WEIGHTLIFTING
Taiwan’s Yao wins gold
Taiwan won one gold, one silver and one bronze medal at the International Weightlifting Federation’s 2012 Junior World Championships in Guatemala on Thursday. Yao Chi-ling, 19, took gold in the 75kg and over division, plus a silver medal for lifting 106kg in the same category of the snatch event. Chung Yun-ling, 18, took bronze in the same snatch division. Meanwhile, Chang Kang-ming, 20, took sixth place in the men’s 56kg division, which is the best result Taiwan has ever earned in this category in the past seven years at international competitions. At this year’s competition, male Taiwanese athletes competed in the 56kg, 62kg, 69kg and 75kg events, while female weightlifters participated in the 48kg, 53kg, 63kg and 75kg divisions. The championships ran from May 10 to 18 in Antigua City, and attracted 118 female and 154 male athletes from 51 countries.
SOCCER
Platini expects Merkel visit
UEFA president Michel Platini is confident German Chancellor Angela Merkel will attend the final of Euro 2012 in Ukraine — if Germany reach the tournament’s showpiece in Kiev on July 1. Together with EU commissioners and several other Western politicians, Merkel has threatened to boycott the month-long tournament, which Ukraine is co-hosting with Poland next month, in sympathy with jailed Ukrainian opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko. “I’m not worried about the situation,” Platini told CNN in an exclusive interview ahead of yesterday’s Champions League final between Bayern Munich and Chelsea in the German city. “The politicians they are in their role and the Ukrainians they are in their role. I’m in my role and that is not to do politics, it’s not to do religion and not to interfere in everything. That means they can say what they want — we continue to organize the Euro [2012]. If Germany is in final of the Euro [2012] I would be sure that Madame Merkel would come to the final.”
MOUNTAINEERING
Woman, 73, climbs Everest
A 73-year-old Japanese woman has climbed Mount Everest, smashing her own record to again become the oldest woman to scale the world’s highest mountain. Ang Tshering of the China Tibet Mountaineering Association says Tamae Watanabe reached Everest’s 8,850m summit from the northern side of the mountain in Tibet yesterday morning with four other team members. Tshering says Watanabe and the other team members are in good condition and are on their way back to the base of the mountain. Watanabe had climbed Everest in 2002 at the age of 63 to become the oldest woman to scale the mountain.
BASEBALL
Manager, umpire get ban
Philadelphia Phillies manager Charlie Manuel and umpire Bob Davidson were each banned for one game by Major League Baseball (MLB) on Friday following their nose-to-nose shouting match during a game earlier this week. Manuel was ejected in the eighth inning of the Phillies’ 4-3 win over the Houston Astros on Tuesday for disputing a call made by Davidson that allowed an opposing player to reach first base safely on a dropped third strike. The Phillies manager left the dugout to argue and came face-to-face with Davidson on the field for a heated argument that lasted about 40 seconds. Manuel was suspended for the on-field incident while Davidson was banned for “repeated violations of the Office of the Commissioner’s standards for situation handling,” MLB said in two separate statements.
After letting another big lead slip with an error-strewn performance at the French Open on Wednesday, top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka felt like getting as far away from the courts as possible. “Just want to quit tennis right now,” Sabalenka said after wasting a lead of a set and two breaks in a 3-6, 7-5, 6-0 loss to Diana Shnaider in the women’s singles quarter-finals. “We’ll see in few days. Hopefully I’ll get back on track mentally.” Sabalenka’s wait for a first French Open title continues despite the four-time major winner leading 4-1 in the second set and being two points from victory while
BIG NAMES GONE: Zverev is the clear favorite for a maiden Grand Slam title, reaching semi-finals for the fifth time in six years and finishing second on three occasions Alexander Zverev on Tuesday breezed past Rafael Jodar to stay on course for an elusive Grand Slam title at the French Open, while Jakub Mensik halted Joao Fonseca’s scintillating run in the quarter-finals. Zverev, the highest-ranked player left in the men’s draw, put an end to Spanish teenager Jodar’s impressive Roland Garros debut, easing into the semi-finals with a 7-6, (7/3), 6-1, 6-3 win. The 29-year-old Zverev is the clear favorite for a maiden Grand Slam title. He has finished runner-up on three occasions, including at the 2024 French Open. “I want to win the matches that are ahead of
For some, Cristiano Ronaldo remains the essential spearhead for Portugal’s FIFA World Cup bid, while others believe his presence would prevent Roberto Martinez’s strong side from flourishing. The debate around the five-time Ballon d’Or winner rages on, as it did at UEFA Euro 2024 and four years ago in Qatar — yet Ronaldo endures, ready to play in a record sixth World Cup. The 41-year-old remains a global superstar despite swapping the European elite for Saudi Arabia’s Al-Nassr, and is the leading men’s international goalscorer with 143 strikes. With 25 of those coming in 30 games under Martinez, the coach
Taiwanese sprinter Chen Yi-cen on Friday won the silver medal in the women’s 400m final at the Asian U20 Athletics Championships in Hong Kong, with a time of 53.16 seconds. Chen, 15, was the youngest among the eight finalists, and her performance also met the qualifying standard of 53.50 seconds for the Nagoya Asian Games in Japan in September and October. Chen first made her mark at the National Games in Tainan in 2023, at the age of 13, winning the women’s 400m final in 55.55 seconds to become the youngest gold medalist in the history of the event. Meanwhile,
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