TENNIS
Chans both advance
Taiwan was guaranteed representation in the doubles semi-finals at the WTA Birmingham Classic in England after sisters Chan Hao-ching and Latisha Chan won their respective matches, booking a meeting in the quarter-finals. Chan Hao-ching and Shuko Aoyama of Japan won their opening round-of-16 match on Monday, defeating Emily Appleton and Ali Collins of the UK 6-3, 6-7 (5/7), 10-4, while Latisha Chan and partner Samantha Stosur of Australia on Tuesday ousted Romania’s Simona Halep and Donna Vekic of Croatia 6-3, 7-6 (9/7). The quarter-final featuring the Taiwanese was to start after press time last night.
CRICKET
IPL rights settled
US media giant Walt Disney and India’s Reliance Industries have won the broadcasting rights for the Indian Premier League for more than US$6 billion, making the T20 competition one of the most lucrative sports leagues in the world in terms of cost per game. An IPL match is billed in rights value ahead of English Premier League soccer’s US$11.8 million per game, Indian media reported yesterday. Disney-owned Star India retained the IPL television broadcast rights to the annual two-month tournament for the 2023-2027 period for 235.75 billion rupees (US$3.02 billion), said Jay Shah, secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, at the end of the auction process on Tuesday. Viacom18, a broadcasting joint venture run by Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries won digital streaming rights for 237.58 billion rupees. “IPL is an important component of our portfolio of television channels in India, providing an incredible opportunity for us to showcase The Walt Disney Company’s powerful global brands and iconic storytelling, as well as Disney Star’s impressive collection of local original content, to millions of viewers in India,” Walt Disney chairwoman of international content and operations Rebecca Campbell said in a statement. However, Walt Disney could lose as many as 20 million of its Disney+ subscribers after being outbid for the Internet streaming rights, Bloomberg reported.
BOXING
Fury willing to return
WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury said that he is willing to return to the ring for a potential unification bout against Anthony Joshua or Oleksandr Usyk, but said that organizers would have to dig deep to tempt him out of retirement. Fury in April knocked out fellow Briton Dillian Whyte to retain his title before telling fans he would be sticking to his promise to his wife to retire. However, the 33-year-old said he had been in talks with his promoter Frank Warren about a potential return. Usyk beat Joshua in September last year to seize the WBA, WBO, IBF and IBO belts, and a rematch is likely in August, with British media reporting that Fury was waiting in the wings for the winner. Fury, who is known as the “Gypsy King,” described Usyk as a “middleweight,” but said he expected him to beat Joshua again. “When this middleweight knocks out this bodybuilder again, there’s only going to be one man to sort this absolute circus out, isn’t there?” Fury said. “What I would say to the people who want this fight to happen, you better have a big cheque book, because to bring the big ‘GK’ out of retirement ... it’s going to cost.”
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