BADMINTON
Tai graduates with honors
World No. 1 player Tai Tzu-ying yesterday received her master’s degree with the Taipei Mayor’s Award and Award for Outstanding Contribution to Non-Academic Fields. Tai, 23, graduated from the Graduate Institute of Sports Training, University of Taipei. She was the only graduate of the university to be granted an outstanding contribution award this year. Tai has been at the top of Badminton World Federation women’s singles ranking for the second time since May 3. She became world No. 1 in December 2016 and stayed on top for 67 consecutive weeks. “She is truly a model for athletes,” said university president Tai Hsia-ling, a retired athlete and a former head of the now-defunct Sports Affairs Council. Tai has been admitted to the university’s doctoral program at the Graduate Institute of Sports Training.
BOXING
Trump floats Ali pardon
US President Donald Trump on Friday said that he might grant a posthumous pardon to Muhammad Ali, seemingly unaware that the great boxer’s conviction was overturned by the US Supreme Court 47 years ago. Departing for the G7 summit in Canada, Trump told reporters at the White House that he was looking at “thousands of names” of people who could be granted clemency. Ali refused to enter the military during the Vietnam War and his local draft board rejected his application for classification as a conscientious objector. He received a draft-evasion conviction in 1967 and was stripped of his world heavyweight title. Ali was sentenced to five years in prison, but he appealed and in 1971 the Supreme Court overturned his conviction. Trump’s gesture is therefore meaningless.
FIGURE SKATING
Technical rules reformed
The International Skating Union has passed a series of technical reforms, among them limiting the number of high-scoring quad jumps in individual free skates. The quad jump came under intense scrutiny during the Pyeongchang Olympics, when male skaters who packed the most into their program finished atop the medal standings. During its biennial congress that concluded on Friday, it also established independent panels to evaluate scores for “national biases” at major competitions, modified the Olympic selection process, renamed the short dance to “rhythm dance” and created a greater range of scores. In pairs skating, the number of pairs who qualify for the free program at the world championships would increase to 20 from 16. The union also passed a series of proposals to add synchronized skating to the Olympic program. Officials hope to have the discipline included for the 2022 Beijing Games.
WORLD CUP
Cat to predict games
A deaf, white cat named Achilles is soon to begin his work as Russia’s official soothsayer, following in the tentacle-prints of Paul the Octopus, who became a star in 2010. Paul predicted winners for that year’s World Cup by choosing one out of two boxes containing food, while Achilles is to be presented with bowls marked with teams’ flags. “We went for Achilles because he is beautiful, first of all, but also because — like all white cats with blue eyes — he is deaf, so he has a great deal of intuition, he sees with his heart,” vet Anna Kasatkina said.
Shohei Ohtani and his wife arrived in South Korea with his Los Angeles Dodgers teammates yesterday ahead of their season-opening games with the San Diego Padres next week. Ohtani, wearing a black training suit and a cap backwards, was the first Dodgers player who showed up at the arrival gate of Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul. His wife, Mamiko Tanaka, walked several steps behind him. As a crowd of fans, many wearing Dodgers jerseys, shouted his name and cheered slogans, Ohtani briefly waved his hand, but did not say anything before he entered a limousine bus with his wife. Fans held placards
Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals at the All England Open, beating Kim Ga-eun of South Korea 21-17, 21-15. With the win, Tai earned a semi-final against China’s He Bingjiao, who beat Michelle Li of Canada 21-9, 21-9. Defending champion An Se-young defeated India’s P.V. Sindhu 21-19, 21-11. An on Wednesday cruised into the second round, unlike last year’s men’s winner, Li Shifeng, who suffered a shock defeat. South Korea’s An, the world No. 1, overcame Taiwan’s Hsu Wen-chi 21-17, 21-16 to set up the match against Sindhu. In other women’s singles matches, Taiwan’s Sung Shuo-yun lost 21-18, 24-22 against Carolina Marin of
EYEING TOP SPOT: A victory in today’s final against Storm Hunter and Katerina Siniakova would return 38-year-old Hsieh Su-wei to the world No. 1 ranking Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens on Thursday secured a spot in the women’s doubles finals at the BNP Paribas Open after dispatching Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez 6-2, 7-6 (7/5) at Indian Wells. Hsieh and her Belgian partner Mertens, who won the Australian Open in late January, coasted through the first set after breaking their opponents’ serve twice, but found the going tougher in the second. Both pairs could only muster one break point over 12 games, neither of which were converted, leaving the set to be decided by a tiebreaker. Hsieh and Mertens took a 6-3 lead,
DOUBLES PAYBACK: Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Martens avenged their defeat in the quarters at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open against Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei on Wednesday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California. Hsieh and partner Elise Mertens of Belgium dispatched Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani 6-1, 6-4 to set up a clash against Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez for a spot in the final of the WTA 1000 tournament. Hsieh and Martens made a blistering start to their rematch after they lost to Schuurs and Stefani in the quarter-finals at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open last month, winning three games without reply at the start of the first set