■TENNIS
Lu makes round two
Lu Yen-hsun defeated Britain’s Josh Goodall 6-1, 6-2 to reach the second round of the Tenerife Challenger on Tuesday. The Taiwanese No. 1 made short work of the 232-ranked British No. 3 and next faces Germany’s Dominik Meffert. The German defeated South Africa’s Izak van der Merwe 6-2, 6-3 in their first round clash. Lu is the top seed in the hard court tournament.
■SOCCER
Hong Kong FA slams Reds
Liverpool were yesterday accused of pricing themselves out of the market by making “outrageous” demands to play in Hong Kong. A Hong Kong Football Association source told the South China Morning Post that the team’s planned exhibition match against the Hong Kong national side in July had been scrapped because of the financial demands. Liverpool wanted a US$1.5 million appearance fee, exclusive television rights and half the advertising revenue from the match, the newspaper said. The club also wanted accommodation and air fares paid for, the source said. “This is outrageous,” the newspaper quoted the source saying. “Hong Kong, as well as other parts of the region, has been severely hit by the financial meltdown, but Liverpool still want the world for their pre-season tour.” The source said Liverpool argued the organizers could charge HK$800 (US$103) per ticket.
■SOCCER
Gerets to quit Marseille
Marseille coach Eric Gerets on Tuesday told his players he would quit the club at the end of the season. The Belgian has turned them into title contenders after years as also-rans. Gerets told radio station RTL that he felt he had no option but to quit since Robert Louis-Dreyfus, the largest shareholder in the club, to his mind criticized him in an interview with L’Equipe. “Certain people seem to forget that in my first season with the club I took them to third place in the league, they having finished 18th in the previous campaign. However, this season after December we oscillated between third and fifth place, and then Robert Louis-Dreyfus gave this interview. He felt obliged to attack me, and I certainly took it as a personal attack, and he certainly forgot my record with the club,” Gerets said.
■SOCCER
Vela returns after flu scare
Mexican striker Carlos Vela returned to training with Arsenal on Tuesday after being held out of practice the previous day due to fears over swine flu. After seeking medical advice, the Premier League club told the player on Monday to stay away from training. The concerns had been prompted by the visit of friends from Mexico, where more than 150 deaths have been blamed on the virus. Vela was cleared by doctors on Tuesday.
■BOXING
Calzaghe won’t fight Froch
Joe Calzaghe has ruled out fighting Carl Froch, saying the WBA super-middleweight champion was not in his class. The Welshman said he had no interest in facing Froch, who beat Jermain Taylor on Saturday. “Enough is enough with Carl Froch calling me out,” Calzaghe said in Tuesday’s South Wales Argus. “I can tell you categorically that I will not fight the guy even if I did come out of retirement which I am not going to do.” Froch called on Calzaghe to return to the ring after beating Taylor. “I am sick to death of him drumming up free publicity for himself by using my name,” Calzaghe said. “No one who watched the fight [on Saturday] can believe he’s in my class,” he said.
The next generation of running talent takes center stage at today’s Berlin Marathon, in the absence of stars including Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge and Ethiopian world record holder Tigist Assefa. With most of the major marathon stars skipping the event in the wake of the Paris Olympics just more than a month ago, the field is wide open in the men’s and women’s races. Since 2015, Kipchoge has won five times in Berlin, Kenenisa Bekele has won twice and Guye Adola once — with all three missing today. Kenyan Kibiwott Kandie and Ethiopian Tadese Takele are among the favourites for the men, while
Japan’s Shohei Ohtani is the record-breaking baseball “superhuman” following in the footsteps of the legendary Babe Ruth who has also earned comparisons to US sporting greats Michael Jordan and Tom Brady. Not since Ruth a century ago has there been a baseball player capable of both pitching and hitting at the top level. The 30-year-old’s performances with the Los Angeles Dodgers have consolidated his position as a baseball legend in the making, and a national icon in his native Japan. He continues to find new ways to amaze, this year becoming the first player to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases
Zhang Shuai yesterday said that she nearly quit after losing 24 matches in a row — now the world No. 595 is into the quarter-finals of her home China Open. The 35-year-old is to face Spain’s Paula Badosa as the lowest-ranked player to reach this stage in the history of the tournament after Badosa reeled off 11 of the last 12 games in a 6-4, 6-0 victory over US Open finalist Jessica Pegula. Zhang went into Beijing on a barren run lasting more than 600 days and her string of singles defeats was the second-longest on the WTA Tour Open era, which
Taiwan’s Tony Wu yesterday beat Mackenzie McDonald of the US to win the Nonthaburi Challenger IV in Thailand, his first challenger victory since 2022. The 26-year-old world No. 315, who won both his qualifiers to advance to the main draw, has been on a hot streak this month, winning his past nine matches, including two that ensured Taiwan’s victory in their Davis Cup World Group I tie. Wu took just more than two hours to top world No. 172 McDonald 6-3, 7-6 (7/4) to win his second challenger tournament since the Tallahassee Tennis Challenger in 2022. Wu’s Tallahassee win followed two years of
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