FENCING
U-17 team win title
Taiwan’s male under-17 fencers successfully defended their team epee title after defeating South Korea at the 2025 Asian Cadet Fencing Championships in Kuwait. The team clinched the gold with a 45-40 win in Sunday’s final. Chen Bing-jyun got his revenge against Choi Chan-young, who had beaten Chen in Friday’s individual epee final. Joining Chen on Taiwan’s gold-winning team were Lin Mao-xiang, Lee You-chen and Su Min-yi. Coach Ding Hong-kai lauded the young fencers for their boldness in attacking and resilience throughout the competition despite their inexperience. “Even when our athletes made mistakes, they were able to correct them immediately and capitalize on delayed actions to turn the bouts in their favor,” Ding said.
TABLE TENNIS
Lin Yun-ju ends in fourth
Taiwan’s top male paddler Lin Yun-ju lost 4-0 on Sunday to China’s Lin Shidong, world No. 1, in the men’s singles third-place match at the Asian Cup Table Tennis Tournament in China. Lin Yun-ju’s bid for a medal in the tournament ended with a 1-9, 11-6, 11-6, 11-4 defeat in the match, which lasted 35 minutes. It was his seventh consecutive loss to the 19-year-old Chinese player in seven tries. Despite his loss, Lin Yun-ju’s fourth-place finish was a personal best in the Asian Cup and earned him a ticket to the Table Tennis World Cup tournament in April. Meanwhile, in the tournament’s title match, China’s Wang Chuqin, who beat Lin Yun-ju in the semi-finals earlier in the day, defeated his compatriot Liang Jingkun to take the gold.
SOCCER
Van Persie confirmed
Feyenoord have confirmed Robin van Persie as their new coach, a return to the club where he started and ended his illustrious playing career, after a deal was reached to release him from his position at Heerenveen. The 41-year-old Dutchman has signed a contract until June 2027 and would be joined by assistant coach Rene Hake, who briefly worked under Erik ten Hag at Manchester United earlier this season before the latter was sacked. “Everyone knows how special my bond with Feyenoord is,” Van Persie told the club’s Web site.
TENNIS
Williams declines invitation
Former world No. 1 Venus Williams would not compete at next month’s Indian Wells tournament despite the WTA 1000 event giving the 44-year-old American a wild card. Williams, who played only two tournaments last season, said at a speaking event in Denmark that she had not been told of the wildcard before the tournament announced it on Wednesday last week and added that she was unable to compete due to prior commitments. “I found the announcement super amusing because, I don’t know, people seem to be happy, so I was like: ‘Maybe I’ll just go with it, I don’t know,’” Williams said at the event in the city of Naestved. “I’m actually not going. I’m going to be overseas.” Williams boycotted the event for 15 years after fans booed and heckled her younger sister Serena during her 2001 final victory over Kim Clijsters, apparently in response to Venus withdrawing injured from their semi-final.
Ademola Lookman on Thursday scored on his Atletico Madrid debut in a 5-0 rout of Real Betis Balompie that sent Diego Simeone’s team to the semi-finals of the Copa del Rey. David Hancko, Giuliano Simeone, Antoine Griezmann and Thiago Almada also scored for Atletico as they advanced to the last four for the third straight season. Atletico are trying to reach their first Copa final since winning the competition in 2012-2013. Hancko opened the scoring for the visitors in the 12th minute and Giuliano Simeone added to the lead in the 30th, before Lookman got his first goal for Atletico on a fast
GUNNING FOR A WIN: The victory sending Arsenal to the final for the first time in six years was cathartic for a team who had lost their previous four semi-finals Arsenal on Tuesday reached the League Cup final for the first time in eight years as Kai Havertz sealed a 1-0 win against Chelsea in the semi-final second leg. Mikel Arteta’s side had put themselves in pole position in the first leg and Havertz came off the bench to finish the 4-2 aggregate victory in the closing moments at the Emirates Stadium. It was a cathartic triumph for the Gunners, who had lost their previous four semi-finals in last year’s UEFA Champions League and League Cup, the 2022 League Cup and the 2021 UEFA Europa League. In their first final for six years,
SUPERSTAR DELIVERS: Victor Wembanyama scored 29 points and pulled down 11 rebounds to propel the Spurs to a 135-123 victory over the Dallas Mavericks The Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday shook off the early exit of injured star Luka Doncic, rallying without him in the second half for a 119-115 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers. Austin Reaves, again coming off the bench in his second game back from a 19-game injury absence, scored 13 of his 35 points in the fourth quarter, drilling a pair of back-to-back three-pointers to give the Lakers their first lead of the game early in the final frame. “Losing Luka, you know nothing’s going to be easy after that because he does so much for us, but we bonded together,” said
France head coach Fabien Galthie on Thursday lauded his team’s attacking performance after their dazzling 36-14 victory over Ireland in their Six Nations opener. A brace of tries from Louis Bielley-Biarrey and one from mercurial flyhalf Matthieu Jalibert helped France storm into a 29-0 lead before taking their foot off the gas and allowing Ireland back into the match, before winger Theo Attissogbe put some gloss on the victory late on. “In an attacking sense, with the ball, the team played with great accuracy,” Galthie said. “It was one of the most accurate attacking performances in a long time, despite the weather
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