TENNIS
Hsieh advances in Madrid
Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Latvian partner Jelena Ostapenko yesterday beat Ukraine’s Nadiia Kichenok and Xu Yifan of China 6-1, 7-6 (7/5) in women’s doubles to advance to the quarter-finals of the Madrid Open. The third seeds on Friday defeated Briton Olivia Nicholls and Slovak Tereza Mihalikova 6-2, 6-2 in the opening round. Compatriot Chan Hao-ching and Mexican partner Giuliana Olmos did not fare as well in their opener on Saturday, losing 6-4, 6-7 (3/7), 10-6 to Italy’s Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini.
BASEBALL
Duran steals home after triple
Jarren Duran on Saturday barely had time to catch his breath after tripling in the third inning, but it did not matter, he had already made up his mind to run again. Duran pulled off Boston’s first straight steal of home plate in exactly 16 years, scoring on the next pitch from Doug Nikhazy as the Red Sox beat the Cleveland Guardians 7-3 in the second game of a doubleheader. It marked the first straight steal of the plate by the Red Sox since Jacoby Ellsbury against the New York Yankees on April 26, 2009. Duran’s two previous thefts of home were part of double steals last season on May 21 and on June 7.
BASKETBALL
Thunder reach second round
The Oklahoma City Thunder, fueled by 38 points from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, on Saturday held off the Memphis Grizzlies 117-115 to complete a 4-0 sweep in their NBA Western Conference playoff series to become the first team to reach the second round. The Cleveland Cavaliers were on the brink of advancing, taking a 3-0 stranglehold on their Eastern Conference series with a 124-87 blowout of the Miami Heat. The Denver Nuggets leveled their Western Conference series with a stunning 101-99 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers sealed by Aaron Gordon’s put-back dunk at the final buzzer.
RUGBY UNION
England win Six Nations
England on Saturday survived a sparkling French comeback to win the Women’s Six Nations Championship decider 43-42 at Twickenham Stadium. In an encounter between two unbeaten teams, England led 31-7 after 24 minutes and 43-28 with 10 minutes to play, and held off a late rally for a seventh consecutive European title. “I am so proud of all of the girls’ effort, we battled it out today. France came at us, so all credit to us for holding on,” England skipper Zoe Aldcroft told the BBC. “When we build pressure we need to keep our foot on the throttle. We will have a couple of drinks after this and enjoy tonight.”
SURFING
Australians win at Bells
Australia’s Jack Robinson yesterday earned his first victory of the season on the World Surf League Championship tour, while compatriot Isabella Nichols won the women’s title at the prestigious Rip Curl Pro at Bells Beach, south of Melbourne. Paris Olympics silver-medalist Robinson scored 7.77 on his third wave after a 6.37 earlier to finish with a two-wave total of 14.14, edging out Japan’s Kanoa Igarashi, who finished with 13.87 and missed out on a second tour victory of his career. Nichols earlier outclassed Brazilian Luana Silva to prevail with best scores of 8.33 and 7.93 for a total of 16.26 to her opponent’s 12.67.
FRUSTRATION: Alcaraz made several unforced errors over four sets against Bosnian Damir Dzumhur, who had never made it past the third round in a major competition Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz reached the fourth round of the French Open after laboring past Damir Dzumhur 6-1, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 in the Friday night session. The second-seeded Spaniard had never before played Dzumhur, a 33-year-old Bosnian who had never been past the third round at any major tournament. “I suffered quite a lot today,” Alcaraz said. “The first two sets was under control, then he started to play more deeply and more aggressively. It was really difficult for me.” Dzumhur hurt his left knee in a fall in the second round, and had treatment on Friday on his right leg during the
‘DREAM’: The 5-0 victory was PSG’s first Champions League title, and the biggest final win by any team in the 70-year history of the top-flight European competition Paris Saint-Germain won the Champions League for the first time as Luis Enrique’s brilliant young side outclassed Inter on Saturday in the most one-sided final ever with teenager Desire Doue scoring twice in an astonishing 5-0 victory. Doue supplied the pass for Achraf Hakimi to give PSG an early lead and the 19-year-old went from provider to finisher as his deflected shot doubled the advantage in the 20th minute. Doue scored again just after the hour mark, ending any doubt about the outcome before Khvicha Kvaratskhelia ran away to get the fourth and substitute Senny Mayulu, another teenager, made it five. Inter were
The horn sounded on Wednesday night to signal a third straight trip to the Stanley Cup Final, as the Florida Panthers celebrated merely by hopping over the boards and several heading over to congratulate goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky. It was a subdued celebration seemingly more befitting a regular-season win for the reigning Cup champs. “I remember a few years ago, it felt like such an accomplishment from where we were at one point,” forward Matthew Tkachuk said, adding: “It’s all business and we’ve got a bigger goal in mind.” The Panthers closed out the Carolina Hurricanes in five games, with a 5-3 victory in
STRONG CONNECTION: Although she has considered switching nationalities, Garland said that if it was not for Taiwan’s support throughout her career, she would not be in Paris British-Taiwanese player Joanna Garland on Tuesday became the first Taiwanese to clinch a victory in a main singles draw of the French Open since 2020 after she outlasted the US’ Katie Volynets in Paris. The world No. 175, Taiwan’s highest-ranked female player in singles, said she would rely on her self-belief as she prepares for her second-round match at the French Open after overcoming a serious injury to qualify for a maiden Grand Slam appearance. After navigating her way through the qualifiers last week, Garland secured her first win at the main draw of a Grand Slam by battling past world No.
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