TABLE TENNIS
Taiwan win bronze
Taiwan took third place in the men’s team division of the World Team Table Tennis Championships yesterday in Tokyo — the best they have ever done in the tournament — after losing three games in a row to their Chinese rivals in the semi-finals. Taiwan’s Chen Chien-an was the first to be routed, when Chinese rival Xu Xin beat him 3-0 in the men’s championship division final earlier in the day. Chuang Chih-yuan, Taiwan’s top-ranked table tennis player, was then defeated by Chinese player Ma Long 3-0, before Huang Sheng-sheng lost to Chinese player Zhang Jike 3-1. Despite their defeat, the Taiwanese players will come home with a bronze medal for the division. Taiwan entered the semi-finals after beating South Korea 3-2 on Saturday in a shootout that lasted more than three hours.
BASKETBALL
NBA to appoint Clippers CEO
The NBA says it will appoint a chief executive officer to supervise the Los Angeles Clippers’ operations. On Tuesday, NBA commissioner Adam Silver banned Clippers owner Donald Sterling for life for racist comments made on an audio recording, fined him US$2.5 million and urged league owners to force him to sell the team. NBA executive vice president of communications Mike Bass released a statement on Saturday saying: “The best way to ensure the stability of the team during this difficult situation is to move quickly and install a CEO to oversee the Clippers organization. The process of identifying that individual is underway.”
BOXING
Abraham retains title
Arthur Abraham retained his WBO super middleweight belt by defeating Nikola Sjekloca of Montenegro by unanimous decision on Saturday. The judges awarded it 117-113, 116-112, 119-110 to the defending champion, who relied primarily on his left jab after suggesting during the bout that he broke his right hand. “I don’t want to make excuses, but I had to box the fight with my left,” Abraham said. “The fingers were already broken from the last fight. I had to do a lot with the left in training. That’s why it was so close, though he’s also a good fighter.” The Armenian-born German improved to 40-4 (28 KOs) after defending the title he won back from Robert Stieglitz by split decision on March 1. Abraham relied increasingly on his left jab as the bout went on. He indicated his right hand was broken, only to be told by Ulli Wegner, his trainer, to carry on. “It’s all the same to me if your hand is sore,” the veteran trainer said. “It’s about staying the champion. You’ve enough time afterward to heal it.” Abraham did enough to hang on. Sjekloca, who dropped to 26-2 (8 KOs), suggested he was not fully focused as he is about to become a father to twins.
GOLF
Holmes leads Wells Fargo
J.B. Holmes shot a six-under 66 on Saturday to take the outright lead at the Wells Fargo Championship in Charlotte, North Carolina, putting him a strong position to claim a richly deserved title after coming back from serious injuries. Holmes overtook Martin Flores for the lead on the final hole at Quail Hollow, sinking a 20-foot birdie putt from the fringe of the green, while Flores put his tee shot into an adjoining stream and then missed a putt of the same distance in attempting to save par. Flores had a 69 to be a shot behind Holmes on 13-under 203. A stroke further back was Phil Mickelson, who roared into contention with a 63.
Taiwanese women’s doubles star Hsieh Su-wei and Australian teenager Maya Joint on Tuesday eased into the Eastbourne Open quarter-finals in England as Hsieh prepares for the Wimbledon Championships next week. Four-time Wimbledon women’s doubles champion Hsieh and 19-year-old Joint fired two aces and converted five of eight break points to defeat Japan’s Shuko Aoyama and Poland’s Katarzyna Piter 6-3, 6-3 in 58 minutes on the grass court. Hsieh and Joint are today to face fourth seeds Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic and Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko, who advanced on Monday with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Quinn Gleason of the US and
BEAT THE HEAT: A brutal heat wave in the US has made cooling breaks standard. Dortmund’s coach said the weather could shape the destiny of the tournament Chelsea on Tuesday beat Esperance of Tunisia 3-0 to set up a FIFA Club World Cup last-16 tie against SL Benfica, who earlier defeated Bayern Munich 1-0, as furnace-link heat and the threat of thunder and lightning wreak havoc at the tournament. Elsewhere, minnows Auckland City claimed a memorable draw against Boca Juniors, while Los Angeles bowed out of the tournament with a stalemate against Flamengo. In Charlotte, Andreas Schjelderup scored the only goal for Benfica in their Group C clash with Bayern in front of 33,287 fans, finishing first-time from a cutback by his fellow Norwegian Fredrik Aursnes in the 13th
REUNION: Former Barcelona players Luis Suarez, Lionel Messi, Sergio Busquets, Jordi Alba and Miami coach Javier Mascherano are to face their former coach Luis Enrique Inter Miami’s Lionel Messi faces a tantalizing reunion with former club Paris Saint-Germain in the FIFA Club World Cup last 16 after both sides on Monday progressed to the knockout phase. Miami drew 2-2 with Palmeiras to go through second in Group A, after the Brazilian side fought back from two goals down to seal top spot. They now face an all-Brazil clash against Botafogo, who lost 1-0 to Atletico Madrid, but progressed from Group B in second at the expense of the Spaniards. Champions of Europe PSG won the group with a 2-0 victory over Seattle Sounders, paving the
The New Taipei Kings claimed the inaugural Taiwan Professional Basketball League (TPBL) championship on Sunday, defeating the Kaohsiung FamilyMart Aquas 108-89 in the final. Playing at home, the Kings pulled ahead with Jeremy Lin’s (林書豪) clutch three-pointers, securing their victory over the Aquas in the TPBL final. The Kings came out strong in the first quarter, dominating to build a 35-18 lead. By halftime, they had stretched their advantage to 61-38. In the third quarter, the Aquas narrowed the deficit to 12 points, but Lin stepped up, sinking several tough three- pointers to extend the lead. In the final quarter, the Kings pushed the
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