BADMINTON
Chou ousted in first match
Taiwanese men’s singles star Chou Tien-chen yesterday lost his first match of the Victor China Open to world No. 7 Li Shifeng of China. The world No. 11 was defeated 21-14, 18-21, 21-18. Taiwan’s Lin Chun-yi fared better in Changzhou, beating France’s Toma Junior Popov 21-15, 10-21, 21-16. Among other Taiwanese results, mixed doubles pair Ye Hong-wei and Lee Chia-hsin thrashed the Netherlands’ Robin Tabeling and Selena Piek 21-13, 21-13. In the men’s doubles, Lee Yang and Wang Chi-lin upset compatriots Su Ching-heng and Ye 21-14, 21-14, while Chang Ko-chi and Po Li-wei lost 21-14, 21-17 to China’s He Jiting and Zhou Haodong. Sung Shuo-yun was beaten 21-15, 21-13 by China’s He Bingjiao in the women’s singles.
CRICKET
NZ level England T20 series
Mitchell Santner starred with the ball on Tuesday, before Tim Seifert led the way with the bat as New Zealand beat England by six wickets at Trent Bridge to end a four-match Twenty20 series all square at 2-2. When Jonny Bairstow was making a quickfire 73, T20 world champions England were on course for a huge total. However, with England white-ball captain Jos Buttler rested from the game, New Zealand took four wickets for 35 runs — with left-arm spinner Santner returning fine figures of 3-30. New Zealand controlled their chase, with Seifert making 48 and the in-form Glenn Phillips 42 before Mark Chapman’s unbeaten 40 completed a comfortable win with 16 balls left. “They [England] got off to a great start tonight, but we knew that if we kept taking wickets it was the best way to slow them down,” New Zealand captain Tim Southee said. “We were trying to be smart and make them take aggressive options.”
BASKETBALL
Stewart breaks WNBA record
New York Liberty’s Breanna Stewart on Tuesday broke the WNBA record for most points scored in a single season after her 40 against the Dallas Wings took her tally to 885 points from 38 games. The five-time All Star forward moved past the 860 points set by Phoenix Mercury guard Diana Taurasi in 2006 when the regular season was 34 games. Stewart has two games left — against Los Angeles Sparks on Thursday and Washington Mystics on Sunday — to add to her tally. “I have something I can hold over her head a little bit,” Stewart, 29, said, jokingly. “It means a lot. Any time I’m in the same limelight as ‘D’ it’s a huge honor. I really appreciate everything I’ve been able to do, and wouldn’t be able to do it without my teammates.”
SOCCER
Messi mural goes viral
High-school students in Argentina pieced together a massive mural of soccer superstar Lionel Messi out of thousands of recycled plastic bottle caps. The mural fills the floor of an open-air high school courtyard in the Grand Bourg neighborhood, just outside the capital, Buenos Aires. It depicts the beaming forward holding aloft the golden FIFA World Cup trophy from last year’s win in Qatar, along with a caption offering thanks to Argentina’s tattooed captain. Sebastian Ramirez, a teacher at the school, posted a video clip on social media that went viral summing up a widely-held assessment of Messi’s legacy. “A tribute to the greatest,” he said.
Japan’s Shohei Ohtani is the record-breaking baseball “superhuman” following in the footsteps of the legendary Babe Ruth who has also earned comparisons to US sporting greats Michael Jordan and Tom Brady. Not since Ruth a century ago has there been a baseball player capable of both pitching and hitting at the top level. The 30-year-old’s performances with the Los Angeles Dodgers have consolidated his position as a baseball legend in the making, and a national icon in his native Japan. He continues to find new ways to amaze, this year becoming the first player to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases
More than 180 years of horse racing came to an end in Singapore on Saturday, as the Singapore Turf Club hosted its final race day before its track is handed back to the Singaporean government to provide land for new homes. Under an overcast sky, the air-conditioned VIP boxes were full of enthusiasts, socialites and expats, while the grounds and betting halls below hosted mostly older-generation punters. The sun broke through for the last race, the last-ever Grand Singapore Gold Cup. The winner, South African jockey Muzi Yeni, echoed a feeling of loss shared by many on the day. “I’d
PREDICTION: Last week, when Yu’s father made a wrong turn to the former champions’ parking lot, he said that his son could park there after this year With back-to-back birdies on the 18th hole, Kevin Yu fulfilled his driving range-owning dad’s prediction that he would win the Sanderson Farms Championship and become Taiwan’s third golfer to claim a US PGA Tour title. The Taoyuan-born 26-year-old, who represented Taiwan in the Olympic golf at Paris, saw off Californian Beau Hossler in a playoff at the Country Club of Jackson, Mississippi, on Sunday. Having drained a 15-foot putt to claw his way into the playoff, Yu rolled in from five feet on the first extra hole, ensuring he joined Chen Tze-chung (LA Open in 1987) and Pan Cheng-tsung (RBC
Former world No. 2 Paula Badosa has withdrawn from this week’s Wuhan Open, organizers said on Tuesday, amid a racism row over an online photograph. Tournament organizers said the Spaniard had pulled out of the WTA 1000 tournament, citing a gastrointestinal illness, hours before her first-round match against Australian Ajla Tomljanovic. News outlets including Britain’s the Telegraph earlier reported that Badosa had posted a photo on Instagram in which she appeared to imitate a Chinese face by placing chopsticks on the corners of her eyes. The photo was taken last week in a restaurant in Beijing, where she reached the semi-finals of the
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