GOLF
Yu shares hazy Sydney lead
Toxic smoke from bushfires choking Sydney yesterday blighted the Australian Open, with one player complaining that his eyes were burning and he had trouble seeing where his ball landed. The event, a warmup for many on the International team at next week’s Presidents Cup, got under way with haze enveloping the course from fires burning out of control throughout New South Wales. Amateurs Yu Chun-an of Taiwan and Takumi Kanaya of Japan shared the lead on six-under-par 65, with Matt Jones, the 2015 champion, two strokes behind. Taiwan’s C.T. Pan was in a group sharing 102nd on three-over 74. Jones said that the conditions at the Australian Golf Club were some of the worst he had encountered. “I’m not sure what the forecast is, but the smoke’s not good at all. It’s tough to see your golf ball when you’re out there playing, where it finishes. Your eyes do burn,” he said. “I’ve got that cough like you’ve got something in your lungs, phlegm in your lungs or whatever, but it’s not fun. I hope my kids are inside in the hotel room.” Sydney’s air quality index registered levels of pollutants on a par with Beijing. Asked if he had ever played in similar conditions, Jones said not even in China.
GOLF
Reed, Woodland share lead
Patrick Reed and Gary Woodland on Wednesday set the first-round pace at the windswept Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas while tournament host Tiger Woods was four shots back after faltering over the final two holes. Former Masters champion Reed and this year’s US Open winner Woodland fired six-under-par 66s at the Albany Golf Club on the island of New Providence to sit two shots clear of Chez Reavie in the 18-man exhibition event. Englishman Justin Rose, Swede Henrik Stenson and Americans Justin Thomas and Rickie Fowler were a further shot back. Woods reached the turn at two-over-par, but made three birdies and an eagle over a four-hole stretch starting at the 11th to claw back up the leaderboard. However, Woods endured a brutal finish when he made bogey at the par-three 17th after he found the front bunker and closed with a three-putt double-bogey from about 12 feet for an even-par 72 that left him in a share of 11th place. Woodland mixed eight birdies with two bogeys to grab the early clubhouse lead, but Reed, playing two groups behind, offset his only bogey with four consecutive birdies from the 13th to join his compatriot atop the leaderboard.
SOCCER
Udinese book last-16 berth
Udinese on Wednesday thrashed Serie A rivals Bologna 4-0 to book a Coppa Italia last-16 clash with Juventus. Goals from Antonin Barak, Sebastien De Maio, Rolando Mandragora and Kevin Lasagna gave the northeasterners their first win since Nov. 11. Bologna were playing without Serbian coach Sinisa Mihajlovic, who is battling leukemia, on the bench. US Sassuolo fell 2-1 to Serie B side AC Perugia Calcio, who wrapped up victory with first-half goals from Pasquale Mazzocchi and Hans Nicolussi, to set up a last-16 tie with SSC Napoli next month. SPAL eased past US Lecce 5-1. Juventus’ four-year reign as Coppa Italia winners was ended last season by Atalanta BC, who went on to lose to SS Lazio in the final. The holders are to play US Cremonese in the next round, after the Lombardy club beat fellow Serie B outfit Empoli 1-0 on Tuesday.
SS Lazio on Monday fired the far-right sympathizer who handles their eagle mascot after he posted online a series of videos and pictures of his erect penis. Falconer Juan Bernabe, who has been present at Lazio home matches with Olimpia the eagle since the 2010-2011 season, posted the footage on social media after having surgery on Saturday to implant a penile prosthesis to improve his sexual performance. Lazio said that they had “terminated, with immediate effect” their relationship with Bernabe “due to the seriousness of his conduct,” adding that they were “shocked” by the images. The Serie A club added that Bernabe’s dismissal
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
‘TOUGH TO BREATHE’: Tunisian three-time Grand Slam finalist Ons Jabeur suffered an asthma attack in her 7-5, 6-3 victory over Colombia’s Camila Osorio Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei yesterday cruised into the second round of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while Iga Swiatek romped into a third-round women’s singles showdown with Emma Raducanu and Taylor Fritz was just as emphatic in his pursuit of a maiden Grand Slam title. Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia, the third seeds, defeated Slovakia’s Tereza Mihalikova and Olivia Nicholls of Britain 7-5, 6-2 in 90 minutes in Melbourne. Ostapenko and Hsieh — who won the women’s doubles and mixed doubles at the Australian Open last year — hit 25 winners and converted five of nine break points to set
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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