BADMINTON
Chou eyes Loh rematch
Taiwan’s world No. 7 shuttler Chou Tien-chen yesterday opened his men’s singles campaign at the Thailand Open with a decisive victory over Japan’s Yushi Tanaka, putting him on track for a rematch against Singapore’s Loh Kean Yew after their brutal Taipei Open showdown. Chou, the third seed, downed world No. 23 Tanaka 21-17, 21-17 in 32 minutes. If Chou and Loh win their second-round matches, they would face each other in the quarter-finals, just five days after Loh edged Chou 21-14, 15-21, 22-20 in a close final in Taipei. They are tied at four wins apiece in their previous eight matches.
BASKETBALL
Taiwan to face Japan in fall
Taiwan is on Nov. 28 to play Japan in the first round of the FIBA Basketball World Cup Asian Qualifiers. FIBA on Tuesday announced the draws for qualifying for the 2027 World Cup in Doha. Taiwan would also play South Korea and China in Group B. Sixteen teams in Asia are vying for seven World Cup spots, with hosts Qatar already qualified. Four groups of four teams compete in the first round, with the top three teams from each group moving on to the second round.
TABLE TENNIS
Lin Yu-ju rises in rankings
Taiwanese paddler Lin Yu-ju rose two spots to world No. 12 in WTT men’s singles rankings released on Tuesday. The 23-year-old left-hander, nicknamed “The Silent Assassin,” this year was knocked out of the Singapore Smash and the WTT Champions Chongqing quarter-finals by world No. 1 Lin Shidong of China. Last month, Lin made it to the WTT Champions Incheon semi-finals.
TENNIS
Taiwan’s Chan out in Italy
Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and partner Giuliana Olmos of Mexico on Tuesday crashed out of the Italian Open, losing 6-4, 6-2 to Russia’s Diana Shnaider and Mirra Andreeva in their women’s doubles round-of-16 match. Chan and Olmos had advanced with a 6-4, 1-6, 10-7 victory over China’s Wang Xinyu and Zheng Saisai on Saturday last week. Fourth seeds Hsieh Su-wei of Taiwan and partner Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia also exited in the second round with a 7-5, 6-2 loss to Belgium’s Elise Mertens and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday. Taiwan’s Wu Fang-hsien and Chinese partner Jiang Xinyu on Friday last week lost their opening round 6-3, 6-4 to third seeds Jasmine Paolini and Sara Errani of Italy.
CYCLING
Wiggins reveals addiction
Former Tour de France champion Bradley Wiggins has revealed he became addicted to cocaine after retiring from cycling. In an interview with the Observer, the five-time Olympic gold medalist said he is “lucky” to be alive. “There were times my son thought I was going to be found dead in the morning,” the 45-year-old Wiggins said. “I was a functioning addict. People wouldn’t realize. I was high for most of the time for years.” The British cyclist was a gold medalist in four straight Olympics from 2004 and won the Tour in 2012. He retired in 2016. Wiggins told the Observer his cocaine addiction became a “really bad problem” and he was “walking a tightrope.” He quit his addiction a year ago, the newspaper said.
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
INTER AWAIT: Superb saves by PSG ’keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma inspired the victory, as Arsenal were punished for misses, including one by Bukayo Saka Arsenal on Wednesday fell short on the big stage again as their painful UEFA Champions League semi-final exit against Paris Saint-Germain left Mikel Arteta to rue his club’s failure to provide him with enough attacking options. Arteta’s side were unable to reach the Champions League final for the first time in 19 years as PSG clinched a tense 2-1 win at Parc des Princes. Trailing 1-0 from last week’s first leg in London, the Gunners made a blistering start to the second leg, but could not convert their chances as Gianluigi Donnarumma’s superb saves inspired PSG’s 3-1 aggregate victory. Arsenal were punished for
Taiwanese e-sports veteran Lin “ET” Chia-hung yesterday successfully defended his King of Fighters XV title at this year’s Evolution Championship Series: Japan (EVO Japan), securing his second consecutive championship. Lin claimed victory with a 3-1 win over Japanese pro gamer “mok” in the grand final, repeating his earlier 3-1 win against the same opponent in the winners’ final. The 40-year-old earned a ￥1 million (US$6,897) cash prize at the two-day tournament, which drew 294 competitors. Mok, Lin’s toughest rival in the bracket, took home ￥400,000 as runner-up. Lin remains undefeated in match sets against mok in King of Fighters XV, holding a 10-0 record,
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