BASKETBALL
Brickman sets assist record
Kaohsiung Aquas point guard Jason Brickman on Friday set another T1 League assist record, after he dished out 21 dimes in a 124-107 away victory over the Taipei-based Taiwan Beer Herobears on the last day of the league’s regular season. The 30-year-old Filipino American broke his own previous mark of 19 assists set on March 27. Also on Friday, the Taichung Wagor Suns edged the Taoyuan Leopards 127-125 in an overtime game at Taoyuan Arena. The Suns are to enter the semi-finals as the second seeds behind the Aquas and ahead of the New Taipei CTBC DEA. The Herobears and the Leopards are to compete in a play-in series, which starts today, for the last spot in the semi-finals, which start on Tuesday.
CHESS
Indian teen stuns Carlsen
Indian teenager Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa on Friday stunned world champion Magnus Carlsen for the second time this year as he claimed victory over the Norwegian at the Chessable Masters online rapid chess tournament. The 16-year-old, who also won their duel at the Airthings Masters in February, took advantage of a one-move blunder by Carlsen in the closing stages to stay in the hunt for a place in the knockout stages. Praggnanandhaa this week said he was in the middle of his school exams, but did not want to miss the opportunity of testing himself against a stellar field. The prodigy from Chennai is having a strong season after winning the Reykjavik Open last month and finishing third at the La Roda Open.
ATHLETICS
Ban protects athletes: Bach
Russian athletes and officials who have been banned from international sports because of the war in Ukraine are being protected rather than punished, International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach said on Friday. Most sports bodies have followed the IOC guidance given on Feb. 28 — four days after Russia began its invasion — by taking teams and athletes out of their international competitions. “Let me emphasize again that these are protective measures, not sanctions. Measures to protect the integrity of competitions,” Bach told IOC members in an online meeting. “The safety of the Russian and Belarusian athletes and officials could not be guaranteed because of the deep anti-Russian and anti-Belarusian feelings in so many countries following the invasion.” Sanctions should apply only to “those responsible for something,” Bach added.
GOLF
Wise hit by errant tee shot
American Aaron Wise on Friday escaped serious injury after he was struck by a wayward tee shot from Cameron Smith during the second round of the PGA Championships at the Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Wise, ranked world No. 91, was examining his ball on the fairway of the seventh hole when he was hit in the head by a shot from Australian Smith, who was playing the adjoining par-four second. “I was walking down seven, surprised my ball was in the fairway, and then next thing you know, I mean there’s a little bit of ringing in my head,” Wise said. ESPN anchor Sage Steele was on Thursday struck in the face by Jon Rahm’s tee shot and needed medical attention during the opening round of the tournament.
South Korean giants T1, led by “Faker,” won their fifth League of Legends (LoL) world championship crown in London on Saturday, beating China’s Bilibili Gaming (BLG) in a thrilling final. The teams were locked at 2-2 at a packed O2 arena, but T1 clinched game five to make it back-to-back titles after nearly four hours of tense action. China’s BLG started strongly, taking the first game before T1 struck back to level. The Chinese team pulled ahead again at 2-1 only for their opponents to hit back again and go on to take the decider. Faker, who won the Most
Amber Glenn overcame a fall and her own doubts to win a maiden Grand Prix figure skating title on Saturday at the Grand Prix de France. The American skater had the lead from Friday’s short program. That and the support of the crowd got her through a tough free skate in which she fell on a triple flip and put a hand onto the ice to steady herself on two other jumps. “I didn’t feel that great out there today, but I really tried, and the audience really got me through that last half when I was doubting myself,” Glenn
The Major League Baseball World Series trophy is headed to Los Angeles, but the party is extending all the way to Japan. People milled around local train stations yesterday morning in Tokyo as newspaper extras were ready to roll off the presses, proclaiming Japanese stars Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto as world champions along with their Dodgers teammates after a stirring Game 5 victory over the New York Yankees. The 30-year-old is a national hero in Japan whose face adorns billboards and TV adverts all over the country. Ohtani this year became the first player in history to hit 50 home runs and
Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Belgian partner Elise Mertens on Monday notched up their first win in the doubles group stage of the WTA Finals in Riyadh to keep their semi-final hopes alive, while Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russian partner Veronika Kudermetova were aiming to record their first victory after press time last night. Third seeds Hsieh and Mertens came back from a disheartening opening-day loss to Australia’s Ellen Perez and Nicole Melichar-Martinez to defeat top seeds Ukraine’s Lyudmyla Kichenok and Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko, the women’s doubles world No. 3 and 4 respectively. The 6-1, 6-3 victory at King Saud University Indoor Arena