TENNIS
Zhang Shuai eliminated
China’s Zhang Shuai yesterday became the latest seed to exit the Japan Women’s Open when she was ambushed by Kazakh qualifier Zarina Diyas. The 23-year-old Diyas, ranked 72 places below Zhang at 100th in the world, thrashed the second seed 6-4, 6-2 in Tokyo, meaning only two of the top eight seeds in the tournament have reached the quarter-finals. Eighth seed Yulia Putintseva made it a red-letter day for Kazakhstan against Chinese opponents by ousting Han Xinyun, who retired with a hip injury when trailing 6-2, 2-0. As Japanese organizers rue the loss of six seeds and local favorite Kimiko Date in her final tournament at the age of 46, Croatian Jana Fett crushed Slovakia’ Jana Cepelova 6-0, 6-3. In other matches, Wang Qiang restored a measure of pride for China with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Japan’s Kurumi Nara, while Christina McHale of the US overpowered Spain’s Sara Sorribes 6-1, 6-1.
SOCCER
Syria to play in Malaysia
Football Federation Australia said it has received official confirmation that Syria are to host Australia in Malaysia in the first leg of their Asian World Cup qualifying playoff next month. Because of the continuing civil war at home, Syria played all of their third-round Asian World Cup qualifying matches in Malaysia. Officials have stuck with the formula by confirming Hang Jebat Stadium in Malacca for their Oct. 5 “home” game, despite speculation the playoff could be staged in the Middle East. The Socceroos are to host the return match in Sydney on Oct. 10. The winner of the Asian playoff faces the fourth-place team from CONCACAF qualifying in North and Central America in another home-and-away series for a place in next year’s World Cup in Russia.
BOXING
Golovkin misses birth
Gennady Golovkin is one of the most dedicated boxers in the world and even the birth of his daughter could not pry him out of the gym. The three-belt champion missed the birth on Friday last week because he was training for his upcoming world middleweight title fight. Golovkin stayed in the gym for two hours after his wife, Alina, gave birth to the couple’s second child. They also have a son. “He didn’t leave the gym until 6pm,” Golovkin’s trainer Abel Sanchez said. “The baby was born at 4pm. His wife was in the hospital for one day. She came home next day so he was home with them.” Golovkin, who holds the World Boxing Council, World Boxing Association and International Boxing Federation middleweight belts, faces Canelo Alvarez in a 12-round mega title fight in Las Vegas tomorrow. Sanchez said he was concerned during the long training camp about how Golovkin was doing with the baby on the way and the most important fight of his career around the corner. “I started to voice my concern. ‘The baby’s not here.’ He said: ‘Coach the baby is going to come whether I am there or not. I have already done my part,’” Sanchez said. Golovkin has been in high spirits as the fight preparation shifted this week from their training camp to Las Vegas. “He is in a great mood. I don’t know if it is because of the baby being here or if because he finally got the fight he wanted,” Sanchez said.
RECORD DEFEAT: The Shanghai-based ‘Oriental Sports Daily’ said the drubbing was so disastrous, and taste so bitter, that all that is left is ‘numbness’ Chinese soccer fans and media rounded on the national team yesterday after they experienced fresh humiliation in a 7-0 thrashing to rivals Japan in their opening Group C match in the third phase of Asian qualifying for the 2026 World Cup. The humiliation in Saitama on Thursday against Asia’s top-ranked team was China’s worst defeat in World Cup qualifying and only a goal short of their record 8-0 loss to Brazil in 2012. Chinese President Xi Jinping once said he wanted China to host and even win the World Cup one day, but that ambition looked further away than ever after a
Taiwanese badminton superstar Lee Yang broke down in tears after publicly retiring from the sport on Sunday. The two-time Olympic gold medalist held a retirement ceremony at the Taipei Arena after the final matches of the Taipei Open. Accompanied by friends, family and former badminton partners, Lee burst into tears while watching a video celebrating key moments in his professional sporting career that also featured messages from international players such as Malaysia’s Teo Ee Yi, Hong Kong’s Tang Chun-man, and Indonesia’s Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan. “I hope that in the future when the world thinks about me, they will
Former Formosa Dreamers player Ilkan Karaman was killed in a traffic accident in Datca, Turkey, Turkish media reported yesterday. He was 34. The former Turkish national team player was reportedly hit by a car, the driver of which was allegedly drunk, while he was standing on a sidewalk, Turkish newspaper Sozcu reported. Karaman and his friends were on their way to the beach town of Dalaman to go scuba diving when they stopped at a gas station to buy gasoline, it reported. Karaman was hit by the car while waiting on a sidewalk as his friends were buying gasoline, it
ANKLE PROBLEM: Taiwan’s Ye Hong-wei and Lee Chia-hsin had a disappointing end to their tournament after an injury forced them out of their mixed doubles semi-final Taiwanese badminton ace Tai Tzu-ying on Friday was knocked out in the women’s singles quarter-finals at her last Taipei Open. The world No. 3 lost 21-18, 16-21, 22-24 to Putri Kusuma Wardani of Indonesia in a match that stretched 68 minutes at the Taipei Arena. Despite her higher ranking, Tai said she was not too sad about the loss, given her struggle with a lingering knee injury. “Wins and losses are just part of the game. Actually, I think I’m going to lose every single match considering my condition now,” said the five-time champion of the Super 300 event, who has announced plans
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