MUAY THAI
Taiwanese win medals
Taiwanese fighters won two gold, one silver and two bronze medals in the finals of the International Federation of Muaythai Amateur (IFMA) Muay Thai World Championships in Langkawi, Malaysia, on Wednesday. Taiwan’s Yeh Hui-tzu, 17, routed Ayu Arynafa’iza Azmi of Malaysia to win the junior female 45kg title, while Lin Yu-shan, also 17, grabbed the junior female 51kg title after defeating Iana Karchuk of Russia. Chiu Sheng-mei, competing in the junior female event for 17-year-olds, finished second in the 54kg final match against Terashone Tatsiana of Belarus. In the junior male events for 16-year-olds, Hsueh Szu-han beat Amantay Bekzat of Kazakhstan to win a bronze medal in the 51kg category, while Sung Wei-chieh also took bronze, defeating Abduev Isa of Kazakhstan in the 57kg category.
OLYMPICS
NBC signs record deal
NBC has secured the US broadcast rights to the Olympic Games through 2032 in a record six-Games deal worth US$7.75 billion. NBC already holds the rights through 2020 in a four-Games deal signed in 2011 for US$4.38 billion. The latest deal was announced in Lausanne, Switzerland, on Wednesday after secret negotiations between the International Olympic Committee and NBC.
TENNIS
Nadal tops Agassi’s list
Andre Agassi has picked Rafael Nadal ahead of Grand Slam record-holder Roger Federer when asked to choose the best player in tennis history, a report said yesterday. The American, putting a new slant on one of the sport’s great debates, said he prefers Nadal because he has thrived in an ultra-competitive “golden age of tennis.” In an interview with Singapore’s Straits Times, the eight-time Grand Slam winner said: “I’d put Nadal No. 1, Federer No. 2... Federer separated himself from the field for four years. He separated himself from [Andy] Roddick and [Lleyton] Hewitt.” Agassi added, “Nadal had to deal with Federer, [Novak] Djokovic, [Andy] Murray in the golden age of tennis. He has done what he has done and he’s not done yet.” Conventional wisdom ranks Federer ahead of Nadal, as Federer holds a record 17 Grand Slam titles against 13 for Nadal, but Nadal has a 23-10 record against Federer.
FORMULA ONE
Vettel to have new chassis
Sebastian Vettel is to have a new Red Bull chassis for Sunday’s Spanish Grand Prix in a switch that could give the quadruple Formula One champion a boost even if the team said it was unrelated to his lack of form so far this season. Chief designer Rob Marshall told the Red Bull Web site on Wednesday that the change, replacing the central tub that the driver sits in, had been scheduled at the start of the season. “Drivers don’t always want to change them — they can get attached to a particular chassis and when they are on a good run, they like to hang on to it for as long as possible,” he said.
FOOTBALL
TV star to help Rams
The NFL draft is getting a dose of Hollywood: Modern Family star and St Louis Rams fan Ty Burrell is to participate in the first round of the draft with the team. He is to hand the team jersey to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell for the team’s 13th pick. It is the first time a celebrity has taken part in the draft, to run from today until Saturday in New York. The NFL was to open the draft with the US national anthem for the first time, with a performance from a West Point cadet, military servicemen and women, their mothers, and alumni from the US’ Wounded Warrior Project.
TO THE TOP: After securing the international title on Saturday, Team Taiwan were to face Las Vegas to potentially win their 18th Little League World Series championship A team from Taipei’s Dong Yuan Elementary School won the Little League Baseball World Series’ international title on Saturday by defeating Aruba 1-0 in the annual baseball tournament held in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania. The Taiwan team, competing under the name Chinese Taipei, were after press time last night to face a team from Las Vegas, Nevada, which beat a team from Fairfield, Connecticut, in the US championship 8-2. Taiwan are seeking to win their first Little League Baseball World Series title since 1996. “Really haven’t taken a moment to data dump right now on Taiwan,” Nevada manager T.J. Fescher said. “They’re a
‘CATASTROPHE’: Despite losing several key forwards in the summer transfer window, Bayern were up 3-0 in the first half before Harry Kane scored a hat-trick in the second Harry Kane hit a hat-trick, Michael Olise a double and newcomer Luis Diaz also scored as Bayern Munich made a “statement” against RB Leipzig 6-0 at home in the Bundesliga season opener on Friday. Bayern’s big-money arrivals, all brought in from the Premier League across the past three seasons, were dominant as the Bavarians begun their title defense in style. Olise scored twice in the first half, either side of a Diaz strike. Not to be outdone, Kane scored three goals in the second half — with two assists coming from Diaz, to bring Bayern’s total to 6-0. Kane told the Bundesliga
Kevin de Bruyne is to lead SSC Napoli’s Serie A title defense today when he makes his full debut at promoted US Sassuolo, but the champions head into the new season rocked by a long-term injury to star striker Romelu Lukaku. De Bruyne was, alongside aging icon Luka Modric, the big new name to arrive in Italy this summer and fans were hoping his linkup with Belgium teammate Lukaku would push Napoli to success both at home and in their return to the UEFA Champions League. The 34-year-old has suffered from hamstring injuries which caused him to miss significant chunks of the
Marc Marquez continued his winning streak as he cruised to victory in the Hungarian GP sprint by two seconds on Saturday night to pad his championship lead. It was a seventh straight Sprint victory for the Spaniard, who has also won the last six longer Sunday grand prix races on his factory Ducati. Fabio Di Giannantonio, an Italian with the VR46 Ducati satellite team was a distant second at Balaton Park, followed by his team-mate and compatriot Franco Morbidelli third. Marquez, a six-time world champion, started the race from pole position. “I felt someone really close on the first corner, from there I
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