BADMINTON
Taiwan’s Chou advances
Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen yesterday advanced to the second round at the Singapore Open after defeating Jonatan Christie of Indonesia 21-17, 21-6. Chou is to play Canada’s Brian Yang today for a place in the quarter-finals. There was success for Taiwanese in doubles play as well. In the men’s doubles, Lee Fang-chih and Lee Fang-jen eliminated Danish pair Rasmus Kjaer and Frederik Sogaard 21-18, 21-16, while in an all-Taiwan encounter Lee Yang and Wang Chi-lin eliminated Lee Jhe-huei and Yang Po-hsuan 21-12, 12-21, 21-12. In the mixed doubles Yang and Hu Ling-fang beat Japan’s Yuta Watanabe and Arisa Higashino 13-21, 21-15, 21-17.
BASEBALL
Taipei Dome to host games
Taiwan are to play all five of their Group B games in the Premier12 tournament in November at the Taipei Dome, the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) said. After the Group B opener featuring Japan and Australia in Nagoya on Nov. 13, Taiwan are to host South Korea the next day, the schedule of the WBSC’s flagship tournament showed yesterday. The opener at the Vantelin Dome in Nagoya is the only Group B game not to take place in Taiwan. Taiwan are also to play the Dominican Republic on Nov. 14, Japan on Nov. 16, Australia on Nov. 17 and Cuba on Nov. 18. The game on Nov. 15 between Japan and South Korea, who were champions at the previous two editions of the Premier12, is the only non-Taiwan game being played at the Taipei Dome. The other eight games are to be held at Tianmu Stadium in Taipei. World No. 2 Mexico are to host Group A, which includes the Netherlands, Panama, Puerto Rico, the US and Venezuela, from Nov. 9 to 14. The top two teams in the two six-team groups advance to the Super Round in Japan.
SOCCER
Jorn Andersen quits HK
Norwegian Jorn Andersen, who took Hong Kong to their first Asian Cup finals in 56 years, yesterday quit as coach to take up an offer elsewhere. The 61-year-old, whose CV includes a stint as boss of North Korea, confirmed rumors of his departure at an emotional news conference in the territory. “I have recently received an invitation from a club outside [Hong Kong] that presents an opportunity I simply cannot refuse,” said Andersen, who had about a year left on his contract. “It is with great regret that I now bid farewell to the Hong Kong football scene.” Local media reported that Andersen might be headed to a club in mainland China.
GOLF
Tai to play US Masters
Young amateur golfer Hiroshi Tai is to be the first Singaporean to play in the US Masters after he won the national college championship in the US. The 22-year-old, who studies at Georgia Tech, won the NCAA Individual Men’s Championship in California on Monday by one stroke to earn a place at Augusta in April next year and a major debut at next month’s US Open at Pinehurst. “It means a lot,” the amateur world No. 70 Tai told the Golf Channel after surviving a late triple-bogey on his way to a one-under 71 in the final round. “All the guys in the team have really helped me a lot.”
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
The Minnesota Timberwolves, with so many promising performances spoiled by late mistakes fresh in their memory bank, sure timed this strong finish well. Jaden McDaniels scored a career playoff-high 30 points and spearheaded Minnesota’s stifling defense on an ailing Luka Doncic, and the Timberwolves beat the Los Angeles Lakers 116-104 to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven Western Conference first-round series in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Friday night. “Jaden never looks tired. He looks like he could play 48 minutes,” said teammate Anthony Edwards, who had 29 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. Julius Randle added 22 points for the Wolves, who outscored
Inter’s defense of their Italian Serie A title was hit with a setback on Sunday as they lost 1-0 at home to AS Roma, while Scott McTominay netted a brace as SSC Napoli beat Torino 2-0 to go top of the table. No fixtures were played on Friday or Saturday because of the funeral of Pope Francis in Rome, meaning the full round of Serie A matches took place on Sunday and yesterday. Matias Soule’s first-half strike for Roma knocked Inter off top spot earlier in the day before new Napoli opened up a three-point buffer with victory in Sunday’s
Ethiopia’s Tigst Assefa yesterday set a women’s only world record of 2 hours, 15 minutes, 50 seconds as she won the London Marathon, while Kenya’s Sabastian Sawe put a star-studded men’s field to the sword. For 28-year-old Assefa it was ample compensation for finishing runner-up in London and the Paris Olympics last year — especially as bitter Dutch rival, the Ethiopia-born Sifan Hassan, finished third. Assefa dropped Kenya’s Joyciline Jepkosgei as the race, played out in blazing sunshine and with thousands lining the route, entered its business end. She came home almost three minutes clear of the Kenyan. Hassan, who beat her in
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