■ BADMINTON
China win all five titles
Chen Jin, who lived for years in the shadow of the greatest player of all time, emerged into the spotlight in Paris on Sunday to become world champion as China swept all five world titles for only the second time in history of the game. The third-seed made this achievement possible with a convincing 21-13, 21-15 men’s singles win over Taufik Hidayat, the gifted but unpredictable former world and Olympic champion from Indonesia. Chen kept his promise to himself that he would go one better than last year, when he finished runner-up to Lin Dan, his legendary compatriot. On an historic day for China, Lin Wang won the women’s singles title, Du Jing and Yu Yang claimed the women’s doubles, Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng took the men’s doubles, while Bo Zheng and Jin Ma were winners in the mixed doubles. The only previous occasion on which all five titles were won by one nation was when China did it in 1987 in Beijing.
■GOLF
Kuchar beats Laird in playoff
Matt Kuchar of the US hit a spectacular recovery shot to win a playoff against Martin Laird of Britain at the first hole to claim the Barclays title on Sunday in the opening leg of the FedEx Cup playoffs in Paramus, New Jersey. After hitting his drive into heavy rough on the left side, Kuchar punched a low approach shot that landed short of the firm green, hopped on and rolled to the back, before turning left and following a slope down toward the cup. Kuchar, 32, sank the three-foot putt for a winning birdie at the par-four 18th and raised his arms in triumph. Kuchar came from five strokes behind to reach the playoff, posting a bogey-free five-under 66, while overnight leader Laird shot level-par 71 for his 12-under 272 total.
■ SOCCER
Wilshere arrested, bailed
Arsenal and England midfielder Jack Wilshere was arrested in the early hours of Sunday following a high-street row, according to a spokesman for the player. Wilshere was released on bail following the incident in Kensington High Street in London. Officers and paramedics called to the scene found a man with minor facial injuries and a woman with a broken arm. Police later stopped a vehicle and arrested four men, two aged 18 and two aged 21, on suspicion of assault. They were taken to a west London police station and bailed to return in mid-October pending further inquiries, a Metropolitan police spokesman said. A statement, issued on behalf of the 18-year-old, insisted Wilshere was only acting as a peacemaker in the incident. “Jack Wilshere was arrested by police in the early hours following a fracas, but was released on bail later. The police have made it very clear that he is an important witness to the incident and played the role of peacemaker and is unlikely to face any charges as a result,” the statement said.
■FOOTBALL
Bengals release Bryant
The Cincinnati Bengals released wide receiver Antonio Bryant before he could make an appearance, opting to put their faith in the experienced hands of Terrell Owens. Cincinnati had agreed a US$28 million four-year deal with Bryant in March, according to local media, but a knee injury kept him out of the team’s pre-season games and the Bengals confirmed his release on their Web site on Sunday. Bryant was initially chosen by the team over Owens after both players worked out in March, however, Bryant’s inability to recover from injury, and the signing of Owens last month, led to the team going back on their original decision.
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
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
Taiwanese martial artists bagged one gold, four silver and three bronze medals at the World Junior Wushu Championships in Brunei, the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Brunei Darussalam said yesterday. Liu Yu-tzu won the gold medal in the girl’s taijiquan A group and also picked up a silver medal in the girl’s taijijian A group. Hu Hsin-ling, Yu Min-hsun and Chen Chao-hsiang each won a silver medal in the girl’s jianshu B, boy’s nangun B and boy’s taijijian A groups respectively. Hu also won a bronze medal in the girl’s qiangshu B group, while Yu and Lin Shih-hung picked up bronze medals
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