TENNIS
Taiwan’s Chan loses in final
Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Veronika Kudermetova of Russia yesterday lost 4-6, 6-3 (10/8) to Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez in the final at the Bad Homburg Open in Germany. They advanced to the final at the 802,237 euro (US$860,038) grass-court event by defeating Xu Yifan of China and Kazakhstan’s Anna Danilina 6-3, 6-2 in their semi-final on Friday.
Photo: AFP
GOLF
Taiwan pair share lead
Cheng Ssu-chia and Hsu Wei-ling of Taiwan on Friday carded a bogey-free 63 with one eagle and five birdies as they moved into a five-way share of the lead at the midpoint of the Dow Championship in Midland, Michigan. The LPGA pairs tournament has a 72-hole stroke-play format with alternating rounds of foursomes and four-ball.
Photo: AFP
BASKETBALL
Leagues to showcase talent
Taiwan’s P.League+ and T1 League yesterday said that they would hold a joint combine in New Taipei City on Wednesday ahead of a looming merger. The player showcase event is to take place at National Taiwan University of Art, with 40 Taiwanese and eight foreign students from local universities to display their abilities to the two leagues’ 11 franchises, the leagues said in a statement. The leagues have agreed to merge and are still in talks over the date of the summer draft, they said.
RUGBY UNION
Singapore beat Thailand
Singapore yesterday won the opening match at the Unions Cup — which also features Taiwan — beating Thailand 29-8 at Jurong West Stadium in Singapore. Taiwan’s first game is against Thailand at 5pm on Tuesday and their second in the three-team tournament is against the hosts at 7pm on Friday.
ATHLETICS
Thompson runs 9.77s
Kishane Thompson on Friday registered a world-leading mark of 9.77 seconds to win the men’s 100m at the Jamaican Olympic trials, becoming the joint-ninth-fastest man in history. Thompson told reporters that he believes he can go faster. “My coach instructed me just to run the first 60 meter, nothing more, after that, shut it down,” he said. “If I came second or third, I would’ve made the team. The goal wasn’t to prove anything tonight, just run the 70 or 60 meters and see where I was.”
BASEBALL
‘Baby Bull’ dies
Orlando Cepeda, the slugging first baseman nicknamed “Baby Bull” who became a Hall of Famer among the early Puerto Ricans to star in the major leagues, has died. He was 86. The San Francisco Giants and his family announced the death on Friday and a moment of silence was held as his photograph showed on the scoreboard at Oracle Park midway throughout their game against the Los Angeles Dodgers. “Our beloved Orlando passed away peacefully at home this evening, listening to his favorite music and surrounded by his loved ones,” his wife, Nydia, said in a statement released through the team. “We take comfort that he is at peace.” He played for the Giants from 1958 to 1966, and also had time with the St Louis Cardinals (1966-1968), the Atlanta Braves (1969-1972), the Oakland Athletics (1972), the Boston Red Sox (1973) and the Kansas City Royals (1974).
US national team star Folarin Balogun was among the scorers as AS Monaco on Friday won 3-1 at Paris Saint-Germain, dealing a blow to the side from the French capital before they face Chelsea in a crunch UEFA Champions League round-of-16 tie. Maghnes Akliouche gave Monaco a first-half lead at the Parc des Princes, and Aleksandr Golovin doubled their advantage early in the second half of the French Ligue 1 clash. Bradley Barcola pulled one back for the reigning European champions, but Balogun struck shortly after with a fifth goal in his last five games as Monaco claimed a precious
Teenage star Lamine Yamal’s superbly-taken goal on Saturday earned Barcelona a 1-0 win at Athletic Bilbao in Spanish La Liga. The champions restored their four-point lead over second-placed Real Madrid, who had on Friday temporarily closed the gap by beating Celta Vigo. Atletico Madrid tightened their grip on third with an entertaining 3-2 win over Real Sociedad. Yamal, 18, curled into the top corner after 68 minutes to split the sides at Athletic’s San Mames stadium. “We’re already seeing what Lamine can do — he puts it right in the top corner, and there’s nothing the keeper can do,” Barca
Liverpool on Tuesday suffered an embarrassing 2-1 defeat at Wolverhampton Wanderers as Andre’s stoppage-time strike sealed a dramatic victory for the English Premier League’s bottom club. Arne Slot’s side fell behind to Rodrigo Gomes’ strike in the closing stages at Molineux. Mohamed Salah hauled Liverpool level with his first goal in 11 top-flight games dating back to November last year. However, Andre’s first goal for Wolves inflicted the latest humbling loss in a chastening season for Liverpool. It was the first time the Premier League’s bottom club had beaten the reigning champions since Crystal Palace defeated Chelsea in 2017. Liverpool
Taiwan yesterday defeated the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks’ farm team 5-1 in their final warm-up game ahead of their World Baseball Classic (WBC) Pool C opener. Taiwan’s bullpen used an unconventional rotation, with a different pitcher throwing each inning for the first seven innings. Together, they combined for eight strikeouts while allowing only four hits. The lone run surrendered came in the bottom of the eighth inning after a pitcher from Japan’s independent league took the mound. The pitching strategy was designed to preserve the arms of the Taiwanese ahead of their game against Australia at the Tokyo Dome tomorrow morning. Taiwanese-American Stuart Fairchild
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