BADMINTON
Taiwanese pair make final
Taiwanese made one final at the Vietnam Open after the men’s doubles pair of He Zhi-wei and Huang Jui-hsuan advanced with a walkover in yesterday’s semi-finals in Ho Chi Minh City. Japanese pair Takumi Nomura and Yuichi Shimogami were unable to play yesterday, handing He and Huang free passage into today’s final against Raymond Indra and Patra Harapan Rindorindo of Indonesia, who beat Cui Hechen and Peng Jianqin of China 24-22, 21-16 at the US$100,000 event. In the women’s doubles, Lee Chih-chen and Lin Yen-yu lost 21-16, 21-18 against Tidapron Kleebyeesun and Nattamon Laisuan of Thailand, while in the women’s singles, Vietnam’s Thuy Linh Nguyen beat Lin Hsiang-ti 21-13, 22-20. At the Hong Kong Open, the final Taiwanese were eliminated. Chiu Hsiang-chieh and Wang Chi-lin were the last Taiwanese remaining at the Hong Kong Coliseum, but were beaten in their men’s doubles semi-final 21-23, 21-15, 21-16 by South Korean duo Kang Min-hyuk and Seo Seung-jae. Chiu and Wang advanced on Friday with a 23-21, 21-17 win over Chinese pair Huang Di and Zhou Haodong.
TABLE TENNIS
Taiwan’s Kao loses
Taiwan’s Kao Cheng-jui yesterday was eliminated in the men’s singles at the World Table Tennis Champions Macau, losing to Qiu Dang of Germany 4-2 (8-11, 16-14, 12-10, 11-6, 6-11, 11-3). Kao reached the semis with a 3-2 (4-11, 12-10, 11-9, 7-11, 11-7) win against Truls Moregard of Sweden. Lin Yun-ju exited on Friday, beaten in the quarter-finals 3-0 (11-7, 11-7, 11-9) by Lin Shidong of China. In the women’s singles on Friday, Taiwan’s Cheng I-ching was eliminated in the quarters by China’s Wang Manyu, who won 3-1 (8-11, 11-6, 11-9, 11-7).
BASEBALL
Taiwan finish with loss
Taiwan yesterday lost to Britain 2-1, both teams’ final game at the WBSC Under-23 Baseball World Cup in Shaoxing, China. Britain went ahead in the top of the second inning after Taiwan left three men on base in the bottom of the first. They doubled their lead in the fourth inning and held Taiwan scoreless until the seventh and final inning. Right fielder Huang Bo-rui hit a double and pinch hitter Wang Shun-ho singled to right center to bring Huang home with two out, but second baseman Zheng Jun-wei hit a fly-ball that was caught to end it. On Friday, Taiwan beat Australia 4-3. Taiwan finished fifth in the Placement Round with a 2-3 record. Nicaragua (5-0) were first, followed by Venezuela (3-2), South Korea (3-2) and the Netherlands (2-3). South Africa (0-5) were last. The teams from the Super Round are to play the bronze-medal game and the world championship final today.
CRICKET
England level series
Liam Livingstone and Jacob Bethell on Friday shared 90 runs to lead England to a T20 series-tying win over Australia at Sophia Gardens. The series is to be decided today at Old Trafford. Set 194 to win, England slipped to 79-3 when Phil Salt walked into an apparent trap laid by fellow captain Travis Head, but Livingstone and Bethell broke the back of the chase. Bethell’s dismissal disrupted England, but Livingstone carried them to the brink of victory with a superb 87 off 47.
SSC Napoli’s Italian Serie A title hopes suffered a late setback on Sunday when they were held to a 2-2 draw at home against Genoa, setting up a thrilling season finale with closest rivals Inter just one point behind. The hosts remain top with 78 points, holding a slim lead over Inter, who won 2-0 at Torino earlier on Sunday, with two rounds remaining. To make matters worse for Napoli, midfielder Stanislav Lobotka, struggling with an ankle injury, was forced off just minutes after the match began. Scott McTominay delivered a perfect pass into the box where Romelu Lukaku got
Harry Kane opened the scoring ahead of lifting his first career silverware as Bayern Munich beat Borussia Moenchengladbach 2-0, with veteran Thomas Mueller playing his last home game for the club. Bayern officially won the title on May 4 when defending champions Bayer Leverkusen were held to a 2-2 draw at Freiburg, but were presented with the Bundesliga shield in front of their home fans at full-time. Dripping wet after being showered with beer by teammates, Kane said the title win was “an incredible feeling,” and hoped it would be “the first of many.” “It’s been lot of hard work, a lot of
A stunning Lamine Yamal strike on Thursday helped crown Barcelona La Liga champions with a 2-0 win over local rivals RCD Espanyol, with victory ensuring Real Madrid cannot catch them at the top of the table. Yamal’s effort and Fermin Lopez’s goal took Hansi Flick’s side seven points clear of Los Blancos with two matches remaining, to clinch Barcelona’s 28th title and complete a superb domestic treble. Only the UEFA Champions League title escaped an exciting young Barca side this season, as they won the league for the second time in six years, at Espanyol’s ground again just as in 2022-2023. Back then,
Jannik Sinner on Thursday marched into the semi-finals of the Italian Open after destroying Casper Ruud in straight sets 6-0, 6-1, while Coco Gauff won a marathon three-set battle with China’s Zheng Qinwen to advance to the women’s singles final. American Gauff is to face Italy’s Jasmine Paolini in today’s title match after pulling through 7-6 (7/3), 4-6, 7-6 (7/4) in a match that lasted over three-and-a-half hours. Ruud was supposed to be Sinner’s toughest test in Rome since he came back from his three-month doping ban, as the Norwegian came into the match in hot form on clay after winning in
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