TENNIS
Chan sisters advance
Taiwanese sisters Latisha Chan and Chan Hao-ching on Monday beat Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Ellen Perez of Australia 6-4, 3-6, 10-7 to advance to the women’s doubles quarter-finals at the Internationaux de Strasbourg in France. They are to face the winners of last night’s match of Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Chinese partner Wang Xinyu against Angelina Gabueva of Russia and Kaia Kanepi of Estonia, which was to begin after press time. Taiwanese Wu Fang-hsien and Australian partner Olivia Tjandramulia advanced last night, beating France’s Severine Deppner and Sarah Iliev 2-6, 7-5, 10-6. On Monday, Hsieh crashed out of the women’s singles round of 32, losing 7-6 (7/2), 1-6, 6-1 to New Zealand’s Erin Routliffe.
MOUNTAINEERING
Nepalese sets record again
Veteran guide Kami Rita Sherpa yesterday scaled Mount Everest for the 28th time, beating his own record less than a week after setting it, as two guides compete with each other for the title of most climbs of the world’s highest peak. Kami Rita Sherpa, considered one of the greatest mountain guides, reached the 8,849m summit at 9:20am yesterday, expedition organizer Seven Summits Treks said. His latest climb came a day after fellow guide Pasang Dawa Sherpa matched his record of 27 trips to the summit. The race for the title began with Pasang Dawa Sherpa climbing the peak for the 26th time on May 14, equaling Kami Rita Sherpa’s previous record. Kami Rita Sherpa went on to the peak three days later for the 27th time.
BASEBALL
Announcer fired over slur
Oakland Athletics broadcaster Glen Kuiper was let go by NBC Sports California after using a racial slur during a telecast while describing a trip to the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, the network said on Monday. Kuiper was suspended by the network following the incident during a pregame segment on May 5. Kuiper seemingly mispronounced the word “negro,” making it sound instead like a slur. A person familiar with the investigation said “the decision was based on a variety of factors, including information uncovered in the internal review.” Kuiper said in a statement on Monday night that he mispronounced the word “negro” out of his excitement talking about his visit to the museum. “It was a terrible, but honest mispronunciation, and I take full responsibility,” he said.
SOCCER
Thai FA bans players
The Football Association of Thailand (Thai FA) yesterday banned two players, two officials and a coach over brawls that marred the men’s final at the Southeast Asian Games. Thai FA announced a one-year ban from the national team for a goalkeeping coach and two team officials. “The fact-finding team agreed unanimously that as adults, the goalkeeping coach and team officials should be mature enough to control the situation and set a good example for the players, who are aged under 22,” it said in a statement. “They should not lead or take part in the incident.” Goalkeeper Soponwit Rakyart — who was red-carded after he ran half the length of the pitch to deliver a diving punch — and substitute Teerapak Pruengna were banned from the national team for six months.
Taiwan’s Lin Chun-yi yesterday bowed out at the Malaysia Masters, defeated in the semi-finals a day after an epic quarter-final against the highest-ranked player left in the men’s singles draw. Lin lost to Weng Hongyang of China 21-13, 21-19 after a draining match against Japan’s Kodai Naraoka a day earlier in which the second game had 59 points. The 23-year-old left-hander had won his only previous BWF match against his Chinese opponent. However, Weng booked a place in today’s final after easing past the Taiwanese battler. He faces India’s H.S. Prannoy, who advanced when Indonesia’s Christian Adinata retired while trailing 19-17 in the
Kosovo Olympic authorities have asked the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to open disciplinary proceedings against Novak Djokovic, accusing the Serb of stirring up political tension by saying “Kosovo is the heart of Serbia” at the French Open. Djokovic wrote the message on a camera lens following his first-round win on Monday, the same day that 30 NATO peacekeeping troops were hurt in clashes with Serb protesters in the Kosovo town of Zvecan where Djokovic’s father grew up. “Kosovo is our cradle, our stronghold, center of the most important things for our country,” 36-year-old told Serbian media. Serbian authorities said 52 protesters were wounded
Unable to sleep the night before her first-round match at the French Open against second seed Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus, Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine checked her phone at 5am on Sunday and saw disturbing news back home in Kyiv. At least one person was killed when the capital of Kostyuk’s nation was subjected to the largest drone attack by Russia since the start of the war, launched with an invasion assisted by Belarus in February last year. “It’s something I cannot describe, probably. I try to put my emotions aside any time I go out on court. I think I’m better than
China has long been the sleeping giant of men’s tennis, but on Monday the giant stirred as Shanghai trailblazer Zhang Zhizhen advanced to the second round of Roland Garros. One of three Chinese men in the draw, Zhang became the first from the nation to win a main draw match at Roland Garros in 86 years after Serbian opponent Dusan Lajovic retired due to illness when trailing 6-1, 4-1. Compatriots Shang Juncheng and Wu Yibing bowed out in defeat, but 26-year-old Zhang has a big chance to go further when he takes on Argentine qualifier Thiago Agustin Tirante for a place in
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