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.
Greek swimmer Kristian Gkolomeev was the only athlete to “beat” a world record on Sunday at the Enhanced Games, winning the men’s 50m freestyle at the divisive competition where athletes were free to take performance-enhancing substances. His time of 20.81 seconds — which is not considered official — came in the final event of the night in Las Vegas, sparing the blushes of organizers who made claims that multiple world records would be surpassed due to a sophisticated doping regime. Gkolomeev, who was wearing a synthetic “supersuit” long banned at events such as the Olympics, outpaced Australia’s Cameron McEvoy’s 20.88 set in
Fred Kerley is competing unaugmented against drug-fuelled athletes at this weekend’s Enhanced Games and still hopes to race in the 2028 Olympics, the suspended former 100m world champion said on Friday. Arguably the biggest name at the divisive event in Las Vegas, where doping is permitted, the US sprinter said he had chosen not to take any of the banned substances including testosterone and steroids that his competitors have been using. “I don’t need it. God gave me fast feet for a reason. And I’m here to showcase my talent,” Kerley said. Kerley last September became the first US competitor and first track
VICTORY ABROAD: The team took home a fistful of medals and secured spots for the autumn’s Asian Games, scheduled for September in Nagoya Taiwan’s women’s team captured the overall title at the Asian Taekwondo Championships in Mongolia on Sunday, finishing with two golds, one silver and one bronze medal. The strong showing, led by gold medalists Wang Chieh-ling and Chang Jui-en secured the full quota of available spots for Taiwan at the Asian Games in Nagoya, Japan, in September. Wang opened Taiwan’s medal run by winning gold in the women’s under-46kg class on Thursday, the first day of competition. Liu Yu-yun later earned a silver in the under-49kg class. On the final day on Sunday, Chang won Taiwan’s second gold medal in the under-62kg event, and
The manager of the Yomiuri Giants, one of Japan’s most popular baseball teams, resigned yesterday after he was arrested for allegedly physically attacking his teenage daughter. Shinnosuke Abe allegedly grabbed the 18-year-old and forced her to the floor at their home in central Tokyo on Monday evening, reported national broadcaster NHK and Kyodo News, citing unnamed police sources. “Leaving like this really means I’m causing you a lot of trouble, and I feel truly sorry about that,” Abe told a hastily arranged news conference, his eyes red with tears. The former star catcher, who is among baseball-obsessed Japan’s most recognized sports figures,
RSS