletes at this weekend’s Enhanced Games and still hopes to race in the 2028 Olympics, the suspended former 100m world champion said on Friday. Arguably the biggest name at the divisive event in Las Vegas, where doping is permitted, the US sprinter said he had chosen not to take any of the banned substances including testosterone and steroids that his competitors have been using. “I don’t need it. God gave me fast feet for a reason. And I’m here to showcase my talent,” Kerley said. Kerley last September became the first US competitor and first track
VICTORY ABROAD: The team took home a fistful of medals and secured spots for the autumn’s Asian Games, scheduled for September in Nagoya Taiwan’s women’s team captured the overall title at the Asian Taekwondo Championships in Mongolia on Sunday, finishing with two golds, one silver and one bronze medal. The strong showing, led by gold medalists Wang Chieh-ling and Chang Jui-en secured the full quota of available spots for Taiwan at the Asian Games in Nagoya, Japan, in September. Wang opened Taiwan’s medal run by winning gold in the women’s under-46kg class on Thursday, the first day of competition. Liu Yu-yun later earned a silver in the under-49kg class. On the final day on Sunday, Chang won Taiwan’s second gold medal in the under-62kg event, and
The manager of the Yomiuri Giants, one of Japan’s most popular baseball teams, resigned yesterday after he was arrested for allegedly physically attacking his teenage daughter. Shinnosuke Abe allegedly grabbed the 18-year-old and forced her to the floor at their home in central Tokyo on Monday evening, reported national broadcaster NHK and Kyodo News, citing unnamed police sources. “Leaving like this really means I’m causing you a lot of trouble, and I feel truly sorry about that,” Abe told a hastily arranged news conference, his eyes red with tears. The former star catcher, who is among baseball-obsessed Japan’s most recognized sports figures,
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