TENNIS
Hsieh advances to quarters
Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and partner Barbora Strycova of the Czech Republic on Monday beat Japan’s Miyu Kato and Indonesia’s Aldila Sutjiadi 6-3, 6-3 at the Madrid Open to advance to the quarter-finals. They are today to play Taylor Townsend of the US and Leylah Fernandez of Canada, who beat Georgia’s Oksana Kalashnikova and Russia’s Yana Sizikova 6-3, 7-5. In women’s singles, world No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka made light work of 16-year-old Mirra Andreeva with a 6-3, 6-1 win to reach the quarter-finals. “Of course I’m happy with the win. I wish I would have played at Madrid when I was 16,” Sabalenka said.
SOCCER
Wolfsburg beat Arsenal
VfL Wolfsburg are to play Barcelona in the UEFA Women’s Champions League final after Pauline Bremer’s last-gasp winner sealed a dramatic victory against Arsenal on Monday. The Germans won 3-2 in the semi-final second leg at the Emirates Stadium, as Bremer’s goal in the closing seconds of extra-time sealed a 5-4 aggregate success. Stina Blackstenius put Arsenal ahead, with Jill Roord and Alexandra Popp netting for Wolfsburg before Jennifer Beattie leveled for the Gunners, setting the stage for Bremer’s decisive goal. “Credit to Arsenal, they’ve been through a lot as a team, but they made it super hard,” Roord said. “At the end they could have won, we could have won. We were the lucky ones.”
BOXING
IBA lashes out at ‘hyenas’
International Boxing Association (IBA) president Umar Kremlev on Monday blasted the national federations who broke away from the body to form a new world boxing federation, describing the officials as “black sheep” and “hyenas” who do not belong in sports. A group including the US and Britain announced a new federation — World Boxing — last month in a breakaway aimed at securing the troubled sport’s Olympic future while seeking recognition from the International Olympic Committee. With representatives from Germany, Britain, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the Philippines, Sweden and the US, World Boxing has an interim executive board and said there would be no bar on any national federation being a member of both bodies. Russian Kremlev said the IBA is the only international association that governs the sport. “We say that there’s always a black sheep in our family, there are always people who go their own ways... Someone tried to register an international association from their garage, why should we even consider them,” he told a news conference.
SOCCER
Fan with chainsaw caught
A soccer fan wielding a chainsaw was arrested during riots at a CAF Champions League match in Tunis, a source at the Tunisian Ministry of the Interior said on Monday. The return leg of the quarter-final between Tunisia’s Esperance and Algeria’s JS Kabylie at the Rades Stadium on Saturday was interrupted by violence, which caused a 40-minute delay to the second half. Esperance fans clashed with security forces and lit fireworks on the terraces. Local reports said that a warehouse at the stadium was looted and some equipment, including a chainsaw, was stolen. “We can confirm the arrest of a fan holding the chainsaw,” said the ministry source, who requested anonymity.
Hong Kong-based cricket team Hung See this weekend found success in their matches in Taiwan, even if none of the results went their way. Hung See played the Chairman’s XI on Saturday morning, the Daredevils that afternoon and PCCT yesterday, with all three home teams winning. The team for Chinese players at the Happy Valley-based Craigengower Cricket Club sends teams on tour to “spread the game of cricket.” This weekend was Hung See’s second trip to Taiwan after visiting Tainan in 2016. “The club has been traveling to all parts of the world since 1982 and the annual tradition continues [with the Taiwan
Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei yesterday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while Coco Gauff’s dreams of a first women’s singles title in Melbourne were crushed in the quarter-finals by Paula Badosa. World No. 2 Alexander Zverev was ruffled by a stray feather in his men’s singles quarter-final, but he refocused to beat 12th seed Tommy Paul and reach the semi-finals. Third seeds Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia defeated Elena-Gabriela Ruse of Romania and Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine 6-2, 5-7, 7-5 in 2 hours, 20 minutes to advance the semi-finals. Hsieh and Ostapenko converted eight of 14 break
‘TOUGH TO BREATHE’: Tunisian three-time Grand Slam finalist Ons Jabeur suffered an asthma attack in her 7-5, 6-3 victory over Colombia’s Camila Osorio Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei yesterday cruised into the second round of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while Iga Swiatek romped into a third-round women’s singles showdown with Emma Raducanu and Taylor Fritz was just as emphatic in his pursuit of a maiden Grand Slam title. Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia, the third seeds, defeated Slovakia’s Tereza Mihalikova and Olivia Nicholls of Britain 7-5, 6-2 in 90 minutes in Melbourne. Ostapenko and Hsieh — who won the women’s doubles and mixed doubles at the Australian Open last year — hit 25 winners and converted five of nine break points to set
HARD TO SAY GOODBYE: After Coco Gauff dispatched Belinda Bencic in the fourth round, she wrote ‘RIP TikTok USA’ and drew a broken heart on a television camera lens Defending champion Hsieh Su-wei of Taiwan yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while compatriot Chan Hao-ching on Saturday dominated her opponents in the second round, as world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka swept into the quarter-finals. Third seeds Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia toppled Hungary’s Timea Babos and Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US 6-4, 6-3, hitting 24 winners and converting three of seven break points in 1 hour, 18 minutes at 1573 Arena. Although rivals at last year’s Australian Open — where Hsieh and Belgium’s Elise Mertens beat Ostapenko and Ukraine’s Lyudmyla Kichenok 6-1, 7-5
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