TENNIS
Taiwan’s Chans advance
Taiwanese pair Latisha Chan and Chan Hao-ching advanced at the WTA Chicago Women’s Open on Wednesday, but Hsieh Su-wei was knocked out in the singles. The No. 2-seeded Chan sisters had a doubles quarter-final walkover against US duo Claire Liu and Hailey Baptiste and after press time last night were to play in the semis against Ukraine’s Lyudmyla Kichenok and Makoto Ninomiya of Japan, who advanced with a 7-6 (7/5), 6-3 win over Poland’s Alicja Rosolska and Eri Hozumi of Japan. Tereza Martincova of the Czech Republic eliminated Hsieh 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 in the round-of-16.
TENNIS
Serena Williams withdraws
Serena Williams has withdrawn from next week’s US Open after the American said on Wednesday that her torn hamstring had not completely healed ahead of the final Grand Slam of the year. She joined sister Venus Williams and Sofia Kenin as others in the women’s singles draws who will miss the tournament.
MOTORSPORT
Alonso to stay with Alpine
Double Formula One world champion Fernando Alonso is to stay at the Alpine F1 team next season, the team announced yesterday. Alonso is to race alongside French teammate Esteban Ocon for a second term following his new deal.
RUGBY UNION
Trio to miss Test
All Blacks captain Sam Whitelock, and first-choice halves Richie Mo’unga and Aaron Smith have been left out of the traveling squad for next week’s Rugby Championship Test against Australia in Perth, with the players’ wives expecting babies. Hooker Codie Taylor is expected to lead the side against Australia at Perth Stadium.
SOCCER
Infantino seeks releases
The English Premier League and Spain’s La Liga should release players for World Cup qualifiers next month to “preserve and protect sporting integrity,” FIFA president Gianni Infantino said on Wednesday. The Premier League has refused to release players headed to countries on the UK’s “red list” due to strict COVID-19 quarantine rules on their return, while La Liga supported its clubs in refusing to release players for qualifiers in South America.
CRICKET
Ted Dexter dies
Former England captain Ted Dexter has died after a recent illness, the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) said yesterday. He was 86. Dexter, nicknamed “Lord Ted,” was an aggressive batsman and part-time seam bowler who played 62 Tests for England after making his debut in 1958 against New Zealand. He captained England and Sussex in the early 1960s. “After a recent illness, he passed away peacefully in the Compton Hospice in Wolverhampton at midday yesterday [Wednesday], surrounded by his family,” the MCC said in a statement. “Ted was a cherished husband, father and grandfather and one of England’s greatest ever cricketers. He was captain in 30 of his 62 Test matches and played the game with the same sense of adventure and fun that captures much of the story of his remarkable life.”
Kylian Mbappe struck from the penalty spot as Real Madrid beat a dogged CA Osasuna 1-0 on Tuesday to make a winning start in Spanish La Liga under new coach Xabi Alonso. The France striker, last season’s European Golden Shoe winner, scored early in the second half, after he was fouled in the area by Osasuna defender Juan Cruz. It was enough to seal the points in Alonso’s first game in charge at the Santiago Bernabeu, with Madrid now unbeaten in their opening fixture of a league campaign since 2008. “You can see that Kylian wants to do even more
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
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