■CRICKET
Shane Bond calls it a day
Injury-prone New Zealand fast bowler Shane Bond has retired from all forms of cricket less than five months after quitting Tests to prolong his career in limited-over formats. Bond, viewed as one of New Zealand’s best fast bowlers despite a career perennially hampered by injury, retired from Test cricket in December last year with 87 wickets at an average of 22. The decision came after he sustained an abdominal injury during his first Test back in two years against Pakistan in November last year that ruled him out for two months. The 34-year-old also leaves the game with an enviable limited overs record, having snared 147 wickets at an average of 20.88 in one-day internationals and 25 at 21.72 in Twenty20.
■CRICKET
Blackwell leads from front
Australia captain Alex Blackwell led from the front as her side advanced into the women’s World Twenty20 final with a seven-wicket win over India on Thursday. Blackwell’s 61 — her maiden half-century at this level — was the centerpiece of Australia’s successful pursuit of their target of 120. Her innings was all the more impressive as Blackwell, only leading the side because wicketkeeper-batsman Jodie Fields withdrew before the tournament with a hamstring injury, came in with the score 1-1. However, together with left-handed opener Shelley Nitschke (22), she shared a second-wicket stand of 74 that ended India’s hopes. By the time Blackwell was stumped by India wicketkeeper Sulakshana Naik off leg-spinner Priyanka Roy, Australia were 101 for three and in sight of victory and tomorrow’s final.
■SKIING
Vonn makes TV debut
For US skiing champion Lyndsey Vonn hurtling 137kph down an icy slope is nowhere near as nerve-racking as making her acting debut in her favorite television show Law and Order. Vonn, 25, who won a gold medal in the downhill and a bronze in the Super-G at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver earlier this year, was delighted to be invited to make a guest appearance on the NBC crime drama that she has watched since she was a child. Vonn has suffered a list of skiing injuries, but she said it was scarier to take on the role of an office assistant called Alicia who has a vital clue in a case involving a terrorist. Vonn appears in the show’s 20th season finale that is scheduled to air in the US on May 24.
■SOCCER
Terry’s dad pleads guilty
Chelsea captain and England defender John Terry’s father pleaded guilty on Thursday to supplying cocaine and is embarrassed by the upset caused to his son, a court heard. Edward Terry, 56, admitted at Basildon Magistrates’ Court, east of London, to supplying a class A drug. The court was told he supplied drugs to an undercover reporter from the News of the World, Britain’s biggest-selling newspaper, in a wine bar in nearby Chafford Hundred in November last year. Prosecutor Ricky Khagram said Terry was paid £160 (US$235) for the drugs. His lawyer Neil Saunders said Terry had been “targeted” by reporters because he was John Terry’s father and was “embarrassed” because of the upset caused to his son, who as Chelsea captain lifted the English Premier League trophy on Sunday. He was released on bail and will be sentenced at Basildon Crown Court on June 1.
Hong Kong-based cricket team Hung See this weekend found success in their matches in Taiwan, even if none of the results went their way. Hung See played the Chairman’s XI on Saturday morning, the Daredevils that afternoon and PCCT yesterday, with all three home teams winning. The team for Chinese players at the Happy Valley-based Craigengower Cricket Club sends teams on tour to “spread the game of cricket.” This weekend was Hung See’s second trip to Taiwan after visiting Tainan in 2016. “The club has been traveling to all parts of the world since 1982 and the annual tradition continues [with the Taiwan
The San Francisco Giants signed 18-year-old Taiwanese pitcher Yang Nien-hsi (陽念希) to a contract worth a total of US$500,000 (NT $16.39 million). At a press event in Taipei on Wednesday, Jan. 22, the Giants’ Pacific Rim Area scout Evan Hsueh (薛奕煌) presented Yang with a Giants jersey to celebrate the signing. The deal consisted of a contract worth US$450,000 plus a US$50,000 scholarship bonus. Yang, who stands at 188 centimeters tall and weighs 85 kilograms, is of Indigenous Amis descent. With his fastest pitch clocking in at 150 kilometers per hour, Yang had been on Hsueh’s radar since playing in the HuaNan Cup
Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei yesterday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while Coco Gauff’s dreams of a first women’s singles title in Melbourne were crushed in the quarter-finals by Paula Badosa. World No. 2 Alexander Zverev was ruffled by a stray feather in his men’s singles quarter-final, but he refocused to beat 12th seed Tommy Paul and reach the semi-finals. Third seeds Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia defeated Elena-Gabriela Ruse of Romania and Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine 6-2, 5-7, 7-5 in 2 hours, 20 minutes to advance the semi-finals. Hsieh and Ostapenko converted eight of 14 break
Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and partner Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia yesterday advanced to the women’s doubles final at the Australian Open after defeating New Zealand’s Erin Routliffe and Gabriela Dabrowski of Canada 7-6 (7/3), 3-6, 6-3 in their semi-final. Hsieh has won nine Grand Slam doubles titles and has a shot at a 10th tomorrow, when the Latvian-Taiwanese duo are to play Taylor Townsend of the US and Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic in the championship match at the A$96.5 million (US$61 million) outdoor hard court tournament at Melbourne Park. Townsend and Siniakova eliminated Russian pair Diana Shnaider and Mirra Andreeva 6-7
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