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.”
Brazil has four teams, more than any other country, in the expanded Club World Cup that kicked off yesterday in the US, but for SE Palmeiras, the competition holds a special meaning: winning it would provide some redemption. Under coach Abel Ferreira since 2020, Palmeiras lifted two Copa Libertadores titles, plus Brazilian league, cup and state championships. Even before Ferreira, it boasted another South American crown and 11 league titles. The only major trophy missing is a world champions’ title. Other Brazilian clubs like Fluminense FC and Botafogo FR, also in the tournament, have never won it either, but the problem for Palmeiras
Paris Saint-Germain’s Lee Kang-in has pleaded with South Korea fans to get behind the team at the 2026 FIFA World Cup after more boos were aimed at coach Hong Myung-bo despite leading them to qualification. South Korea reached next year’s finals in North America without losing a game, but that does not tell the whole story. The country’s soccer association has been in the firing line, having scrambled about to find a successor after sacking the unpopular Jurgen Klinsmann in February last year. They eventually settled on Hong, the decorated former skipper who had an unsuccessful stint as coach in 2013-2014, during which
Lionel Messi drew vast crowds and showed flashes of his brilliance when his Inter Miami side were held to a goalless draw by African giants Al-Ahly as the revamped FIFA Club World Cup got off to a festive start on Saturday. Fans showed up en masse for the Group A clash at the Hard Rock Stadium, home to the NFL’s Miami Dolphins, but Messi could not fully deliver, his best chance coming through a last-second attempt that was deflected onto the crossbar. Inter Miami next face FC Porto on Thursday in Atlanta, while Al-Ahly, who benefited from raucous, massive support, are to
Ferrari’s F1 fortunes might be flagging, but the Italian team start this weekend’s 24 Hours of Le Mans as favorites, targeting a third consecutive triumph in motorsport’s fabled endurance classic. Roger Federer is acting as celebrity starter with the tennis icon getting the 93rd edition of the jewel in four-wheeled endurance racing’s crown under way tomorrow. Twenty-four hours later, through daylight, darkness and dawn, the 21 elite hypercars are to battle it out over 300 laps (more than 4,000km) in front of a sold-out 320,000 crowd burning the midnight oil with copious quantities of coffee and beer. Ferrari made a triumphant return after
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