BADMINTON
Sung takes top Taiwan spot
Tai Tzu-ying has been replaced by Sung Shuo-yun as Taiwan’s top-ranked female player, BWF rankings released on Tuesday showed. Tai, 30, fell six places to 25th place, after having points deducted for not competing. The Taiwanese ace is still recovering from knee injuries that plagued her throughout last season. She applied for a three-month injury-protected ranking in October last year before undergoing surgery on her left knee in early December. Tai said that she “has never paid too much attention” to world rankings since they “always change,” and is instead focused on rehabilitation. Sung rose one place to rank 19th in the world in the latest weekly rankings. Wen Chi-hsu fell one spot to 26th, while Chiu Pin-chian remained No. 27. Sung on Tuesday lost 21-18, 21-16 to Scotland’s Kirsty Gilmour in the opening round of the All England Open Badminton Championships.
Photo: EPA-EFE
BOXING
Eubank fined over egg throw
British boxer Chris Eubank Jr has been fined ￡100,000 (US$129,385) for smashing an egg into the face of rival Conor Benn during a media event two weeks ago. The British Boxing Board of Control on Tuesday said that Eubank was fined after being found “in breach of Regulation 25 for his conduct at the press conference in Manchester.” The fighters had gone face-to-face as part of the promotion of their scheduled April 26 middleweight bout at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. The 35-year-old Eubank then reached into a pocket, pulled out an egg and smacked the right side of Benn’s face. Security guards rushed in to keep the pair separated. They were scheduled to fight at London’s O2 Arena in October 2022, but it was called off after Benn’s voluntary urine test showed trace amounts of fertility drug clomiphene, a banned substance that boosts testosterone levels while burning fat. The 28-year-old Benn later successfully argued that his consumption of eggs elevated his testosterone levels.
Photo: AP
GOLF
PGA takes aim at slow play
The PGA Tour might be unable to conclude a deal to unify professional golf, but there is finally progress on another key issue for spectators: slow play. Speaking ahead of the Players Championship, PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan revealed the imminent arrival of new sanctions that could include the naming and shaming of offenders. The two-time major champion Collin Morikawa had already made clear that the PGA Tour’s current pace of play policies — which only occasionally sees golfers fined — are unfit for purpose. “I think you just have to start stroking guys and giving guys actual penalties, whether it be strokes or FedEx Cup” points, Morikawa said. “What I’ve learned is that monetary fines are useless. We make so much money and some guys frankly could not care less.” Monahan, who had previously rebuffed the widespread sense that slow play was an issue worth tackling, has taken note. He said the Tour would publish speed-of-play statistics later this season and begin testing a new speed-of-play policy. Although Monahan would not directly address whether those punished would have their names shared with the public, it is understood that plan is under consideration.
Photo: AFP
MEDVEDEV AWAITS: The world No. 1 Spainiard said that he is ‘finding the right shots’ as he pushed his record so far this year to 16 victories and no losses Carlos Alcaraz on Thursday extended his unbeaten season and got revenge over Cameron Norrie to reach the semi-finals at Indian Wells for a fifth straight year. The world No. 1 from Spain emerged from a see-saw battle with 29th-ranked Norrie with a 6-3, 6-4 victory. In the semis tomorrow, he faces Russian Daniil Medvedev, who pushed his own ATP winning streak to eight matches with a 6-1, 7-5 victory over defending champion Jack Draper. World No. 2 Jannik Sinner powered past Learner Tien 6-1, 6-2 to line up a semi-final with fourth-ranked Alexander Zverev, a 6-2, 6-3 winner over Arthur Fils. Alcaraz, 22, became
West Ham United on Monday advanced to the FA Cup quarter-finals with a 5-3 penalty shoot-out win against Brentford, who paid the price for Dango Ouattara’s spot-kick blunder. Nuno Espirito Santo’s side twice blew the lead as Jarrod Bowen’s double was canceled out by an Igor Thiago brace to force extra-time in the 2-2 draw at the London Stadium, but in the shoot-out, Brentford winger Ouattara attempted a chipped Panenka penalty, but his woeful effort was straight at West Ham goalkeeper Alphonse Areola. It was an awful mistake by the Burkina Faso international and West Ham took full advantage. Bowen, Valentin Castellanos, Callum
Thanks to Italy beating Mexico on Wednesday, the US get another chance in the World Baseball Classic (WBC). What looked like a potentially disastrous early exit for US manager Mark DeRosa and his team turned out to be nothing more than substantial worry and significant embarrassment for about 24 hours. It remains to be seen whether the US really want to win badly enough for the reprieve to matter, as if it is just a switch they can flick, but there is little reason for their fans to be optimistic. The team’s attitude and behavior have been all over the place when
Team Taiwan’s World Baseball Classic (WBC) journey ended last night when South Korea beat Australia 7-2 and won the tiebreaker with Australia and Taiwan to advance to the tournament’s quarter-finals in Miami. South Korea earned its spot by scoring a run in the top of the ninth to do just enough under the tiebreaker rules to advance. The result saw Taiwan, South Korea and Australia tied for second in WBC Pool C behind undefeated Japan with 2-2 records. The tiebreaker was determined by dividing a team’s total runs allowed by the total number of defensive outs in games among the tied teams, and
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