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.
Manchester United on Tuesday confirmed Michael Carrick as interim manager until the end of the season, tasking him with leading the Red Devils back into the UEFA Champions League. “Having the responsibility to lead Manchester United is an honor,” said Carrick, 44, who won 12 major trophies in his 12-year playing career at United. The former midfielder previously had an unbeaten three-game stint as caretaker boss at Old Trafford in 2021. Carrick then took on his first permanent managerial role at second-tier Middlesbrough in October 2022 and was sacked in June last year after the club finished 10th in the
Dallas Mavericks rookie Cooper Flagg on Wednesday was ruled out for the second half of their 118-109 loss to the Denver Nuggets after the No. 1 pick sprained his left ankle in the first half. Flagg was called for a foul while defending against Peyton Watson and turned the ankle as he fell to the floor with 6 minutes, 1 second left in the second quarter. Flagg limped to the bench and continued to the locker room, but returned for the final 2 minutes, 35 seconds before the break. The 19-year-old did not come out for the second half before the announcement that
Yassine Bounou on Wednesday saved two penalties, while Youssef en-Nesyri netted the decisive spot-kick as hosts Morocco secured a 4-2 shoot-out victory over Nigeria following a 0-0 draw in a tense Africa Cup of Nations semi-final in Rabat. Morocco, seeking their first continental title in 50 years, are to face 2021 winners Senegal in Sunday’s decider in Rabat, while Nigeria take on Egypt in the third-place playoff tomorrow. The 120 minutes before the shoot-out had few clear-cut chances for either side, but it was Morocco who created more opportunities, although they were denied by some fine saves from Nigeria goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali. Nigeria
Reigning NBA Most Valuable Player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on Sunday sparked defending champions Oklahoma City to victory, while Anthony Edwards led Minnesota’s last-minute fightback to beat San Antonio. Gilgeous-Alexander scored 29 points while adding eight assists and five rebounds in the Thunder’s 124-112 home victory over Miami, improving the NBA’s best record to 33-7 after outscoring the Heat 70-53 in the second half. “We locked in defensively. We were finally able to get some stops,” Thunder guard Aaron Wiggins said. “We were able to get out in transition a little bit, get going offensively and find the flow.” Jalen Williams scored 18 points, while
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