BADMINTON
Taiwanese win in Thailand
Taiwanese duo Yang Po-han and Liu Kuang-heng yesterday advanced to the men’s doubles quarter-finals at the Thailand Open in Bangkok. The pair defeated South Korea’s Kang Min-hyuk and Ki Dong-ju 21-8, 21-19 in just 33 minutes. The No. 24 duo appeared to be on the rebound following an early exit from the Taipei Open, due to injury. In women’s doubles, Hsu Yin-hui and Lin Jhih-yun are set to face compatriots Hsu Ya-ching and Sung Yu-hsuan in the quarter-finals, after dispatching their Thai and Hong Kong opponents respectively. In men’s singles, Taiwan’s world No. 7 shuttler Chou Tien-chen crashed out of the second round, losing 15-21, 21-16, 21-13 to Rasmus Gemke of Denmark.
SOCCER
Two held for blackmailing Son
Two people have been arrested for allegedly blackmailing Tottenham Hotspur and South Korea captain Son Heung-min, police said yesterday. The accused are a woman in her 20s and a man in his 40s, a Korean National Police Agency spokesperson said. The two allegedly tried to extort money from the 32-year-old forward by falsely claiming that the woman was pregnant with Son’s child, Yonhap news agency said. The two “threatened the player by saying they would spread false information,” Son’s agency, Son & Football Ltd, said in a statement, adding that it filed a police complaint for blackmail.
BASKETBALL
US player arrested for drugs
An American player for the Indonesian Basketball League was arrested for allegedly attempting to smuggle illegal drugs to the country, police said yesterday. The Southeast Asian country has extremely strict drug laws, and convicted smugglers are sometimes executed by firing squad. Jarred Dwayne Shaw, 34, of Dallas, Texas, was arrested on Wednesday last week, after police raided his apartment in Tangerang Regency, just outside the capital, Jakarta, and seized 132 pieces of cannabis candies, Soekarno-Hatta Airport Police Chief Ronald Sipayung said. Tangerang Hawks manager Tikky Suwantikno told reporters that the club had immediately fired Shaw as he has breached his contract, while league chairman Budisatrio Djiwandono said it had banned Shaw from playing for life.
SOCCER
Reddit founder eyes Chelsea
Reddit cofounder Alexis Ohanian said that he has bought a stake in serial English women’s champions Chelsea. “I’ve bet big on women’s sports before and I’m doing it again,” Ohanian, husband of Serena Williams, wrote on X alongside a news report saying he had bought a 10 percent stake thought to be worth about ￡20 million (US$26.6 million). The 42-year-old entrepreneur, who married tennis legend Williams in 2017, was previously an investor in US women’s soccer club Angel City.
TENNIS
Pope meets Sinner
Jannik Sinner, the top-ranked tennis player, on Wednesday visited Pope Leo XIV, gave him a tennis racket and offered to play, during an off day for Sinner at the Italian Open. Leo, the first American pope, is an avid tennis player. Holding one of his rackets and giving Leo another and a ball, the three-time Grand Slam champion suggested a quick volley, but the pope looked around at the antiques and said: “Better not.”
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
A stunning Lamine Yamal strike on Thursday helped crown Barcelona La Liga champions with a 2-0 win over local rivals RCD Espanyol, with victory ensuring Real Madrid cannot catch them at the top of the table. Yamal’s effort and Fermin Lopez’s goal took Hansi Flick’s side seven points clear of Los Blancos with two matches remaining, to clinch Barcelona’s 28th title and complete a superb domestic treble. Only the UEFA Champions League title escaped an exciting young Barca side this season, as they won the league for the second time in six years, at Espanyol’s ground again just as in 2022-2023. Back then,
Jannik Sinner on Thursday marched into the semi-finals of the Italian Open after destroying Casper Ruud in straight sets 6-0, 6-1, while Coco Gauff won a marathon three-set battle with China’s Zheng Qinwen to advance to the women’s singles final. American Gauff is to face Italy’s Jasmine Paolini in today’s title match after pulling through 7-6 (7/3), 4-6, 7-6 (7/4) in a match that lasted over three-and-a-half hours. Ruud was supposed to be Sinner’s toughest test in Rome since he came back from his three-month doping ban, as the Norwegian came into the match in hot form on clay after winning in
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