ATHLETICS
Handover a ‘logistics’ issue
There is an “understanding” on how crucial data on drug use by Russian athletes is to be handed over to the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), whose representatives arrived in Moscow on Wednesday, the Kremlin said. WADA officials are making their third visit to retrieve the Moscow laboratory data, which could help the agency file doping charges against numerous Russian athletes it believes doped in previous years. Russia missed a deadline to hand over the data by Dec. 31, meaning the Russian Anti-Doping Agency could face sanctions from WADA. “There were some working disagreements, which arose last time, related to which storage devices [the data] will be transferred onto and how, and so on. I would say these are not so much substantial matters as issues of logistics,” Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said. “As far as we know via our sports authorities, there are intensive contacts under way and now understanding has been reached with the WADA representatives regarding how the work will continue.” WADA spokesman James Fitzgerald said that the three-person team had arrived in the Russian capital. “They look forward to starting their work tomorrow,” Fitzgerald told reporters by e-mail. WADA estimates that the team will stay three days, Fitzgerald said, but “it could be longer, could be shorter.”
CYCLING
Grove ‘over’ loss of record
A 90-year-old cyclist who was stripped of his world record after a failed drug test has questioned the wisdom of the US Anti-Doping Agency’s decision. The agency has admitted that Carl Grove’s failed test was probably due to his inadvertent consumption of contaminated meat, but said that it still had to issue him with a public warning, the least serious punishment available. Grove this week told reporters that he believes taxpayers’ money would be better spent on catching more serious offenders. “Us old guys are kind of like peanuts. I think that they’re wasting their time,” he said. “I think that somewhere there ought to be a cutoff and they ought to zero in on the stuff that is done for money reasons or whatever it may be. But I think after 65 or 70, you know, they ought to just give up.” Grove tested positive for epitrenbolone, a metabolite of banned substance trenbolone, at last year’s US Masters Track National Championships, where he won the 90 to 94 age group sprint title. The former US Navy Band saxophonist, who played for US presidents during his time in the armed forces, said that the decision had initially hurt him. “I was really kind of down for a while, but I’m over it,” Grove said. Grove said that he is determined to continue his cycling career. His next goal is the world record for the distance ridden in an hour in the 90 to 95 age bracket. Grove is to turn 91 on July 13.
TENNIS
Jason Jung falls in qualifiers
Taiwan’s Jason Jung yesterday crashed out of the Australian Open, which starts on Monday. In the second qualifying round for the men’s singles, world No. 120 Jung lost 2-6, 3-6 to world No. 185 Hiroki Moriya of Japan. Moriya broke Jung three times at the start of the match and ran away with the first set 6-1. In the second set, Jung managed to draw level at 3-3 in a seesaw battle, but eventually lost, ending his chance to advance in the tournament.
Hong Kong-based cricket team Hung See this weekend found success in their matches in Taiwan, even if none of the results went their way. Hung See played the Chairman’s XI on Saturday morning, the Daredevils that afternoon and PCCT yesterday, with all three home teams winning. The team for Chinese players at the Happy Valley-based Craigengower Cricket Club sends teams on tour to “spread the game of cricket.” This weekend was Hung See’s second trip to Taiwan after visiting Tainan in 2016. “The club has been traveling to all parts of the world since 1982 and the annual tradition continues [with the Taiwan
The San Francisco Giants signed 18-year-old Taiwanese pitcher Yang Nien-hsi (陽念希) to a contract worth a total of US$500,000 (NT $16.39 million). At a press event in Taipei on Wednesday, Jan. 22, the Giants’ Pacific Rim Area scout Evan Hsueh (薛奕煌) presented Yang with a Giants jersey to celebrate the signing. The deal consisted of a contract worth US$450,000 plus a US$50,000 scholarship bonus. Yang, who stands at 188 centimeters tall and weighs 85 kilograms, is of Indigenous Amis descent. With his fastest pitch clocking in at 150 kilometers per hour, Yang had been on Hsueh’s radar since playing in the HuaNan Cup
Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei yesterday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while Coco Gauff’s dreams of a first women’s singles title in Melbourne were crushed in the quarter-finals by Paula Badosa. World No. 2 Alexander Zverev was ruffled by a stray feather in his men’s singles quarter-final, but he refocused to beat 12th seed Tommy Paul and reach the semi-finals. Third seeds Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia defeated Elena-Gabriela Ruse of Romania and Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine 6-2, 5-7, 7-5 in 2 hours, 20 minutes to advance the semi-finals. Hsieh and Ostapenko converted eight of 14 break
HARD TO SAY GOODBYE: After Coco Gauff dispatched Belinda Bencic in the fourth round, she wrote ‘RIP TikTok USA’ and drew a broken heart on a television camera lens Defending champion Hsieh Su-wei of Taiwan yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while compatriot Chan Hao-ching on Saturday dominated her opponents in the second round, as world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka swept into the quarter-finals. Third seeds Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia toppled Hungary’s Timea Babos and Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US 6-4, 6-3, hitting 24 winners and converting three of seven break points in 1 hour, 18 minutes at 1573 Arena. Although rivals at last year’s Australian Open — where Hsieh and Belgium’s Elise Mertens beat Ostapenko and Ukraine’s Lyudmyla Kichenok 6-1, 7-5
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