BADMINTON
Taiwan lose to Malaysia
Tai Tzu-ying yesterday won Taiwan’s only victory in their 4-1 defeat to Malaysia in their Group C tie of the Sudirman Cup Finals. The world No. 3 star dominated Goh Jin Wei in the women’s singles 21-8, 21-10. In the opening match of their final group tie, Ye Hong-wei and Lee Chia-hsin won just one game of their mixed doubles showdown with Chen Tang Jie and Toh Ee Wei, losing 17-21, 21-19, 21-17. That set the tone for the rest of the day, with Chou Tien-chen losing 21-14, 21-23 to world No. 8 Lee Zii Jia in the second match. In men’s doubles, Lu Ching-yao and Yang Po-han lost straight games 21-8, 23-21 to Ong Yew Sin and Teo Ee Yi, while Hsu Ya-ching and Teng Chun-hsun eked out a win in their 21-15, 19-21, 21-15 defeat to Pearly Tan and Thinaah Muralitharan in the women’s doubles.
RUGBY UNION
Kit switched for color blind
Saracens and Sale Sharks are to wear their away jerseys in the Premiership Rugby final this month to avoid a clash that would have posed a problem for color blind fans, the league said yesterday. Saracens traditionally would have worn their black home jerseys as top seeds, while Sale play in red-maroon, but Colour Blind Awareness said that fans with a vision deficiency would not be able to tell them apart. Saracens would now play in their white away jerseys, while Sale play in maroon after the league were told that one in 12 men and one in 200 women are color blind. “It is important that the accessibility needs of these groups are recognized to enable all fans of the sport to have a positive viewing experience that isn’t limited by avoidable color clashes,” Colour Blind Awareness CEO Kathryn Albany-Ward said.
ATHLETICS
Kenyan runner suspended
Kenyan distance runner Rhonex Kipruto, who won a bronze medal in the 10,000m at the 2019 World Athletics Championships, has been suspended for suspected doping, the Athletics Integrity Unit said yesterday. Kipruto has been notified of a charge relating to irregularities in his athlete biological passport, it said. The biological passport can detect possible irregularities in blood values assessed over time without an athlete testing positive for a banned substance. Kipruto was 19 when he finished third in the 10,000m in Doha. Months later, he set a record for a 10km road race in Valencia, Spain, and placed ninth in the 10,000m at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.
CYCLING
Virus knocks out more riders
The Giro d’Italia yesterday lost six more cyclists, four of them from former race leader Remco Evenepoel’s team, owing to positive COVID-19 tests taking the total of withdrawals due to the virus to 15 since the race began on May 6. Race favorite Evenepoel withdrew late on Sunday due to a positive test and despite the race organizers implementing stricter rules on Monday, COVID-19 continued to affect the peloton. “Soudal Quick-Step is disappointed to announce that four more riders from its Giro d’Italia squad have tested positive for COVID-19 and will leave the race,” read a team statement. “Following the positive test of Remco Evenepoel on Sunday, a further round of tests were made on the riders and staff that remained in Italy, with Jan Hirt, Josef Cerny, Louis Vervaeke and Matteo Cattaneo unfortunately unable to continue.”
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
Taiwanese badminton superstar Lee Yang broke down in tears after publicly retiring from the sport on Sunday. The two-time Olympic gold medalist held a retirement ceremony at the Taipei Arena after the final matches of the Taipei Open. Accompanied by friends, family and former badminton partners, Lee burst into tears while watching a video celebrating key moments in his professional sporting career that also featured messages from international players such as Malaysia’s Teo Ee Yi, Hong Kong’s Tang Chun-man, and Indonesia’s Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan. “I hope that in the future when the world thinks about me, they will
Former Formosa Dreamers player Ilkan Karaman was killed in a traffic accident in Datca, Turkey, Turkish media reported yesterday. He was 34. The former Turkish national team player was reportedly hit by a car, the driver of which was allegedly drunk, while he was standing on a sidewalk, Turkish newspaper Sozcu reported. Karaman and his friends were on their way to the beach town of Dalaman to go scuba diving when they stopped at a gas station to buy gasoline, it reported. Karaman was hit by the car while waiting on a sidewalk as his friends were buying gasoline, it
ANKLE PROBLEM: Taiwan’s Ye Hong-wei and Lee Chia-hsin had a disappointing end to their tournament after an injury forced them out of their mixed doubles semi-final Taiwanese badminton ace Tai Tzu-ying on Friday was knocked out in the women’s singles quarter-finals at her last Taipei Open. The world No. 3 lost 21-18, 16-21, 22-24 to Putri Kusuma Wardani of Indonesia in a match that stretched 68 minutes at the Taipei Arena. Despite her higher ranking, Tai said she was not too sad about the loss, given her struggle with a lingering knee injury. “Wins and losses are just part of the game. Actually, I think I’m going to lose every single match considering my condition now,” said the five-time champion of the Super 300 event, who has announced plans
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