BADMINTON
Lee, Wang fall in Indonesia
Taiwan’s Lee Yang and Wang Chi-lin yesterday lost to Indonesia’s world No. 1 duo of Marcus Fernaldi Gideon and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo in the men’s doubles semi-finals at the BWF World Tour Finals in Indonesia. In just more than 1 hour of play, Gideon and Sukamuljo, who lost to Lee and Wang in the Group A round of the Tokyo Games, beat the Taiwanese 18-21, 23-21, 21-17 to advance to today’s finals against Japan’s Takuro Hoki and Yugo Kobayashi. Lee and Wang have not won a tournament since taking gold in Tokyo.
TABLE TENNIS
Lin Yun-ju out of Cup
Taiwanese ace Lin Yun-ju yesterday crashed out of the World Table Tennis Cup Finals in Singapore, after China’s Wang Chuqin beat the world No. 6 player 0-3. Wang quickly won each of the three games 11-5, 11-8, 11-7 to add to Lin’s disappointment, after he last month lost to South Korea’s Lim Jong-hoon in the round of 32 at the World Table Tennis Championships Finals. At the Houston tournament, Lin and mixed doubles partner Cheng I-ching won a bronze medal. Cheng is today to play Japan’s Hina Hayata in the women’s singles round of 16 in Singapore.
CRICKET
Ajaz Patel claims 10-for
New Zealand’s batsmen yesterday collapsed to 62 all out in the second Test, after their Mumbai-born spinner Ajaz Patel claimed a record 10 wickets in India’s 325. New Zealand trailed the hosts by 263 runs on the second day at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium. India did not enforce the follow-on. Ajaz emulated England’s Jim Laker (1956 v Australia) and Indian spin legend Anil Kumble (1999 v Pakistan) to complete his perfect 10 in the second session. He returned figures of 10-119 with his left-arm spin, but Mayank Agarwal’s 150 and a 52 by Axar Patel helped India to a challenging total on a turning track.
HORSE RACING
Lawyer contests drug test
A split sample test for Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit confirmed that the presence of a prohibited substance was from a topical ointment and not an injection, an attorney for the horse’s owner said. Medina Spirit tested positive for betamethasone, a banned substance, in May and was banned from running in the Belmont Stakes, the third and final leg of the triple crown. Clark Brewster, an attorney for Zedan Racing, said the testing of the sample was completed by the New York Racing Laboratory and “scientifically confirmed” Medina Spirit was not injected with betamethasone. The Kentucky commission and the New York lab were not immediately available for comment.
ATHLETICS
Ex-global athletics head dies
The former head of global athletics Lamine Diack, who was later convicted for corruption, has died aged 88, his family said. The Senegalese was head of the International Association of Athletics Federations, renamed World Athletics, from 1999 to 2015. Diack, who was also a powerful figure at the International Olympic Committee, was last year found guilty of corruption in France for covering up Russian doping cases in exchange for bribes. He was sentenced to four years in prison, of which two were suspended, and fined 500,000 euros (US$565,700), but was spared jail because of his age.
Freddie Freeman homered and drove in four runs, Shohei Ohtani also went deep and Roki Sasaki earned his first major league win as the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Atlanta Braves 10-3 on Saturday night for their seventh straight victory. The Dodgers have won the first two games of the series to improve to 5-0 against Atlanta this year. Los Angeles’ three-game sweep at home early in the season left the Braves 0-7. Sasaki allowed three runs and six hits over five innings. The 23-year-old right-hander gave up a home run to Ozzie Albies, but received plenty of offensive support in his
Bayern Munich on Sunday were crowned German champions for the 34th time, giving striker Harry Kane his first major trophy, after second-placed Bayer 04 Leverkusen drew 2-2 at SC Freiburg. Bayern’s 3-3 draw at RB Leipzig on Saturday, when the Bavarians came from two goals down to take the lead before conceding a stoppage-time equalizer, meant defending Bundesliga champions Leverkusen needed to win at Freiburg to delay the title party. Leverkusen were two goals down before scoring twice in the final 10 minutes, but Xabi Alonso’s side could not find a third, as Bayern reclaimed the title at the first attempt after
THRILLER: Raphinha gave Barca a 3-2 lead with two minutes remaining of regular time, but Francesco Acerbi equalized the game in the second minute of added time Davide Frattesi on Tuesday fired Inter into the UEFA Champions League final with an extra-time winner that gave the Italians a stunning 4-3 triumph over Barcelona, 7-6 on aggregate. Italy midfielder Frattesi won a tie for the ages under a downpour in Milan when he lashed home in the 99th minute, sending a packed and rocking San Siro wild with joy. Simone Inzaghi’s team will face either Arsenal or Paris Saint-Germain at the end of this month in Munich, Germany, where they would feel they have a great chance to be crowned kings of Europe for a fourth time after
PAINFUL VICTORY: Ruud said that felt pain in his rib during the warmup and was put on painkillers so that he could finish the match against Argentine Francisco Cerundolo With the help of painkillers, Casper Ruud overcame a rib ailment to defeat Francisco Cerundolo in straight sets and reach the Madrid Open final on Friday. Ruud is to face Jack Draper, who beat Lorenzo Musetti 6-3, 7-6 (4) in the other semi-final to make his third final of the year. Ruud received treatment on his rib three games into the match and went on to win 6-4, 7-5 on the Caja Magica center court. The 15th-ranked Norwegian saved 15 of the 18 break points he faced against the 21st-ranked Argentine. Ruud said he felt something in his rib during the warmup, just before
RSS