BADMINTON
Taiwan’s Tai claims KL title
Rising star Tai Tzu-ying of Taiwan won her first title of the year by defeating Yao Xue of China in straight sets in the final of the women’s singles event at the Malaysia Open on Sunday. Tai, ranked 12th in the world and seeded sixth in Kuala Lumpur, needed 36 minutes to beat Yao 21-17, 21-14. The 18-year-old put together an impressive string of victories over third seed Tine Baun of Denmark, top seed Saina Nehwal of India and the up-and-coming Yao to claim the title, winning all three matches without dropping a set. Tai said she will ask her parents to hold on to the US$30,000 in prize money she earned for winning the tournament. The young player, who showed her potential in a close two-set lost to eventual gold medalist Li Xuerui of China at the London Olympics last year, credited her coach for the victory, saying that the strategy he advised her to follow was effective. Her coach, Lee Wei-jen, said she would focus on preparing for the Badminton Asia Championships in Taipei in April. The victory was the Greater Kaohsiung native’s second Super Series title of her career following her victory at the Japan Open last year.
ALPINE SKIING
Neureuther wins in Wengen
Felix Neureuther of Germany won the men’s World Cup slalom in Wengen, Switzerland, on Sunday in 1 minute 50.53 seconds to bring to an end a run of three successive wins for Austrian Marcel Hirscher. The 28-year-old — recording his second win of the campaign — was 0.21 seconds quicker over the two legs than overall World Cup leader Hirscher while Croatian great Ivica Kostelic was third 0.25 seconds adrift of the winner. Hirscher posted the fastest time on the first run, but Neureuther comprehensively overhauled his five-hundredths of a second advantage on the second run. At the halfway stage of the season, Hirscher is a massive 188 points ahead of Norway’s Aksel Lund Svindal in the overall standings.
ALPINE SKIING
Rebensburg takes super-G
Viktoria Rebensburg of Germany won a shortened World Cup super-G amid heavy snowfall at Cortina D’Ampezzo, Italy, on Sunday, while Lindsey Vonn struggled with the difficult conditions and lost her lead in the super-G standings to Tina Maze. Rebensburg, the Olympic champion in giant slalom, clocked 1 minute, 16.45 seconds down the Olympia delle Tofane course. Nicole Schmidhofer of Austria finished second, 0.33 seconds behind, and overall leader Maze of Slovenia was third, 0.34 back. Vonn, who finished seventh, dropped four points behind Maze in the super-G standings after four of seven races. Maze increased her lead in the overall standings to a massive 718 points ahead of Maria Hoefl-Riesch of Germany, who finished 19th.
CRICKET
Warne fined A$5,000
Australian veteran Shane Warne was fined A$5,000 (US$5,250) yesterday for a code of behavior breach in the domestic Big Bash League, his second penalty this month, officials said. Cricket Australia said Warne was fined following a disciplinary hearing into his failure to list himself as captain during the Melbourne Stars’ semi-final against the Perth Scorchers in a bid to dodge a penalty for a slow over-rate. Warne had previously been issued with one strike for a slow over rate violation and a second strike this season would have resulted in an automatic one-match suspension. “Warne was found guilty of breaching Rule 5: Laws of Cricket and Spirit of the Game by Commissioner Arthur Lodge,” Cricket Australia said.
Taiwan’s men’s table tennis team won bronze on Saturday at this year’s International Table Tennis Federation World Team Table Tennis Championships in London, matching the country’s best-ever finish at the regular tournament. Consisting of Lin Yun-ju, Taiwan’s top-ranked player at world No. 7, Feng Yi-hsin, Kuo Guan-hong, Hong Jing-kai and Hsu Hsien-chia, the team won bronze after losing 0-3 to Japan in the semifinals. In the opening match, 24-year-old Lin played the first game against world No. 3 Tomokazu Harimoto 11-5, but ultimately lost the next three closely contested games 9-11, 10-12 and 10-12. Feng then faced world No. 8 Sora Matsushima in
Taiwanese fire dancer Yang Li-wei advanced to the final of Britain’s Got Talent this weekend after receiving a Golden Buzzer during her live semi-final performance. Yang, a member of Taiwan’s Coming True Fire Group, awed judges and audiences with a high-intensity fire performance featuring flaming umbrellas, fire swallowing and spinning metal structures balanced with her legs. Judge Simon Cowell praised Yang as a star, while guest judge KSI reacted with amazement before pressing the Golden Buzzer, sending her to the finals. The dance group wrote on social media that the Golden Buzzer was “the highest honor” on the talent show, adding: “Twenty-three years
Memphis Grizzlies forward Brandon Clarke, 29, has died, the NBA team said in a statement on Tuesday, while the family of Jason Collins, the first openly gay man to play in a major US pro sports league, announced the former Grizzlies and Brooklyn Nets player had died after a battle with brain cancer. “We are heartbroken by the tragic loss of Brandon Clarke,” the Grizzlies said in a statement posted on social media. “Brandon was an outstanding teammate and an even better person whose impact on the organization and the greater Memphis community will not be forgotten.” The statement did not provide
As Super Rugby fast approaches its playoff season it finds itself racing toward a reckoning with many issues that threaten the southern hemisphere tournament. A group of stakeholders met in the New Zealand city of Christchurch late last month to address problems that are making the future of the 31-year-old competition increasingly tenuous. The discussion was made more urgent by the decision by the owners of Moana Pasifika to fold the Auckland-based club for financial reasons. That followed the closure of the Melbourne Rebels at the end of the 2024 season, likewise because of financial difficulties. Problems addressed included player retention as more
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