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.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
Japanese players are moving to English soccer in record numbers and more look set to follow with clubs attracted by their quality, strong work ethic and value for money. Kaoru Mitoma is the standout talent of five Japanese players in the English Premier League, with eight more in the Championship and two in League One. Liverpool midfielder Wataru Endo, the captain of Japan, believes his compatriots are “being held in higher esteem” by English clubs compared with the past. “The staff at Liverpool ask me about lots of Japanese players, not necessarily with a view to a transfer, but just saying this or
Taiwan yesterday survived Bosnia and Herzegovina to win their Davis Cup World Group I tie at the Taipei Tennis Center. The tight series started on Saturday with world No. 123 Jason Tseng losing 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 to Mirza Basic in the opening singles matchup. However, teammate Tony Wu kept the tie even, dominating world No. 86 Damir Dzumhur 6-2, 6-1. Yesterday, 24-year-old Ray Ho and partner 25-year-old Hsu Yu-hsiou kept up the momentum, making short work of Basic and Nerman Fatic, winning 6-3, 6-4. Tseng then suffered another defeat, losing 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 to Dzumhur in a brutal match that lasted more than two
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