JUDO
Taiwanese wins in UAE
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Friday bagged his first Grand Slam title by defeating Russian Ramazan Abdulaev in the men’s under-60kg judo final in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE). With seconds left on the clock, the 24-year-old Yang used a rapid dropping throw to pin his opponent on the mat with an arm choke to score a waza-ari, the second-highest score in judo’s three-tier system. Abdulaev tried to make a quick comeback, but it was not enough before time ran out, allowing the young Taiwanese to clinch gold. Prior to the final, Yang had three previous matches in Abu Dhabi, scoring ippon — the highest score — against each of his opponents, first in the opening round against Ahmed Al Naqbi of the UAE, then Dilshot Khalmatov of Ukraine in their quarter-final and Samuel Hall of the UK in their semi-final. Yang won silver at the Tokyo Olympics. The only other Taiwanese at the UAE event was Lin Chen-hao, who lost her opening and only bout against Belgium’s Ellencs Salens in the women’s under-48kg category.
TABLE TENNIS
Cheng and Lin advance
Taiwanese Olympic medalist Cheng I-ching and compatriot Lin Yun-ju on Friday advanced to the next round of the mixed doubles after beating Singapore’s Pang Yew En Koen and Lin Ye 3-0 (11-8, 11-9, 11-6) at the World Table Tennis Championships Finals in Houston, Texas. They face Hong Kong pair Ho Kwan Kit and Lee Ho Ching in the quarter-finals. However, Cheng lost 1-4 (6-11, 13-11, 6-11, 5-11, 2-11) in her singles round-of-16 match against China’s Chen Xingtong. Taiwan’s other mixed doubles pairing, world No. 58 Chen Szu-yu and Chen Chien-an, exited after a round-of-16 loss against China’s Wang Chuqin and Sun Yingsha. The score was 1-3 (7-11, 6-11, 11-7, 6-11). In the men’s doubles, Chen Chien-an and Chuang Chih-yuan lost 0-3 (4-11, 6-11, 5-11) against world No. 14 South Korean duo Jang Woo-jin and Lim Jong-hoon.
GOLF
Taiwan’s Chan leads
Taiwan’s Chan Shih-chang yesterday was in a share of the lead after the third round of the Blue Canyon Phuket Championship in Thailand. Chan, who was tied for second with a four-under-par 68 in the second round, shot a 68 yesterday to put himself at the top of the board alongside Sihwan Kim of the US. Thailand’s Sadom Kaewkanjana was third, two shots behind the leaders.
? SOCCER
Klopp advises Mane
Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp on Friday urged forward Sadio Mane to control his emotions when opponents try to wind him up and “pay them back” with the quality of his play. Klopp said that opposition players often try to antagonize Mane. “It has been a thing for much longer,” Klopp told British media. “Even when it was not obvious to the outside, you can see it in games that they go for him because they want to wind him up.” Klopp said that he has spoken with Mane about how to deal with such situations. “Sadio is now of an age where he is not that emotional anymore, but we all need emotions, obviously, and sometimes we control them better and sometimes less,” he said. “We’ve had these talks... The headline [from our discussions] is: ‘We pay back with football. Whatever we do, we pay them back with football.’”
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was