BASKETBALL
Chinese player hailed
A 17-year-old Chinese player has been tipped for the top after using her height advantage to dominate an international tournament. Zhang Ziyu stands 2.2m, according to FIBA, global basketball’s governing body. Chinese media reported earlier this year that she was even taller at 2.28m. She has used her height to help the hosts to two comfortable wins at this week’s U18 Women’s Asia Cup in Shenzhen, China, and drawn attention after footage of her emerged online. Against Indonesia on Monday, Zhang netted 19 points in 13 minutes after coming off the bench in a 109-50 victory. Video footage showed her towering over her opponents, with some of the Indonesia players barely coming up to her chest. China beat New Zealand 90-68 on Tuesday, with the teenager posting a team-high 36 points.
Photo: AFP
TENNIS
Two Taiwanese advance
Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Sloane Stephens of the US on Tuesday defeated Chinese pair Wang Yafan and Wang Xiyu 6-3, 6-3 at the LTA Rothesay International at the Devonshire Park Lawn Tennis Club in Eastbourne, England. Their round-of-16 win set up a quarter-final against British duo Harriet Dart and Maia Lumsden at the grass-court tournament. In Germany, Chan Hao-ching of Taiwan and Veronika Kudermetova of Russia beat Spain’s Sara Tormo and Eri Hozumi of Japan 6-3, 6-1 to make the quarter-finals at the Bad Homburg Open.
SOCCER/
S Korean coach sued
The father of Tottenham Hotspur star Son Heung-min yesterday denied allegations of physical and verbal abuse at his South Korean soccer academy after a student’s family sued him and his coaches. Son Woong-jung, a former player, runs a training academy for aspiring players. South Korean media reported on allegations of physical and verbal abuse made by one of his academy’s students, who said that a coach hit him with a corner flag during training, causing injuries that required weeks of treatment. Son Woong-jung acknowledged the incident had occurred, but denied it amounted to physical abuse. “This incident was not corporal punishment, but a mutually agreed event as part of fitness training,” he said in a statement. The player came last in a race and was supposed to be “hit once” on the thigh, he said. The incident came to light after the student’s parents in March reported Son Woong-jung to the police after they noticed a bruise on their son’s thigh. “Thinking about how frightened my son must have been makes me angry,” Yonhap reported the father as saying. “I decided to report the case to the police because I didn’t want to see another case like this.” Son Woong-jung said he had tried to resolve the matter amicably, but failed because the parents had demanded a settlement worth hundreds of millions of won (hundreds of thousands of US dollars).
SSC Napoli’s Italian Serie A title hopes suffered a late setback on Sunday when they were held to a 2-2 draw at home against Genoa, setting up a thrilling season finale with closest rivals Inter just one point behind. The hosts remain top with 78 points, holding a slim lead over Inter, who won 2-0 at Torino earlier on Sunday, with two rounds remaining. To make matters worse for Napoli, midfielder Stanislav Lobotka, struggling with an ankle injury, was forced off just minutes after the match began. Scott McTominay delivered a perfect pass into the box where Romelu Lukaku got
Harry Kane opened the scoring ahead of lifting his first career silverware as Bayern Munich beat Borussia Moenchengladbach 2-0, with veteran Thomas Mueller playing his last home game for the club. Bayern officially won the title on May 4 when defending champions Bayer Leverkusen were held to a 2-2 draw at Freiburg, but were presented with the Bundesliga shield in front of their home fans at full-time. Dripping wet after being showered with beer by teammates, Kane said the title win was “an incredible feeling,” and hoped it would be “the first of many.” “It’s been lot of hard work, a lot of
Taiwanese e-sports veteran Lin “ET” Chia-hung yesterday successfully defended his King of Fighters XV title at this year’s Evolution Championship Series: Japan (EVO Japan), securing his second consecutive championship. Lin claimed victory with a 3-1 win over Japanese pro gamer “mok” in the grand final, repeating his earlier 3-1 win against the same opponent in the winners’ final. The 40-year-old earned a ￥1 million (US$6,897) cash prize at the two-day tournament, which drew 294 competitors. Mok, Lin’s toughest rival in the bracket, took home ￥400,000 as runner-up. Lin remains undefeated in match sets against mok in King of Fighters XV, holding a 10-0 record,
Batting great Virat Kohli yesterday announced his immediate retirement from Test cricket, just days before India name their squad for a tour to England. Kohli, who scored 9,230 runs in 123 matches at an average of 46.85, posted his decision on Instagram five days after India captain Rohit Sharma called time on his own Test career. Since making his debut in 2011, Kohli struck 30 hundreds and 31 fifties with a highest score of 254 not out, mainly batting at number four in the order. “It’s been 14 years since I first wore the baggy blue in Test cricket,” the
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