Former champion Hsieh Su-wei was stunned by a Uzbek qualifier in the first round of the Malaysian Open yesterday, while top seed Elina Svitolina cruised into the second round on a rain-interrupted day in Kuala Lumpur.
Taiwanese world No. 98 Hsieh fell to a surprise 7-5, 5-7, 6-1 defeat to world No. 155 Sabina Sharipova in a first-round singles match that was twice interrupted by breaks for rain.
Sharipova saved three of eight break points and converted eight of 21 to advance to a second-round clash with fellow qualifier Lesley Kerkhove of the Netherlands, despite racking up 10 double faults against the 2012 champion, who was coming off the back of winning the doubles title at the Hungarian Ladies Open in Budapest on Sunday alongside Oksana Kalashnikova.
Reigning champion Svitolina advanced with a convincing 6-2, 6-3 victory over South Korea’s Jang Su-jeong in 1 hour, 26 minutes.
The Taiwan Open champion and world No. 10, looking to win her second WTA Tour title of the season and the sixth of her career, saved five of the six break points she faced and converted four of 11 to set up a second-round clash with Nao Hibino of Japan.
Also advancing to the second round was Polish world No. 93 Magda Linette, who ousted Ukrainian wild-card Katarina Zavatska 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 to set up a second-round clash with either Taiwan’s Chang Kai-chen or Chinese fourth seed Peng Shuai, who were due to play their first-round match later yesterday.
Chang crashed out of the doubles late on Monday when she and Wang Qiang of China fell to a 6-3, 6-4 defeat to Chinese duo Duan Yingying and Han Xinyun in 1 hour, 14 minutes.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB