It was a mixed day for Taiwan’s Chang Kai-chen at the Guangzhou Open in China yesterday.
Chang came up against Luksika Kumkhum of Thailand in the final round of qualifying for the singles tournament yesterday morning on Court 1 and was knocked out, with the Thai winning 6-2, 4-6, 6-0 to advance to the first round.
Chang returned on Court 2 in the afternoon with her doubles partner Shuko Aoyama of Japan to advance to the second round by beating Russians Nina Bratchikova and Alla Kudryavtseva 6-1, 6-7 (5/7), 10-1.
The Chan sisters, Hao-ching and Yung-jan, the No. 2 seeds, also made it a mixed day for Taiwanese players when they defeated Taiwan’s Chan Chin-wei and Sun Sheng-nan of China 7-6 (7/4), 6-3 in the final match on Center Court.
Earlier, defending singles champion Chanelle Scheepers of South Africa cruised to a 6-0, 6-3 victory over Chinese wild-card Wang Qiang.
The 27-year-old Scheepers, who last year became the first South African woman in eight years to win a WTA title, needed 72 minutes to dispose of her opponent and set up a second-round meeting with 58th-ranked Bojana Jovanovski of Serbia.
Jovanovski also had an easy first-round win, beating Timea Babos of Hungary 6-1, 6-3.
Mandy Minella of Luxembourg had a tougher time in defeating Pauline Parmentier of France 7-5, 3-6, 6-3 on Court 3.
Britain’s Laura Robson advanced when Spain’s Maria-Teresa Toro-Flor retired injured when the Briton was leading 6-2, 3-1.
BELL CHALLENGE
AFP, QUEBEC
Kirsten Flipkens made the most of her first WTA finals opportunity, capping a dream week at the Bell Challenge with a 6-1, 7-5 victory over eighth-seeded Lucie Hradecka in Sunday’s final.
Both finalists were seeking a first career WTA title. Hradecka had come up short in four prior finals, while Flipkens, 26, had never before reached a championship match.
It did not look that way on Sunday as she dispatched Hradecka of the Czech Republic in 69 minutes.
Her triumph punctuated a week that included the first-round upset of top-seeded Slovakian Dominika Cibulkova and a semi-final win over third-seeded German Mona Barthel.
Flipkens’ previous best WTA showings were four trips to the semi-finals, most recently at ’s-Hertogenbosch, the Netherlands, this year.
Shohei Ohtani and Clayton Kershaw on Friday joined their Los Angeles Dodgers teammates in sticking their fists out to show off their glittering World Series rings at a ceremony. “There’s just a lot of excitement, probably more than I can ever recall with the Dodger fan base and our players,” manager Dave Roberts said before Los Angeles rallied to beat the Detroit Tigers 8-5 in 10 innings. “What a way to cap off the first two days of celebrations,” Roberts said afterward. “By far the best opening week I’ve ever experienced. I just couldn’t have scripted it any better.” A choir in the
After fleeing Sudan when civil war erupted, Al-Hilal captain Mohamed Abdelrahman and his teammates have defied the odds to reach the CAF Champions League quarter-finals. They are today to face title-holders Al-Ahly of Egypt in Cairo, with the return match in the Mauritanian capital, Nouakchott, on Tuesday next week. Al-Hilal and biggest domestic rivals Al-Merrikh relocated to Mauritania after a power struggle broke out in April 2023 between the Sudanese army and a paramilitary force. The civil war has claimed tens of thousands of lives and displaced more than 12 million people, according to the UN. The Democratic Republic of the Congo-born Al-Hilal
Shohei Ohtani, Teoscar Hernandez and Tommy Edman on Thursday smashed home runs to give the reigning World Series champions the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5-4 victory over Detroit on the MLB’s opening day in the US. The Dodgers, who won two season-opening games in Tokyo last week, raised their championship banner on a day when 28 clubs launched the season in the US. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts shuffled his batting lineup with all four leadoff hitters finally healthy as Ohtani was followed by Mookie Betts, then Hernandez and Freddie Freeman in the cleanup spot, switching places with Hernandez. “There’s a Teoscar tax to
Matvei Michkov did not score on Monday, but the Philadelphia rookie had a hand in both goals as hosts the Flyers earned a 2-1 victory over the Nashville Predators. Ryan Poehling and Jamie Drysdale got the goals for the Flyers (31-36-9, 71 points), who won their third straight. Michkov and Travis Konecny assisted on both. Ivan Fedotov stopped 28 shots to earn his first win since March 1, ending a personal six-game losing streak. Zachary L’Heureux got the lone goal for Nashville. Michael McCarron and Brady Skjei got the assists for the Predators (27-39-8, 62 points), who have just four goals in their