SURFING
Simmers wins world title
Teenage sensation Caitlin Simmers on Friday became the youngest-ever world champion after winning the World Surf League finals in California, while Hawaiian John Florence claimed his third world title. Simmers, from Oceanside near the finals venue of Lower Trestles, is just 18 and on only her second year on the professional world tour. Her win over last year’s world champion and Paris Olympics gold medalist Caroline Marks of Florida was the first world title for California in more than 30 years. “It all just came down to an hour-and-half of surfing and it just seemed like all my emotions in that whole year was in that hour,” Simmers said after her win. “I cried in my locker room for 30 minutes before my heat. I didn’t want Caroline to have it all because that girl wins everything. She’s the hardest person to compete against and she literally never falls.” Florence put on a ruthless display of powerful and progressive surfing, taking out Brazil’s Italo Ferreira in the championship match-up.
PHoto: AP
CHESS
Carlsen defeats Niemann
Magnus Carlsen on Friday beat Hans Niemann 17.5-12.5 to advance to the Speed Chess Championship final, their first face-off since the world No. 1 accused his American rival of cheating two years ago. The Norwegian also prevailed 7-2 in the longer format (5 minutes per game with a one-second increment per move), before drawing the 3+1 time control 4-4 and the bullet section 6.5-6.5. One of the last games was aborted as Niemann complained about technical problems with his mouse and the server, although Carlsen’s lead was effectively unassailable. Carlsen faces France’s Alireza Firouzja in today’s final. Players are competing online, but are all at an arena in central Paris.
CRICKET
Nagoya to host tournament
A baseball stadium in Nagoya is to be repurposed to host the cricket competition of the 2026 Asian Games in Japan, organizers said. The Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) ruled out hosting cricket at an international stadium in Tochigi Prefecture, citing logistical challenges. “The only problem with the stadium which JCA [Japan Cricket Association] had offered is the distance,” OCA deputy director-general Vinod Kumar Tiwari told reporters ahead of the continental body’s general assembly today. “Also, if you’re hosting an international tournament, you need enough hotels around, which are not there at the moment. That’s why we are not considering it. The organizing committee has proposed one of the baseball stadiums [in Nagoya] to be converted into a cricket ground. That looks much more feasible.” OCA and Asian Cricket Council officials are to inspect the venue later this month. Tiwari said that the organizers were keen on having cricket at the event. “Cricket has been included in the 2028 Olympic Games as well. So the organizing committee is very keen on including that in the 2026 Asian Games as well.”
Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Belgian partner Elise Mertens on Monday notched up their first win in the doubles group stage of the WTA Finals in Riyadh to keep their semi-final hopes alive, while Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russian partner Veronika Kudermetova were aiming to record their first victory after press time last night. Third seeds Hsieh and Mertens came back from a disheartening opening-day loss to Australia’s Ellen Perez and Nicole Melichar-Martinez to defeat top seeds Ukraine’s Lyudmyla Kichenok and Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko, the women’s doubles world No. 3 and 4 respectively. The 6-1, 6-3 victory at King Saud University Indoor Arena
North Korea’s FIFA Under-17 Women’s World Cup-winning team on Saturday received a heroes’ welcome back in the capital, Pyongyang, with hundreds of people on the streets to celebrate their success. They had defeated Spain on penalties after a 1-1 draw in the U17 World Cup final in the Dominican Republic on Nov. 3. It was the second global title in two months for secretive North Korea — largely closed off to the outside world; they also lifted the FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup in September. Officials and players’ families gathered at Pyongyang International Airport to wave flowers and North Korea flags as the
Taiwan’s top table tennis player Lin Yun-ju made his debut in the US professional table tennis scene by taking on a new role as a team’s co-owner. On Wednesday, Major League Table Tennis (MLTT), founded in September last year, announced on its official Web site that Lin had become part of the ownership group of the Princeton Revolution, one of the league’s eight teams. MLTT chief executive officer Flint Lane described Lin’s investment as “another great milestone for table tennis in America,” saying that the league’s “commitment to growth and innovation is drawing attention from the best in the sport, and we’re
Coco Gauff of the US on Friday defeated top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka 7-6 (7/4), 6-3 to set up a showdown with Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen in the final of the WTA Finals, while in the doubles, Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching was eliminated. Gauff generated six break points to Belarusian Sabalenka’s four and built on early momentum in the opening set’s tiebreak that she carried through to the second set. She is the youngest player at 20 to make the final at the WTA Finals since Denmark’s Caroline Wozniacki in 2010. Zheng earlier defeated Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic 6-3, 7-5 to book