TENNIS
Hsieh out before semis
Slovakia’s Dominika Cibulkova on Thursday beat defending champion Samantha Stosur 6-4, 6-3 to reach the Internationaux de Strasbourg semi-finals, where she is to face fourth seed Mihaela Buzarnescu, who beat Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei 6-0, 6-3. Fifth seed Cibulkova hit 21 winners to oust Australian Stosur in just more than 90 minutes. Top seed Ashleigh Barty is also in the last four for the first time after the Australian beat China’s Wang Qiang 7-5, 6-4. Barty stormed back from a breakdown in the second set to win the last three games in a row to set up a semi-final clash with third seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia. “I think it was a very tough match right from the first point,” Barty said. “I felt very clean off the ground today and felt like that was my best match so far this week.” Pavlyuchenkova saw off Kazakh Zarina Diyas 6-4, 6-2 with a disciplined effort, converting all five of her break points. “It feels great, because this season hasn’t been easy for me,” Pavlyuchenkova said.
AWARDS
British women honored
Soccer player-turned-boxer Stacey Copeland was named Sporting Role Model in the individual category, while England’s cricketers took the top prize on Thursday among teams in the UK charity Women’s Sport Trust’s #BeAGameChanger Awards. Copeland, who previously played for England’s under-18 side and is one of only six professional female boxers in the UK, was recognized for her efforts to raise the profile of women’s sport last year. “Why is the Women’s Sport Trust so committed to running the #BeAGameChanger Awards? Because compelling stories about the trailblazers need to be told,” cofounder Jo Bostock said. The England women’s cricket team last year won the World Cup by beating India in the final, a match watched by no less than 1.1 million TV viewers across the UK.
BOXING
Trump pardons Jack Johnson
US President Donald Trump has granted a rare posthumous pardon to boxing’s first black heavyweight champion, clearing Jack Johnson’s name more than a century after what many see as his racially charged conviction. Trump yesterday said he was correcting “a wrong that occurred in our history and to honor a truly legendary boxing champion.” He was joined in the Oval Office by heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder, retired heavyweight titleholder Lennox Lewis and actor Sylvester Stallone, who Trump credited with championing the pardon. Johnson was convicted in 1913 by an all-white jury for violating the Mann Act for traveling with his white girlfriend. That law made it illegal to transport women across state lines for “immoral purposes.”
SOCCER
Iaquinta facing trial
Prosecutors are seeking a six-year prison sentence for Italy’s 2006 World Cup winner Vincenzo Iaquinta on charges of arms possession and links with the Calabrian mafia, Corriere dello Sport reported on Thursday. More than 140 people are being tried in a wide-ranging investigation into the Ndrangheta mafia group, including the player’s father, who faces up to 10 years in jail himself. The former Juventus striker played in five of Italy’s seven games during their World Cup campaign in Germany in 2006.
US track and field athletes have about four dozen pieces to choose from when assembling their uniforms at the Olympics. The one grabbing the most attention is a high-cut leotard that barely covers the bikini line and has triggered debate between those who think it is sexist and others who say they do not need the Internet to make sure they have good uniforms. Among those critical or laughing at the uniforms included Paralympian Femita Ayanbeku, sprinter Britton Wilson and even athletes from other countries such as Britain’s Abigail Irozuru, who wrote on social media: “Was ANY female athlete consulted in
Forget Real Madrid, Manchester City or Paris Saint-Germain, the world’s best soccer team — statistically speaking — might be a little-known outfit from the closed central Asian nation of Turkmenistan. Founded last year, Arkadag, named in honor of former Turkmen president Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow, have been unstoppable, notching up 36 consecutive domestic victories in a run still ongoing. The side have not lost a single competitive match and swept to a league and cup double in their inaugural season — success unthinkable almost anywhere else. However, in Turkmenistan, it could hardly have gone any other way. The energy-rich country is one of the most closed
Former US Masters champion Zach Johnson was left embarrassed after a foul-mouthed response to ironic cheers from spectators after a triple bogey at Augusta National on Friday. Johnson, the 2007 Masters winner, missed the cut after his three-over-par round of 75 left him on seven-over 151 for 36 holes, his six on the par-three 12th playing a big role in his downfall. Television footage showed Johnson reacting to sarcastic cheers and applause when he tapped in for the triple bogey by yelling: “Oh fuck off.” Such a response would be considered bad form in any golf tournament, but is particularly out of keeping
Taiwan’s Lee Jhe-huei and Yang Po-hsuan on Saturday won the men’s doubles bronze medal at the Badminton Asia Championships in Ningbo, China, after they were bested by the hosts in their semi-final. The Taiwanese shuttlers lost to China’s Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang, who advanced to yesterday’s final against Malaysia’s Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzudin. The Chinese pair outplayed Lee and Yang in straight games. Although the Taiwanese got off to a slow start in the first game, they eventually tied it 14-14, before Liang and Wang went on to blow past them to win 21-17. In the second game, Lee and