■EAST ASIAN GAMES
Mixed day for Taiwan
Table tennis gold medal favorites China finished round-robin play undefeated yesterday to qualify for the semi-finals in the men’s competition in Hong Kong. The Chinese men beat Japan 3-0, closing out the round-robin stage without dropping a single match. In the semi-finals, they will face Hong Kong, who qualified by beating Taiwan 3-1. South Korea, who had two wins on Wednesday, will play either Japan or Macau in the other semi-final. The Chinese women qualified with two wins on Wednesday. Yesterday, they were joined by Japan, who defeated Macau 3-0. Hong Kong and Taiwan qualified in Pool B with one win each. In women’s basketball, Japan edged China 59-54, with Ryoko Utsumi scoring 18 points. Taiwan crushed Hong Kong 112-47. In men’s basketball, six Taiwanese players were in double digits in their 118-59 rout of Macau.
■CHINESE BOXING
Tournament starts today
This year’s Chinese boxing (San Da) tournament and the first national K-1 kickboxing competition will be held in Taipei today, with winners from the past few years competing for the title of the first K-1 king of Taiwan. The Chinese Boxing (San Da) Combat Association, which is organizing the event, has held four national San Da tournaments since it was established in 2003, but has not staged a national K-1 tournament before. The“K”in K-1 stands for karate, kickboxing, kung fu and other stand-up martial arts. San Da, also known as Chinese boxing, is basically kickboxing with throws and it combines techniques from kung fu, kickboxing and freestyle wrestling.
■BASEBALL
Chen gets a pay rise
Chen Wei-yin, a Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) pitcher from Taiwan, re-signed on Wednesday with the Chunichi Dragons in Japan’s Central League for an annual salary of ¥110 million (US$1.15 million), a sharp rise from the ¥35 million he was offered last season, a Japanese newspaper reported on Wednesday. The pay rise came in the wake of Chen’s 1.54 earned run average last season.
■BOXING
Hopkins returns with a win
Bernard Hopkins of the US returned to the ring after a near 14-month absence to score a unanimous points decision victory over Mexican Enrique Ornelas in a non-title light-heavyweight bout on Wednesday. Hopkins, 44, the former middleweight and light-heavyweight champion, used his experience to land sharp counters and when Ornelas stood back, scored with lead right hands.
■GOLF
Appleby, Hend share lead
A three-putt bogey at the last dropped home favorite Stuart Appleby into a tie for the lead with compatriot Scott Hend on six-under after a blustery first round at the Australian Open yesterday. Former world No. 3 Adam Scott was just two shots back in a tie for fifth after an eagle three at the par-five 12th helped him to a 68.
■TENNIS
Mauresmo retires
Twice Grand Slam winner and former world No. 1 Amelie Mauresmo announced her retirement yesterday. “I came here to announce the end of my career. I made this decision after careful consideration,” the 30-year-old told a news conference before bursting into tears. Mauresmo first topped the rankings in September 2004 and clinched her Grand Slam titles in 2006 when she won the Australian Open and Wimbledon.
Barcelona’s Ferran Torres scored twice on Sunday to help secure a late 4-2 comeback win at Atletico Madrid in a pulsating La Liga clash that took the Catalan side back to the top of the table. Barca have 60 points and a game in hand after last week’s postponement of their home game with CA Osasuna. They are level on points with Real Madrid, who won 2-1 at Villarreal on Saturday. “I am happy and proud of this team,” Barcelona head coach Hansi Flick told a news conference. “They never give up... It’s a great three points and we are happy to
Paolo Banchero on Sunday scored 24 points as the Orlando Magic overturned a 13-point deficit to end the Cleveland Cavaliers’ 16-game unbeaten streak with a gutsy 108-103 road victory. Cleveland, the runaway Eastern Conference leaders, had looked poised to extend their franchise-record winning run after surging clear of Orlando early in the third quarter, but after a season where they have staged hefty winning comebacks of their own, the tables turned on Cleveland in the face of a furious burst of Orlando scoring. The Magic outscored Cleveland 35-23 in the third quarter, with Franz Wagner leading the charge with nine points and
Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday held their nerve to beat Liverpool 4-1 on penalties and reach the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals after their tie finished one-apiece on aggregate, while Bayern Munich saw off Bayer 04 Leverkusen to complete a 5-0 win over both legs. Lamine Yamal and Raphinha fired Barcelona into the next round as the Catalans bested SL Benfica 3-1, and Inter booked a last-eight meeting with Bayern by seeing off Feyenoord 2-1. At Anfield, Ousmane Dembele netted the only goal of the night as PSG bounced back from Liverpool’s late winner last week to force the tie to extra-time and penalties. Maligned
Taiwan’s Lin Chun-yi on Wednesday inflicted a first-round defeat on former badminton world No. 1 Viktor Axelsen at the All England Open. Lin came out of top after a back-and-forth first game before Axelsen dominated the second, but the Dane was not able to keep that form in the decider as Lin reeled off six points in a row on the way to a 21-19, 13-21, 21-11 victory. “If I don’t play my best, everyone can win against me,” said Axelsen, the world No. 4. “Today’s opponent played a fantastic game; it was disappointing, but that is how it is.” “I just tried
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