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).
GUNNING FOR A WIN: The victory sending Arsenal to the final for the first time in six years was cathartic for a team who had lost their previous four semi-finals Arsenal on Tuesday reached the League Cup final for the first time in eight years as Kai Havertz sealed a 1-0 win against Chelsea in the semi-final second leg. Mikel Arteta’s side had put themselves in pole position in the first leg and Havertz came off the bench to finish the 4-2 aggregate victory in the closing moments at the Emirates Stadium. It was a cathartic triumph for the Gunners, who had lost their previous four semi-finals in last year’s UEFA Champions League and League Cup, the 2022 League Cup and the 2021 UEFA Europa League. In their first final for six years,
Ademola Lookman on Thursday scored on his Atletico Madrid debut in a 5-0 rout of Real Betis Balompie that sent Diego Simeone’s team to the semi-finals of the Copa del Rey. David Hancko, Giuliano Simeone, Antoine Griezmann and Thiago Almada also scored for Atletico as they advanced to the last four for the third straight season. Atletico are trying to reach their first Copa final since winning the competition in 2012-2013. Hancko opened the scoring for the visitors in the 12th minute and Giuliano Simeone added to the lead in the 30th, before Lookman got his first goal for Atletico on a fast
SUPERSTAR DELIVERS: Victor Wembanyama scored 29 points and pulled down 11 rebounds to propel the Spurs to a 135-123 victory over the Dallas Mavericks The Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday shook off the early exit of injured star Luka Doncic, rallying without him in the second half for a 119-115 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers. Austin Reaves, again coming off the bench in his second game back from a 19-game injury absence, scored 13 of his 35 points in the fourth quarter, drilling a pair of back-to-back three-pointers to give the Lakers their first lead of the game early in the final frame. “Losing Luka, you know nothing’s going to be easy after that because he does so much for us, but we bonded together,” said
France head coach Fabien Galthie on Thursday lauded his team’s attacking performance after their dazzling 36-14 victory over Ireland in their Six Nations opener. A brace of tries from Louis Bielley-Biarrey and one from mercurial flyhalf Matthieu Jalibert helped France storm into a 29-0 lead before taking their foot off the gas and allowing Ireland back into the match, before winger Theo Attissogbe put some gloss on the victory late on. “In an attacking sense, with the ball, the team played with great accuracy,” Galthie said. “It was one of the most accurate attacking performances in a long time, despite the weather
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