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).
South Korean giants T1, led by “Faker,” won their fifth League of Legends (LoL) world championship crown in London on Saturday, beating China’s Bilibili Gaming (BLG) in a thrilling final. The teams were locked at 2-2 at a packed O2 arena, but T1 clinched game five to make it back-to-back titles after nearly four hours of tense action. China’s BLG started strongly, taking the first game before T1 struck back to level. The Chinese team pulled ahead again at 2-1 only for their opponents to hit back again and go on to take the decider. Faker, who won the Most
The Major League Baseball World Series trophy is headed to Los Angeles, but the party is extending all the way to Japan. People milled around local train stations yesterday morning in Tokyo as newspaper extras were ready to roll off the presses, proclaiming Japanese stars Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto as world champions along with their Dodgers teammates after a stirring Game 5 victory over the New York Yankees. The 30-year-old is a national hero in Japan whose face adorns billboards and TV adverts all over the country. Ohtani this year became the first player in history to hit 50 home runs and
Amber Glenn overcame a fall and her own doubts to win a maiden Grand Prix figure skating title on Saturday at the Grand Prix de France. The American skater had the lead from Friday’s short program. That and the support of the crowd got her through a tough free skate in which she fell on a triple flip and put a hand onto the ice to steady herself on two other jumps. “I didn’t feel that great out there today, but I really tried, and the audience really got me through that last half when I was doubting myself,” Glenn
WORLD SERIES: ‘The individuals that were involved in that last night was a very small segment of the east Los Angeles community,’ the Los Angeles county sheriff said Rowdy crowds took to the streets of Los Angeles after the LA Dodgers won the Major League Baseball (MLB) World Series, setting a city bus on fire, breaking into stores and lighting fireworks. A dozen arrests were reported by police on Thursday, but officials said that most fans celebrated peacefully. Video showed revelers throwing objects at police in downtown LA as sirens blared and officers told them to leave the area on Wednesday night after the Dodgers defeated the New York Yankees in Game 5 of the MLB World Series at Giants Stadium in New York. Another video showed someone standing atop