BADMINTON
Sindhu finally grabs gold
India’s P.V. Sindhu celebrated gold at last yesterday after defeating Japan’s Nozomi Okuhara to win badminton’s season-ending World Tour Finals. The 23-year-old has suffered a series of near-misses in the past few years — winning silver at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games and silver again at this year’s Asian Games and Commonwealth Games — but she put any heartbreak behind her in Guangzhou, China, beating the fifth-ranked Okuhara 21-19, 21-17 in the women’s final in just over an hour.
FIELD HOCKEY
Dutch set for Cup final
Goalkeeper Pirmin Blaak on Saturday helped the Netherlands set up a title clash with Belgium in the field hockey World Cup after edging out Australia 4-3 on penalties in Bhubaneswar, India. Blaak was on top of his game throughout the semi-final, producing a match-winning save in sudden death to deny Australia a chance of clinching their third successive title. The match was level at 2-2 after world No. 1 Australia claimed an equalizer 26 seconds from full time at the Kalinga Stadium. Both teams scored three goals each in the penalty shootout, but as the match went to sudden death, the Netherlands — shooting first — scored while the Kookaburras missed the goal after Blaak got the ball away with his stick.
LUGE
Repilov wins Cup race
Roman Repilov of Russia won a World Cup men’s luge race on Saturday at Mount Van Hoevenberg in Lake Placid, New York. Winning for the second consecutive year, Repilov posted the fastest time in both heats. Johannes Ludwig of Germany took second and Reinhard Egger of Austria was third. Olympic silver medalist Chris Mazdzer of the US finished fourth on his home track, missing a medal by 0.04 seconds. Mazdzer was also competing later Saturday in the doubles race. “I had two awesome runs,” Mazdzer said. “I left nothing on the track.”
GOLF
Meltdown costs Rose No. 1
England’s Justin Rose failed to reclaim the world No. 1 ranking yesterday after a final-round meltdown at the Indonesian Masters in Jakarta as Thailand’s Poom Saksansin claimed the title for the second time with a three-shot victory. Although Rose’s title defense was effectively ended by a third-round 71, a tie for 16th or better would have put him at the top of the rankings. However, Rose’s putting let him down badly. He finished with a three-over-par 75, which left him in a share of 17th on six-under-par. Poom made a strong start with three birdies in his first six holes and signed for a final-round 68 for a winning total of 20-under 268.
HORSE RACING
Pimlico needs rebuilding
A study suggests a US$424 million demolition and rebuilding of the deteriorating Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, which annually hosts the Preakness Stakes, the second leg of thoroughbred horse racing’s Triple Crown. The course, which opened in 1870 and is the second-oldest race track in the US, was in major need of repair and upgrading, the study by the Maryland Stadium Authority said. Construction would require about three years and the Preakness, held on the third Saturday in May, would need to move temporarily, most likely to nearby Laurel Park race track.
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but