GOLF
Hur Mi-jung claims title
South Korean Hur Mi-jung claimed her first LPGA Tour title in five years with a dominant four-shot victory at the Women’s Scottish Open on Sunday. The world No. 79 made five birdies on the back nine to fire a five-under-par final round of 66 and finish on a 20-under total in North Berwick. “Actually, I don’t like links courses, but after this week, I love them,” Hur told ladieseuropeantour.com. Overnight leader Moriya Jutanugarn hit a fourth-round 71 to finish in a tie for second with seventh-ranked Lee Jeongeun. Taiwan’s Hsu Wei-ling finished in a share of 45th with rounds of 71, 70, 68 and 74, while Chien Pei-yun missed the cut.
SOCCER
Wolves skipper slams VAR
Wolverhampton Wanderers’ skipper Conor Coady has criticized officials after his team had a goal disallowed by the video assistant referee (VAR) for a handball in their 0-0 Premier League draw with Leicester City on Sunday. Midfielder Leander Dendoncker struck from close range early in the second half, but the goal was ruled out on review because he had headed the ball onto teammate Willy Boly’s arm before taking the shot. Coady said recent changes to the handball rules had muddied the waters and suggested that more “common sense” needed to be shown by officials, including the VAR. “It’s a goal,” the defender told British media. “People will say they have VAR and it has hit [Boly’s] hand, but he is not looking at the ball. We are going to have to play with our hands chopped off in future.”
SOCCER
Mourinho hails Maguire
Harry Maguire brought instant stability to Manchester United’s much-maligned defense on Sunday and their 4-0 win over Chelsea showed that he can build a strong partnership with fellow centerback Victor Lindelof, Jose Mourinho said. Maguire became the world’s most expensive defender when United paid a reported £80 million (US$96.28 million) for his services and the England international delivered a man-of-the-match performance on his debut at Old Trafford. “He was solid like a rock,” Mourinho said in his role as a television analyst for Sky Sports. “You can be very dangerous in attack, but if you feel that a mistake is around the corner it takes your confidence away and you don’t play as well. When you feel there is something that allows you to play you are much more confident,” he said. “As I always said: Lindelof can be a very good player. With Maguire it can be a very good partnership.”
CRICKET
Kohli, Gayle reach marks
Virat Kohli scored 120 and became India’s second-highest scorer in one-day international cricket as he guided his team to a 59-run win over the West Indies on Sunday and a 1-0 lead with a game remaining in the series. Kohli passed Sourav Ganguly’s career mark to move into No. 2 on India’s all-time list of ODI scorers behind only Sachin Tendulkar. Chris Gayle reached two milestones in his team’s defeat, becoming the all-time leading scorer for the West Indies in the format, while also becoming the first West Indian to play 300 ODIs. India posted 279-7 after winning the toss at Queen’s Park Oval and choosing to bat. The West Indies were all out for 210 in 42 overs chasing a revised target of 270 from 46 overs because of rain.
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