GOLF
Taiwan’s Chien finishes 4th
Taiwan’s Chien Pei-yun on Sunday finished with an eight-under-par 280 to tie for fourth at the LPGA Founders Cup in Clifton, New Jersey, her best performance so far this year. The 33-year-old narrowly missed a third-place finish with two birdies in the fourth round, but a bogey on the 13th hole left her with just a one-under-par 71. Tied with Chinese duo Yin Ruoning and Lin Xiyi, Chien earned a US$127,984 payday in the tournament. Her previous best finish this year was in March, when she tied for 13th place with Yin and Sweden’s Linn Grant at the HSBC Women’s World Championship in Singapore. At the Founders Cup, Rose Zhang of the US rattled off four birdies in her final five holes to card a six-under-par 66 to finish 24-under to claim her second professional title.
Photo: AP
RUGBY UNION
Cane to retire from Test play
New Zealand captain Sam Cane is to retire from Test rugby at the end of this year, the side said yesterday, calling time on a World Cup-winning 12-year international career. “Having played 95 Tests — 27 as captain — the 32-year-old has decided to focus on spending more time with family and sign a long-term contract with Suntory Goliath in Tokyo,” New Zealand Rugby said in a statement. His retirement is not a complete surprise, as the All Blacks have not played since South Africa beat them in the World Cup last year and Cane was already on a sabbatical in Japan. Cane said the prospect of a three-year deal with the high-spending Tokyo club was too good to pass up. “I had to weigh up everything and, in the end, with a young family, it seemed like the best decision to help set up our future,” he said. Cane won the World Cup in 2015 with New Zealand and has twice been on Super Rugby championship-winning sides with the Waikato Chiefs.
SOCCER
Enrique bemoans loss
Paris Saint-Germain coach Luis Enrique on Sunday said that matches with celebrations often end badly after his side fell 3-1 to Toulouse ahead of lifting their Ligue 1 trophy in front of fans. Despite their semi-final Champions League loss against Borussia Dortmund last week, fans at the Parc des Princes were thrilled as PSG clinched their record-extending 12th league title two weeks ago. However, Toulouse spoiled the party by handing the champions only their second league defeat of the season. “Matches with celebrations usually end badly, that’s my experience as a professional,” former Barcelona coach Enrique told reporters. “Toulouse were better with and without the ball, they were better from start to finish. There is little to say. I’m a bit disappointed.” PSG fans also paid tribute and bid farewell to the club’s all-time top scorer Kylian Mbappe after the France captain on Friday confirmed he would leave the club at the end of the season. “The fans have paid Mbappe the tribute he deserved, he is a club legend despite his youth,” the Spaniard said. “He still has a couple of games left with us, but I wish him the best of luck with his career.”
Taiwan’s participation in the Olympic Games has been a story of politics as much as sports, with the name it has competed under since 1984 — Chinese Taipei — drawing as much attention as its athletes. However, with the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad set to begin in Paris on Friday, the exploits of Taiwan’s athletes past and present who have won 36 medals since the country’s debut in Melbourne in 1956 deserve a nod. Many of Taiwan’s medal winners have gained considerable name recognition, but only two have achieved legendary status — Maysang Kalimud and Chi Cheng, the only medal winners
Shohei Ohtani on Sunday hit a 473-foot (144m) home run as the Los Angeles Dodgers went deep six times in a 9-6 victory over the Boston Red Sox. Freddie Freeman, Teoscar Hernandez, Gavin Lux, Austin Barnes and Jason Heyward also connected as Los Angeles swept the three-game series. “Going into the break, we weren’t playing good baseball, and then to come out fresh against a really good ball club and to play the way we did — the offense came to life,” Los Angeles manager Dave Roberts said. It was the 25th time the Dodgers launched at least six homers in a game
Canada women’s soccer coach Bev Priestman on Wednesday said she would step away from the team’s opening game against New Zealand at the Paris Olympics in the wake of a drone scandal. New Zealand complained to the International Olympic Committee’s integrity unit after it said drones were flown over closed practice sessions earlier in the week. As of press time last night, Canada, the defending Olympic champions, were set to open the Paris Games against New Zealand in Saint-Etienne. In the fallout of the complaint, two staff members — assistant coach Jasmine Mander and analyst Joseph Lombardi — were sent home, the
Conventional wisdom dictates that the average retirement age for elite female players in the intense and physically demanding sport of badminton is well under 30 years old. Five female shuttlers are set to turn that on its head when they make their fourth Olympic appearances at the Paris Games, a feat never accomplished before. Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying, 30, Thailand’s Ratchanok Intanon, 29, Belgium’s Lianne Tan, 33, and Hong Kong’s Tse Ying Suet and Canada’s Michelle Li, both 32, are to compete for Olympic glory at Porte de La Chapelle Arena from Saturday to Aug. 5. “These achievements get missed because they’re women,” said