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.
Marta Kostyuk’s maiden WTA 1000 title in Madrid came on Saturday thanks to her power, poise and a pair of unexpected lucky shorts. The world No. 23 beat eighth-ranked Mirra Andreeva 6-3, 7-5 in under 90 minutes to secure the most prestigious trophy of her career, her third professional singles title and second in less than a month after Rouen. Yet as the 23-year-old Ukrainian posed for photographs at the Caja Magica, it was not just the silverware that caught the eye. Held alongside her team and her two dogs, Kostyuk showed off a piece of black men’s underwear, prompting
Lin Yun-ju on Thursday handed Taiwan two key victories as they advanced to the semi-finals of the ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships Finals in London. The Taiwan men’s table tennis team beat Sweden 3-2 in five singles matches. The 24-year-old Lin, Taiwan’s top-ranked player at world No. 7 and nicknamed the “Silent Assassin,” opened the tie by defeating world No. 2 Truls Moregard 3-0 (11-8, 11-9, 13-11) before clinching the deciding fifth match with a 3-0 (11-8, 11-9, 11-5) win over Anton Kallberg to hand his team the overall victory. Kuo Guan-hong put Taiwan up 2-0 with a 3-2 (4-11, 11-8, 8-11,
Throwing more than US$5 billion at a divisive new tour and walking away after five seasons does not look like good business, but LIV Golf was not all bad news for Saudi Arabia. Oil-funded LIV, which poached top stars and sent golf’s establishment into a tailspin, helped push the conservative kingdom into global view — one of its key aims, experts said. The exit, confirmed on Thursday after weeks of speculation, does not signal a flight of Saudi money from sport, even after the Middle East war that sparked Iranian attacks around the Gulf, they said. “Saudi Arabia is not
Arsenal stormed six points clear at the top of the English Premier League as Bukayo Saka and Viktor Gyokeres put Fulham to the sword in a 3-0 win, while West Ham United’s defeat at Brentford offered Tottenham Hotspur a lifeline in the battle for survival. The Gunners have stumbled toward the finish line in their quest for a first league title in 22 years, blowing a sizeable lead over Manchester City in a series of nervous displays. However, the return of Saka, making his first start in six weeks, freed up Mikel Arteta’s men in a dominant performance that shrugged
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