TENNIS
Taiwan’s Tseng wins open
Taiwanese player Tseng Chun-hsin on Sunday won the men’s singles title at the Murcia Open in Spain, defeating Norbert Gombos of Slovakia 6-4, 6-1. The event was the third edition of the tournament and part of the ATP Challenger Tour. Tseng first played tennis at the age of five, encouraged by his parents, who run a stall at a night market in New Taipei City. As a result, he is often called the “Night Market Champion” in Taiwan.
SOCCER
Shanghai exit over COVID-19
The Shanghai Port have withdrawn from the Asian Champions League due to a COVID-19 lockdown in the city, the Asian Football Confederation said yesterday. The team, who reached the semi-finals of the competition in 2017, had been due to begin their group stage campaign on Saturday against Vissel Kobe of Japan in Buriram, Thailand. Hong Kong’s Kitchee and Chiangrai United from Thailand have also been drawn in Group J. Shanghai Port would not be replaced in the competition. COVID-19 cases in Shanghai have reached record levels in the past few months, and authorities have placed tight restrictions on movement in and out of the city. The team are the second Chinese club to pull out of the continental competition after Changchun Yatai withdrew last month. No reason was given for that decision.
BASEBALL
Sasaki throws perfect game
Roki Sasaki on Sunday pitched a perfect game with 19 strikeouts, leading the Chiba Lotte Marines over the Orix Buffaloes 6-0 in Japan’s Pacific League. The 20-year-old right-hander struck out 13 consecutive batters and needed 105 pitches to complete the nine-inning game. “This is the greatest,” Sasaki was quoted as saying by Kyodo news agency. “Honestly, I wasn’t thinking about the possibility,” he said of the perfect game. “I figured it would be OK if I gave up a hit, so I just pitched and put my trust in [catcher Ko] Matsukawa right until the end.” Sasaki pitched the 16th complete perfect game in the Japanese major leagues, the first since Hiromi Makihara of the Central League’s Yomiuri Giants in a 6-0 win against the Hiroshima Toyo Carp on May 18, 1994. Kyodo reported that Sasaki’s father was killed in the earthquake, tsunami and meltdown of three nuclear reactors in March 2011 that devastated northeastern Japan. Sasaki signed with the Marines out of high school, and was scouted by MLB teams. He is reported to routinely reach 100mph with his fastball.
SPEEDSKATING
Charles Hamelin retires
Four-time Olympic champion Charles Hamelin on Sunday brought the curtain down on his career at the short track world championships in Montreal, and said there was no better way to finish than racing in front of his friends and family. Hamelin, who won his fourth Olympic gold in the men’s 5m relay in Beijing earlier this year, led Canada to bronze in the same event on Sunday in his final race. The 37-year-old then took to the ice to skate a farewell lap with his daughter in his arms. “It means a lot to me. She is a little older, but maybe she didn’t understand what was happening, but I am sure she enjoyed the moment with me. It was one of the things I wanted to do, and I am glad it happened here in Montreal,” Hamelin said.
ANFIELD BLUES: Kylian Mbappe arrived at Anfield on a run of 21 goals in 17 games, but he managed just three attempts in the match, none of them hitting the target Kylian Mbappe has been nearly unstoppable this season, but he hit a roadblock in their UEFA Champions League match at Anfield on Tuesday. For the second year running, the Real Madrid forward had a night to forget at Merseyside as Liverpool won 1-0. Mbappe looked a shadow of the player who has been tearing defenses apart all season. “We were lacking that threat in the final third,” said Madrid coach Xabi Alonso, without naming Mbappe individually. The FIFA World Cup winner for France rarely looked capable of finding a breakthrough against a Liverpool team who have been so defensively fragile for much of the
LOCAL SUCCESS: In the doubles, Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia defeated Italians Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini in straight sets Elena Rybakina on Monday punched her ticket to the WTA Finals last four with an impressive 3-6, 6-1, 6-0 victory over second seed Iga Swiatek in round-robin play in Riyadh. After cruising past Amanda Anisimova in her opener on Saturday, Rybakina claimed her second win of the week to guarantee herself top spot in the Serena Williams Group. Anisimova on Monday rallied back from a set and a break down to triumph 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 in her all-American battle with seventh seed Madison Keys, who has been eliminated from the competition. “Madi was playing so well, it was quite a battle out there,”
Erling Haaland on Sunday scored twice to propel Manchester City up to second in the English Premier League with a 3-1 win over AFC Bournemouth. The Cherries started the day in second thanks to the longest unbeaten run in the English top flight, but Andoni Iraola’s side were undone by the scintillating form of the Norwegian striker, who took his tally to 13 Premier League goals in 10 games. Haaland’s relentless streak is maintaining City’s title challenge as they reduced the gap to leaders Arsenal back to six points and edged one point ahead of Liverpool, who they face at the weekend. “Important
For almost 30 minutes, Vitomir Maricic did not take a breath. Face down in a pool, surrounded by anxious onlookers, the Croatian freediver fought spasming pain to redefine what doctors thought was possible. When he finally surfaced, he had smashed the previous Guinness World Record for the longest breath-hold underwater by nearly five minutes. However, even with the help of pure oxygen before the attempt, it had pushed him to the limit. “Everything was difficult, just overwhelming,” Maricic, 40, told reporters, reflecting on the record-breaking day on June 14. “When I dive, I completely disconnect from everything, as if I’m not even there.
RSS