TENNIS
Taiwanese win doubles title
Taiwan’s Chang Kai-chen and Hsu Ching-wen yesterday won the women’s doubles title at the Launceston Tennis International in Australia. The pair beat Australian top seeds Alexandra Bozovic and Isabelle Wallace in straight sets to take the title. Chang and Hsu got off to a good start at the Launceston Regional Tennis Centre, winning the first set 6-2, and managed to lock down the Australians 6-4 in the second set despite a strong comeback effort. The Taiwanese breezed through the game in 55 minutes, six minutes quicker than their semi-final match on Friday, which they won 6-2, 6-3 against Australians Ellen Perez and Arina Rodionova. The competition is part of the International Tennis Federations Women’s Circuit.
E-SPORTS
Bayern take interest U-turn
Bayern Munich chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge said that the German giants are looking into branching into e-sports, despite previously having dismissed the idea. “We have taken a more proactive stance now and conducted an analysis that will soon be discussed within the board to see if we can approach this issue,” Rummenigge said at a sports business congress in Duesseldorf. “We were not originally into the idea, because we did not like these shooting games.” Bayern seem to have done a complete U-turn on the topic after president Uli Hoeness dismissed the idea in August last year. “Young people should take part in sports on the training ground,” the 67-year-old said at the time. Bayern are lagging behind in e-sports on the soccer side, but the club’s basketball team supports the “Bayern Ballers Gaming” outfit. Schalke 04 are leading the way in Germany and late last year invested 8 million euros (US$9.17 million) in a franchise license for the League of Legends European Championships.
AMERICA’S CUP
Team to build coed crew
Stars & Stripes Team USA said they would have a coed crew when they compete for the oldest trophy in international sports in New Zealand in 2021. The team are also seeking athletes from a cross-section of sports who can fill out the crew aboard their physically demanding 23m foiling monohull. “There are incredible female athletes and I want to see them sailing our AC75,” team cofounder and skipper Mike Buckley said. The team are to hold foiling camps at their base in Long Beach, California, with their GC32 catamaran from Feb. 19 to 28 and from March 10 to 22, as well as a combine tour to test athletes who might not normally apply for a job as a professional sailor.
BASKETBALL
All-Stars adds two more
Dallas’ Dirk Nowitzki and Miami’s Dwyane Wade are NBA champions, NBA Finals MVPs and longtime ambassadors for the game. Now, one more time, they are All-Stars. By special order of NBA commissioner Adam Silver, Wade and Nowitzki were on Friday added to the pool of players for the All-Star Game on Feb. 17. Each team are to now have 13 players instead of the customary 12, and LeBron James — one of the captains — is to be the one who decides which side they are to join. Silver also announced that Brooklyn’s D’Angelo Russell is to make his All-Star debut to replace injured Indiana star Victor Oladipo. Wade, who is retiring after 16 seasons, is to be an All-Star for the 13th time. Nowitzki is heading to the All-Star Game for the 14th time and has yet to officially say if his 21st season with the Mavericks would be his last. James and fellow captain Giannis Antetokounmpo are to choose their teams on Thursday.
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
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