China’s Liu Shiwen and Ma Long snuffed out the last of the European challenge yesterday to make the table tennis World Championships an all-Asian affair.
The 18-year-old Liu, who upset her compatriot and world No. 4 Guo Yan on Saturday, brushed aside Iveta Vacenovska of the Czech Republic 9-11, 11-8, 12-10, 11-5, 17-15 in the women’s singles quarter-finals.
“It’s the same for everybody that she wants to win. I’m also eager to win. I’ve lost so many matches before and those losses made me stronger,” Liu said.
PHOTO: AP
The 20-year-old Ma, who won the Grand Finals in December last year, powered his way through to a 12-10, 13-11, 11-7, 11-9 victory over Michael Maze of Denmark in the men’s singles quarter-finals.
“It was a tough match. My opponent played aggressively, which forced me to play defensively,” Ma said. “I wanted to play more offensively from the start.”
Mighty China also booked semi-final places through men’s world No. 1 Wang Hao and 2007 women’s world silver medalist Li Xiaoxia.
Wang set up a semi-final meeting against Ma Long when he whipped Kaii Yoshida of Japan 11-9, 11-8, 8-11, 11-3, 11-4.
“He [Yoshida] knows my play style very well, so I tried to read the course of his shots. When your opponent knows your game very well, it’s difficult to cope with,” Wang said.
Li was an 11-9, 11-4, 2-11, 11-9, 11-6 winner over Dang Ye-seo of South Korea.
“It was tough in the first two games, but I finally got into my rhythm in the fourth game. I’m satisfied with my performance today. I just want to keep playing my normal game,” Li said.
Earlier in the day, China took the mixed doubles title for a 10th straight time and 17th overall when Li Ping and Cao Zhen defeated Zhang Jike and Mu Zi 11-6, 4-11, 11-7, 9-11, 13-11, 11-8 in an all-Chinese final.
“It was a difficult match. We didn’t know whether we would be able to become the world champions until the end. It was important to believe in each other and never give up,” Cao said, teaming up with Li Ping for the first time.
“It’s exciting to become the world champions. It doesn’t matter whether it’s the singles, doubles or mixed doubles. I’m quite happy with the results,” Li Ping said.
Freddie Freeman homered and drove in four runs, Shohei Ohtani also went deep and Roki Sasaki earned his first major league win as the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Atlanta Braves 10-3 on Saturday night for their seventh straight victory. The Dodgers have won the first two games of the series to improve to 5-0 against Atlanta this year. Los Angeles’ three-game sweep at home early in the season left the Braves 0-7. Sasaki allowed three runs and six hits over five innings. The 23-year-old right-hander gave up a home run to Ozzie Albies, but received plenty of offensive support in his
Bayern Munich on Sunday were crowned German champions for the 34th time, giving striker Harry Kane his first major trophy, after second-placed Bayer 04 Leverkusen drew 2-2 at SC Freiburg. Bayern’s 3-3 draw at RB Leipzig on Saturday, when the Bavarians came from two goals down to take the lead before conceding a stoppage-time equalizer, meant defending Bundesliga champions Leverkusen needed to win at Freiburg to delay the title party. Leverkusen were two goals down before scoring twice in the final 10 minutes, but Xabi Alonso’s side could not find a third, as Bayern reclaimed the title at the first attempt after
A man fell from the 6.4m-high Clemente Wall in right field at PNC Park in Pittsburgh during Wednesday night’s game between the Pirates and the Chicago Cubs. Right after Andrew McCutchen hit a two-run double in the seventh inning to put the Pirates ahead 4-3, players began waving frantically for medical personnel and pointing to the man, who had fallen onto the warning track. The fan was tended to for approximately five minutes by members of both the Pirates and Cubs training staffs as well as PNC personnel before being removed from the field on a cart. The team issued a statement shortly
PAINFUL VICTORY: Ruud said that felt pain in his rib during the warmup and was put on painkillers so that he could finish the match against Argentine Francisco Cerundolo With the help of painkillers, Casper Ruud overcame a rib ailment to defeat Francisco Cerundolo in straight sets and reach the Madrid Open final on Friday. Ruud is to face Jack Draper, who beat Lorenzo Musetti 6-3, 7-6 (4) in the other semi-final to make his third final of the year. Ruud received treatment on his rib three games into the match and went on to win 6-4, 7-5 on the Caja Magica center court. The 15th-ranked Norwegian saved 15 of the 18 break points he faced against the 21st-ranked Argentine. Ruud said he felt something in his rib during the warmup, just before