TABLE TENNIS
Taiwan duo lose in Austria
Taiwanese pair Chen Szu-yu and Cheng Hsien-tzu lost in the final of the women’s doubles at the International Table Tennis Federation Austrian Open on Saturday, failing to win the title, but recording their best performance this season. The duo lost the first two games, but rallied to tie the match 2-2 against Japanese Miyuu Kihara and Miyu Nagasaki. However, they were unable to sustain their momentum in the deciding fifth game, losing the match 2-3. The final score was 8-11, 7-11, 11-7, 11-9, 4-11. In the men’s singles Taiwan’s Lin Yun-ju lost 2-4 in the quarter-finals to Fan Zhendong of Chna at the TipsArena Linz, while in the women’s singles Cheng I-ching was ousted 4-1 by Japan’s Mima Ito.
GOLF
Henley gets bizarre penalty
Russell Henley incurred a bizarre eight-stroke penalty in the second round at the Mayakoba Classic on Saturday after realizing that one of the balls he had played was different from the rest. Henley was signing balls for fans when he noticed the discrepancy and received a two-stroke penalty for each of the holes he played the different ball. Henley “suffered a 2-stroke penalty on holes 9-12, 8 strokes in total, for breach of Rule 20-3,” the PGA Tour announced in a tweet. Under the “one-ball rule” used on most professional tours, golfers must use the same brand and make of ball throughout a round. With the eight strokes added, Henley shot a six-over-par 77 and missed the cut. Harris English led after back-to-back birdies in the second round in Mexico. Taiwan’s C.T. Pan was in a share of 31st after a 70.
SOCCER
Kids’ coach fired over rout
The coach of an Italian junior-league team was sacked on Saturday for inflicting a 27-0 defeat on their opponents. Paolo Brogelli, president of Invictasauro, a team based in Grosseto, Tuscany, described as “disrespectful” his team’s win over rivals Marina Calcio. “We learned with amazement and regret the score of the match in which our junior team scored 27 goals,” Brogelli said in a statement reported in the Italian press. “The values of youth team football are antithetical to such a thing. The opponent must always be respected and today it has not happened... Our board has decided, unanimously, to sack [coach] Mr Riccini. Our coaches have a duty to train and, above all, to educate children. This has not happened today.”
FORMULA ONE
Hamilton not eyeing honor
Lewis Hamilton says he is not expecting his sixth Formula One world championship to be recognized with a knighthood at the end of the year. The Mercedes driver’s supporters are pushing for him to join other British sporting knights. Hamilton, by far his country’s most successful racing driver with twice as many titles as the knighted great Jackie Stewart, doubted that would happen. “I don’t really like to think too much about it,” he told reporters at the Brazilian Grand Prix. “Just the fact that people have mentioned it, it’s already an honor, but it’s not been something that I’ve been chasing in my life.” Even if he played it down, the prospect of him getting a knighthood tickled the fancy of Ferrari rival Sebastian Vettel. “Do you get a sword? That would be cool if you get to keep the sword,” Vettel said.
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