SHOOTING
Lin qualifies for Tokyo
Taiwa’s Lin Ying-shin on Wednesday bagged a bronze medal in the 10m women’s air rifle event at the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup in Rio de Janeiro, securing an Olympic spot in the process. Lin, 20, with a score of 628.9 qualified for the final, where she scored 229.9 for third place. India’s Elavenil Valarivan and Seonaid McIntosh of England claimed gold and silver. With her bronze, Lin becomes Taiwan’s third markswoman, after Tien Chia-chen and Wu Chia-ying, to secure a place at the Tokyo Games. Tien last year placed fourth in the women’s 25m air pistol event at the ISSF World Championship in Changwon, South Korea, and Wu in February won the 10m air pistol silver at the ISSF World Cup in New Delhi.
TENNIS
Federer backs prize sharing
Roger Federer on Wednesday said that he would fight to ensure a bigger share of the prize pot for lower-ranked players on the ATP Tour. The prize money for players at the top of the sport has improved significantly since he began playing, but that is not the case at the other end, he said. Having been elected to the ATP Player Council this month, Federer said that a higher percentage of revenue from ATP tournaments could be used to improve the earnings of players who fail to make it to the main draw. “If there should be increases it shouldn’t be at the top anymore,” he said. Men’s and women’s champions at Flushing Meadows earn US$3.85 million each, while the first-round appearance fee is US$58,000. It is important to ensure that promising players do not fade away due to financial constraints, Federer added.
BASKETBALL
Warriors top China charts
Golden State Warriors continue to be the most popular NBA franchise online in China for a third consecutive year, according to an annual report on the teams’ digital performance. The NBA Red Card report, which was released yesterday by digital marketing agency Mailman, measures online influence using a number of performance metrics, including growth in followers and engagement on Chinese social media. The Warriors claimed the top spot ahead of the Houston Rockets, Los Angeles Lakers, Toronto Raptors and Boston Celtics. Former Raptors point guard Jeremy Lin, who this week secured a move to China’s Beijing Ducks, was the most popular player. NBA teams gained a cumulative 47 million new followers on Chinese social media last season. Mailman CEO Andrew Collins said that the NBA’s move to allow the franchises to sell international sponsorship rights would further boost their brand in the Chinese market.
AUTO RACING
‘Fastest woman’ crashes
Driver Jessi Combs, considered the “fastest woman on four wheels,” was killed in a car accident trying to break her own record, police said on Wednesday. Combs’s jet car crashed on Tuesday in the Alvord Desert in Oregon, where she was pronounced dead at the scene, officers said in a statement. Combs, 39, earned her title in 2013 when she hit 641kph. Combs, who also appeared on various TV shows, previously tried to break her record in October last year. According to industry media, she was able to exceed her previous speed to reach 777kph, but a mechanical problem meant the record could not be validated.
New Taipei Kings guard Jeremy Lin on Friday was named the Taiwan Professional Basketball League’s (TPBL) Player of the Month, the first domestic player to win the award, while the Hsinchu Toplus Lioneers are to welcome their third head coach in less than a year. Lin averaged 22 points, 5.4 rebounds and 6.6 assists over five games in October and last month, helping the Kings to second in the standings with a 4-2 record as of Friday. The Kings last night defeated the Lioneers 96-78 to move level with the top-of-the-table Formosa Dreamers (5-2), while in the night game, the New Taipei
Taiwan on Wednesday finished with 15 medals at the World Taekwondo Poomsae Championships in Hong Kong, taking home four gold, five silver and six bronze medals across the age group divisions. Taiwan ranked third on the medal table after South Korea with 17 golds and the US with eight golds at the five-day competition. “Your athletes have proven themselves as the best in the world,” World Taekwondo president Choue Chung-won said at the closing ceremony of the martial art contest that was attended by a record 1,727 athletes from around the world. On the first day of the competition at the Hong Kong
TO NO AVAIL: The Denver Nuggets’ Serbian center Nikola Jokic surpassed his 53-point performance in the 2023 Western Conference semi-finals against Phoenix The Washington Wizards withstood a 56-point explosion from Denver star Nikola Jokic to beat the Nuggets 122-113 on Saturday and snap their 16-game NBA losing streak. Jokic, who won his third NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) award last season, posted a career scoring high — surpassing a 53-point performance in game four of the 2023 Western Conference semi-finals against Phoenix and a 50-point regular-season best against Sacramento in 2021. The Serbian big man added 16 rebounds and eight assists, but it was all to no avail as Washington, buoyed by 39 points from Jordan Poole, won for the first time
Taiwan’s Lin Cheng-jing won a bronze medal in the clean and jerk in the women’s under-49 kg division at the 2024 IWF World Weightlifting Championships in Bahrain on Saturday. Lin won her first medal at a World Weightlifting Championships for lifting 107kg in the clean and jerk in her weight class, 2kg more than Rosegie Ramos of the Philippines. However, Ramos won bronze for the combined lift after topping Lin by 5kg in the snatch. Ri Song-gum of North Korea won gold in the division’s combined lift with a total of 213kg, while Xiang Linxiang of China took silver with
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