TABLE TENNIS
Chen Szu-yu exits Budapest
Taiwan’s Chen Szu-yu and her doubles partner Lee Ho Ching of Hong Kong on Saturday crashed out of the women’s doubles semi-finals at the World Table Tennis (WTT) Star Contender European Summer Series in Hungary. The world No. 2 Japanese duo of Mima Ito and Hina Hayata defeated Chen and Lee 3-2 in five hard-fought games over nearly 40 minutes at Budapest’s BOK Hall. While Chen and Lee started off strong with back-to-back wins of 11-7, 11-7, the Japanese pair found their footing in the third game. After winning 11-8, Ito and Hayata dominated the next two games 11-4, 11-4. The WTT Champions Series in Budapest starts today, with 28-year-old world No. 31 Chen taking on Ito in the women’s singles round of 32, while Taiwan’s Cheng I-ching is to play Chen Xingtong. In the men’s singles round of 32, Taiwan’s Lin Yun-ju, seeded fifth in the tournament, is to face China’s Lin Gaoyuan, while Taiwan’s Chuang Chih-yuan is to play Hungary’s Bence Majors.
MOTOR SPORTS
Nick Cassidy nabs first win
New Zealander Nick Cassidy on Saturday took his first win in the electric Formula E championship despite crashing and wrecking his car in a rain-soaked and red-flagged race in New York. The Envision Racing driver started on pole position and finished ahead of Brazilian Lucas di Grassi of Venturi Racing and Dutch teammate Robin Frijns. Heavy rain at the Brooklyn circuit left standing water and sent the top three aquaplaning into the wall and sustaining heavy damage. The race was halted and called off. “I was pretty calm after everything happened, but obviously very disappointed initially,” Cassidy said. “It felt like it was in the bag with 10 to go, then it started raining.”
RUGBY UNION
Fans call Jones ‘traitor’
Eddie Jones was on Saturday embroiled in angry exchanges with Australian supporters, who accused the England head coach of being “a traitor” and an “angry little man,” after their 21-17 series victory over Australia in Sydney. Rugby Australia condemned the behavior as “totally unacceptable.” In one video posted online, a supporter, who is seen holding a beer, can be heard being urged to “spray” Australian-born Jones before pointing at the former Wallabies head coach and saying “you’re a traitor.” Jones is seen approaching the fan. “What did you say? Come here and say it,” Jones says. When contacted by the Sydney Morning Herald yesterday, Jones said that “clowns think they have full go to abuse coaches.”
TENNIS
Hewitt enters hall of fame
Lleyton Hewitt, a two-time Grand Slam champion and former world No. 1, was on Saturday inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, Rhode Island, in a ceremony delayed from last year by COVID-19. Hewitt won the 2001 US Open and 2002 Wimbledon titles among 30 career ATP triumphs and helped Australia capture the Davis Cup in 1999 and 2003. The 41-year-old from Adelaide was unable to travel to the Hall of Fame last year from Australia. “I think I needed that extra year to come up with some proper words,” Hewitt said. “This is an incredible honor for me.” The ceremony was staged on the court where Hewitt won his first ATP grass court match as a teen in 1998.
Badminton world No. 3 Anders Antonsen clinched his first Indonesia Open title yesterday after beating Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen, while South Korea’s An Se-young won her second championship in Jakarta. The 28-year-old Dane sank world No. 7 Chou at the Indonesian capital’s Istora Senayan arena, winning 22-20, 21-14 in a 60-minute match to secure the prestigious Super 1000 event. Antonsen came out on top in a tightly contested first game before cruising to victory in the second. In a more closely fought women’s singles final, South Korean ace and world No. 1 An fought back from one game down to beat China’s
‘STILL’: In front of a packed New Jersey arena attended by Donald Trump and Mike Tyson, UFC 316 delivered high drama as Merab Dvalishvili retained his title Georgia’s Merab Dvalishvili scored a second-round submission win over Sean O’Malley to retain his bantamweight title at Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) 316 on Saturday, with Kayla Harrison also winning by submission in the co-main event, tapping out Juliana Pena to claim the women’s bantamweight crown. In front of a packed crowd at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, which included US President Donald Trump and retired heavyweight great Mike Tyson, Dvalishvili, a 34-year-old from the country of Georgia, won the belt in a convincing, although not aesthetically pleasing, unanimous decision. Dvalishvili (19-4) sat on top of the cage and shouted
Manchester City on Monday completed the signing of left-back Rayan Ait-Nouri from Wolverhampton Wanderers for a reported ￡31 million (US$41.8 million). The 24-year-old Algeria international has signed a five-year contract and will be available for the FIFA Club World Cup, which begins later this week. Ait-Nouri is expected to be just one of a trio of new City faces for that tournament with deals close to completion for AC Milan midfielder Tijjani Reijnders and Olympique Lyonnais playmaker Rayan Cherki. After missing out on a major trophy in the recently completed season for the first time since 2016-2017, City are hoping
Hulking Italian sprinter Jonathan Milan on Monday surged away from the pack to win the second stage of the Criterium de Dauphine in Issoire, France, to take the overall lead from Tadej Pogacar. The 1.93m, 87kg Milan had to battle to keep up on a hilly 204.6km run through central France from Premilhat. When the pack hit the home straight, he rocketed away from his rivals to collect a 10-second victory bonus and the yellow jersey. “That was really tough,” Milan said. “I was dropped at one point, and I was really on the limit, but I have to say
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