BADMINTON
Lee loses Korea Open final
Taiwan’s Lee Chia-hao yesterday clinched a silver medal after losing to his Chinese opponent in the men’s singles final at the Korea Open. Lee, who was unseeded in the Seoul tournament, lost 16-21, 22-20, 18-21 to China’s Lu Guangzu in a hard-fought match that lasted 68 minutes. World No. 30 Lee has not beaten world No. 13 Lu in their five matches against each other. Sunday’s win was Lu’s first title on the world tour in six years.
PARALYMPICS
Archer first pregnant winner
British archer Jodie Grinham became the first pregnant Paralympics athlete to win a medal when she took bronze in women’s individual compound, the Paralympics’ social media accounts said on Saturday. Seven months pregnant, 31-year-old Grinham held her nerves to beat Tokyo Paralympics gold medalist and friend Phoebe Paterson Pine by a razor-thin 142-141 scoreline in Friday’s bronze medal matchup. “Baby hasn’t stopped kicking,” Grinham said. “It’s almost like baby’s going, what’s going on? It’s really loud, mommy what are you doing? But it’s been a lovely reminder of the support bubble I have in my belly.” She aims to win a second medal when she competes in the mixed team compound quarter-finals today along with Nathan McQueen.
FOOTBALL
49ers rookie shot
Rookie receiver Ricky Pearsall, this year’s first round draft pick for the San Francisco 49ers, was on Saturday shot during an attempted robbery, the team said. “San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Ricky Pearsall was the victim of an attempted robbery and shooting this afternoon,” the team said. Pearsall was shot in the chest and is in serious but stable condition, the team added. San Francisco Mayor London Breed said the shooting took place in Union Square, a city landmark. “SFPD [San Francisco Police Department] was on scene immediately and an arrest of the shooter was made. My thoughts are with Ricky and his family at this time,” she wrote on X. The wide receiver, who played college football at Arizona State University and then Florida State University, was taken with the 31st pick in the draft by the 49ers. Police identified the shooting suspect as a 17-year-old male.
MOTORSPORTS
Teen takes title without wins
Italian teenager Leonardo Fornaroli yesterday clinched the Formula 3 championship at Monza after a campaign in which he did not win a single race. In a curtain-raiser for the Formula One Grand Prix later in the day, the 19-year-old overtook Australian Christian Mansell on the final corner of the 10-race season to grab third place and snatch the title. That maneuver gave Fornaroli five extra points. He edged Gabriele Mini, who was second in the race and the season standings, by two points, to become the first Italian to take the F3 title. Fornaroli’s French teammate at Trident, Sami Meguetounif, won the race. Fornaroli was second entering the penultimate lap but both Mini and Mansell overtook. “Not my race actually I have to say because I did plenty of mistakes,” Fornaroli said. “We managed to recover at the end in the last corner to get third place and the championship as well. It’s been a great season, even without a win, we managed to win the title.”
Shohei Ohtani and Clayton Kershaw on Friday joined their Los Angeles Dodgers teammates in sticking their fists out to show off their glittering World Series rings at a ceremony. “There’s just a lot of excitement, probably more than I can ever recall with the Dodger fan base and our players,” manager Dave Roberts said before Los Angeles rallied to beat the Detroit Tigers 8-5 in 10 innings. “What a way to cap off the first two days of celebrations,” Roberts said afterward. “By far the best opening week I’ve ever experienced. I just couldn’t have scripted it any better.” A choir in the
After fleeing Sudan when civil war erupted, Al-Hilal captain Mohamed Abdelrahman and his teammates have defied the odds to reach the CAF Champions League quarter-finals. They are today to face title-holders Al-Ahly of Egypt in Cairo, with the return match in the Mauritanian capital, Nouakchott, on Tuesday next week. Al-Hilal and biggest domestic rivals Al-Merrikh relocated to Mauritania after a power struggle broke out in April 2023 between the Sudanese army and a paramilitary force. The civil war has claimed tens of thousands of lives and displaced more than 12 million people, according to the UN. The Democratic Republic of the Congo-born Al-Hilal
The famously raucous Hong Kong Sevens are to start today in a big test for a shiny new stadium at the heart of a major US$3.85 billion sports park in the territory. Officials are keeping their fingers crossed that the premier event in Hong Kong’s sporting and social calendar goes off without a hitch at the 50,000-seat Kai Tak Stadium. They hope to entice major European soccer teams to visit in the next few months, with reports in December last year saying that Liverpool were in talks about a pre-season tour. Coldplay are to perform there next month, all part of Hong Kong’s
Shohei Ohtani, Teoscar Hernandez and Tommy Edman on Thursday smashed home runs to give the reigning World Series champions the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5-4 victory over Detroit on the MLB’s opening day in the US. The Dodgers, who won two season-opening games in Tokyo last week, raised their championship banner on a day when 28 clubs launched the season in the US. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts shuffled his batting lineup with all four leadoff hitters finally healthy as Ohtani was followed by Mookie Betts, then Hernandez and Freddie Freeman in the cleanup spot, switching places with Hernandez. “There’s a Teoscar tax to
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