MIXED MARTIAL ARTS
Huang, Lee to fight for title
Hawaiian Angela Lee is to defend her women’s atomweight title against Taiwan’s Jenny Huang when ONE Championship hosts its second mixed martial arts promotion in Thailand on March 11. Canadian-born Lee, 20, improved her perfect career record to six wins when she won the title in a unanimous decision against Mei Yamaguchi in May last year. The fight in Bangkok is to be her first defense. “The goal for 2017 is to be an active champion and to stay busy... Since my last fight, I’ve been training extremely hard, improving my skill set and I can’t wait to show everyone,” Lee said. Huang also has a perfect record, winning her fifth fight against April Osenio by submission last month. Five years older than Lee, Huang was later to start her career. “I have been working so hard to come to this point in my career, and now that I’m finally here it all feels very surreal to me,” Huang said. “Inside the cage I only have one goal and that’s to win this bout at any cost. She better be prepared for what I bring to the table, because I will go to battle with my full arsenal.”
ATHLETICS
IAAF issues Russia protocol
The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) has provided new guidelines for Russians hoping to compete in a neutral capacity while their country remains banned from track and field competitions. The IAAF said it is assessing evidence and intelligence relating to about 200 Russian athletes gathered by World Anti-Doping Agency investigator Richard McLaren. Applications from athletes for neutral status would also be scrutinized using several criteria to prove they are clean, including: Whether any support staff, including medics and coaches, have been implicated in a doping violation; whether there have been any atypical findings in doping samples or concerns about their biological passports; and whether any of their samples in storage are due to be retested. The IAAF said athletes do not necessarily have to have been tested outside of Russia, but must have been part of a fully-compliant program for a “sufficiently long period to provide substantial objective assurance of integrity.”
ICE HOCKEY
Blue Jackets extend streak
The Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday inched closer to NHL history, notching their 16th consecutive victory with a 3-1 win over the Edmonton Oilers. Cam Atkinson and William Karlsson scored power-play goals and Nick Foligno added a third-period goal in the win, which put the Blue Jackets one victory away from tying the 1992-1993 Pittsburgh Penguins for most successive NHL victories. The Blue Jackets struck first when Atkinson scored 1 minute, 12 seconds into the first power play of the night after Jesse Puljujarvi was called for holding on Jack Johnson. Atkinson collected a feed from Zach Werenski in the high slot and rebounded the puck in off an Oilers defenseman with 7 minutes, 28 seconds left in the opening period. Edmonton equalized 5 minutes, 39 seconds into the second when Patrick Maroon fed Oscar Klefbom, who was entering the zone with speed. Klefbom fired from high between the circles for his sixth goal of the season. Less than five minutes later, 1 minute, 49 seconds into the Jackets’ second power play of the night, Brandon Saad sent a cross-zone pass to Karlsson, whose shot from the right circle found the net.
The 2025 International Federation of Bodybuilding and Fitness (IFBB) Mr Universe Chinese Taipei competition began yesterday at Xinzhuang Gymnasium in New Taipei City, with more than 150 athletes showcasing their physiques. It is the first time in 16 years that the IFBB has held a competition in Taiwan, the last being the 2009 World Games in Kaohsiung. The professional bodybuilding contest is bringing together athletes from Taiwan and 16 other countries, including Malaysia, Japan, the US, France and Mexico. IFBB Chinese Taipei president Hsu An-chin said in an interview yesterday that the event came to Taiwan thanks to his lobbying efforts at last
Shohei Ohtani on Wednesday homered for the fifth consecutive game, tying a Los Angeles Dodgers franchise record. Yankees star Aaron Judge was the last player to homer in five consecutive games, accomplishing that feat last year. Ohtani, who leads the National League with 37 home runs, homered in the first inning off Minnesota Twins starter Chris Paddack. He hit a slow curveball 134m to center. He carried the bat midway down the first-base line and then did a bat flip. He did not hit a home run later in the game with the Dodgers trailing, but his presence was felt. With two outs
Ben O’Connor won Thursday’s monster Alpine stage to the ski resort of Courchevel as three-time Tour de France champion Tadej Pogacar responded to attacks from Jonas Vingegaard and dropped him to cement his grip on the yellow jersey. With just three stages left before the race ends in Paris, Pogacar looks poised to retain his title, with a comfortable lead of more than 4 minutes over Vingegaard, a two-time champion. Stage 18 featured three extremely difficult ascents, including the 26.4km climb of the Col de La Loze to the finish. At 2,304m, La Loze is the highest summit in this year’s Tour. Two
Top seeds Alexander Zverev of Germany and American Coco Gauff on Tuesday advanced to the third round of the Canadian Open after both players were pushed hard by their opponents. World No. 3 Zverev, playing in his first match since his first-round loss at Wimbledon, was far from his best, but emerged with a 7-6 (8/6), 6-4 win over Adam Walton under the lights in Toronto. Momentum shifted firmly in Zverev’s favor when he won a 52-shot rally in the first set tiebreak and he sealed the win on a double fault by the Australian in the second set. “It was a very
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