GOLF
Taiwan’s Chien drops back
Kim A-lim on Friday birdied the final two holes for a seven-under 65 and the lead in the suspended second round of the rain-delayed LPGA Chevron Championship, while Taiwan’s Chien Pei-yun, the first-round leader, had dropped down the leaderboard. Thirty-one players were unable to finish the second round before it got dark in the first women’s major tournament of the season. After opening with a 71 on Thursday at The Club at Carlton Woods, Kim on Friday had eight birdies with just one bogey to reach eight-under 136. Americans Lilia Vu and Megan Khang were tied for second, a stroke behind. Chien shot a 67 in the first round, but remained at five-under with four holes to play in the second round, which was to resume after press time last night.
Photo: AFP
ATHLETICS
Challenge Taiwan starts
More than 8,000 triathletes from more than 20 countries lined up for the start of the 11th annual two-day Challenge Taiwan in Taitung County yesterday. Participants were to swim, cycle and run over a variety of distances, including full-distance (226km), half-distance (113km), Olympic (51.5km) and sprint (25.75km). The swimming portion was at Taitung Forest Park’s Flowing Lake, after which the athletes would cycle along a section of Provincial Highway No. 11 before finishing with a run to Tie Hua Village in Taitung City. Traffic controls would be in place across several road sections in Taitung County until 12pm today to make way for the cycling and running courses, the event’s organizers said.
TENNIS
Fellow Serb beats Djokovic
Novak Djokovic on Friday lost to a Serb countryman for the first time in 11 years. Dusan Lajovic won 6-4, 7-6 (8/6) in their quarter-final at the Srpska Opento to down a world No. 1-ranked player for the first time. “It is the biggest win of my career,” Lajovic said on court. “The emotions are very mixed because I’m playing here in front of the home town and I’m also playing against Nole, who is a good friend and he’s a hero of our country.” Djokovic’s previous loss to a fellow Serb was in 2012 to Janko Tipsarevic in Madrid. “Dusan is a fantastic person, great guy,” Djokovic said. “Someone I’ve known for a very long time, since he started playing professional tennis. So many times on the Davis Cup team together, trained together. I’m happy for him, to be honest. He deserved to win today.”
TENNIS
Swiatek advances to semis
Iga Swiatek on Friday rallied to beat Karolina Pliskova 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 for a place in the Porsche Grand Prix semi-finals. She next faces third-seeded Ons Jabeur, who eliminated Beatriz Haddad Maia 6-3, 6-0 in their quarter-final in Stuttgart. Second-seeded Aryna Sabalenka rallied to defeat Spain’s Paula Badosa 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 to advance, with her semi against Anastasia Potapova, who upset fourth-seeded Caroline Garcia 4-6, 6-3, 6-3. The semis were to be played after press time last night.
‘REMARKABLE’: Gaelic football is a traditional Irish sport that blends the skills of soccer and rugby, and hurling is an ancient sport played with a wooden stick and ‘sliotar’ The Taiwan Celts Gaelic Football Club marked a milestone achievement at the Asian Gaelic Games in Bangkok on Nov. 23 and 24, with two sides advancing to the knockout stages and competing at hurling for the first time. The event brought together 68 teams from 16 clubs across Asia, with more than 800 players in men’s and women’s tournaments. Gaelic football is a traditional Irish team sport that blends the skills of soccer, rugby union and basketball. Hurling is an ancient Irish sport played with a wooden stick, called a hurley, and a small ball, or sliotar. The Taiwan Celts’ women’s team reached
LIVERPOOL WIN: The 50th Champions League goal by Mohamed Salah helped the leaders of the Premier League to keep their perfect record intact Real Madrid’s big stars on Tuesday turned on the style to revive the Spanish giant’s faltering UEFA Champions League title defense. Galacticos Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Junior and Jude Bellingham all scored in a thrilling 3-2 win against Serie A leaders Atalanta BC. However, Madrid still had to ride their luck as Mateo Retegui fired over from in front of goal in stoppage-time when handed a golden chance to level the game. It was only Madrid’s third win in the competition’s revamped league phase and leaves the 15-time champions in the unseeded playoff positions in 18th place. “It’s a very important win. Not everyone wins
TO NO AVAIL: The Denver Nuggets’ Serbian center Nikola Jokic surpassed his 53-point performance in the 2023 Western Conference semi-finals against Phoenix The Washington Wizards withstood a 56-point explosion from Denver star Nikola Jokic to beat the Nuggets 122-113 on Saturday and snap their 16-game NBA losing streak. Jokic, who won his third NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) award last season, posted a career scoring high — surpassing a 53-point performance in game four of the 2023 Western Conference semi-finals against Phoenix and a 50-point regular-season best against Sacramento in 2021. The Serbian big man added 16 rebounds and eight assists, but it was all to no avail as Washington, buoyed by 39 points from Jordan Poole, won for the first time
Taiwan’s Lin Cheng-jing won a bronze medal in the clean and jerk in the women’s under-49 kg division at the 2024 IWF World Weightlifting Championships in Bahrain on Saturday. Lin won her first medal at a World Weightlifting Championships for lifting 107kg in the clean and jerk in her weight class, 2kg more than Rosegie Ramos of the Philippines. However, Ramos won bronze for the combined lift after topping Lin by 5kg in the snatch. Ri Song-gum of North Korea won gold in the division’s combined lift with a total of 213kg, while Xiang Linxiang of China took silver with
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