ICE HOCKEY
Dallas Stars win Game 1
Miro Heiskanen, Mikael Granlund and Matt Duchene on Wednesday scored power-play goals in a 5 minute, 26 second span early in the third period as the Dallas Stars opened their NHL Western Conference Finals rematch against the Edmonton Oilers with a 6-3 victory. Dallas began the third period with a two-goal deficit and a man advantage from a penalty that carried over from the second. Heiskanen scored 32 seconds in on a shot from near the blue line, Granlund tied it and Duchene put the Stars ahead to stay with a second-effort score that made it 4-3.
Photo: AP
TENNIS
Wu Fang-hsien advances
Wu Fang-hsien on Wednesday advanced to the semi-finals at the Internationaux de Strasbourg after the Taiwanese and her partner, Jiang Xinyu of China, defeated Caroline Dolehide of the US and Fanny Stollar of Hungary. The Taiwanese-Chinese pair won 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 to set up a shot at the final today in their semi against Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Guo Hanyu of China, who eliminated Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Shuko Aoyama of Japan 6-3, 6-2 at the Strasbourg Tennis Club in France.
Photo: AFP
CRICKET
SKY wins MotM
Suryakumar Yadav, or SKY, had double reason to celebrate his match-winning knock on Wednesday as it not only helped the Mumbai Indians claim the last Indian Premier League (IPL) playoff spot, but also earned him a Man of the Match (MotM) award to show off to his wife. The middle-order lynchpin’s unbeaten 73 off 43 balls powered Mumbai to 180-5 before they bundled out the Delhi Capitals for 121 inside 19 overs, sealing a playoff berth alongside the Gujarat Titans, the Royal Challengers Bengaluru and the Punjab Kings. Suryakumar has been the five-time champion’s highest scorer this season, but until Wednesday had not received the individual recognition he perhaps deserved. “My wife told me a sweet story,” a beaming Suryakumar said during the presentation ceremony. “She said: ‘You’ve got all the awards except the Man of the Match award.’ From the team’s point of view, the knock was important and this trophy is for her. She waits for these moments and we celebrate it when we go back.”
Photo: AP
FOOTBALL
Pushing ban voted down
Another season of the “Brotherly Shove” is coming soon after NFL owners failed to pass a proposal to ban the rugby union-style, short-yardage play commonly employed by Super Bowl champions the Philadelphia Eagles. A proposal to eliminate any play involving pushing or shoving ballcarriers forward did not receive the required 24 votes of support on Wednesday at the NFL owners meetings in Eagan, Minnesota. ESPN reported the final vote was 22-10.
NO HARD FEELINGS: Taiwan’s Lin Hsiang-ti and Indonesia’s Dhinda Amartya Pratiwi embraced after fighting to a tense and rare 30-29 final game in their Uber Cup match The Taiwanese men’s team on Wednesday fought back from the brink of elimination to defeat Denmark in Group C and advance to the quarter-finals of the Thomas Cup, while the women’s team were to face South Korea after press time last night in the Uber Cup quarter-finals in Horsens, Denmark. In the first match, Taiwan’s top shuttler Chou Tien-chen faced a familiar opponent in world No. 3 Anders Antonsen. It was their 16th head-to-head matchup, with the Dane taking his fourth victory in a row against former world No. 2 Chou, winning 21-14, 13-21, 21-15 in 1 hour, 22 minutes. The
Marta Kostyuk’s maiden WTA 1000 title in Madrid came on Saturday thanks to her power, poise and a pair of unexpected lucky shorts. The world No. 23 beat eighth-ranked Mirra Andreeva 6-3, 7-5 in under 90 minutes to secure the most prestigious trophy of her career, her third professional singles title and second in less than a month after Rouen. Yet as the 23-year-old Ukrainian posed for photographs at the Caja Magica, it was not just the silverware that caught the eye. Held alongside her team and her two dogs, Kostyuk showed off a piece of black men’s underwear, prompting
Throwing more than US$5 billion at a divisive new tour and walking away after five seasons does not look like good business, but LIV Golf was not all bad news for Saudi Arabia. Oil-funded LIV, which poached top stars and sent golf’s establishment into a tailspin, helped push the conservative kingdom into global view — one of its key aims, experts said. The exit, confirmed on Thursday after weeks of speculation, does not signal a flight of Saudi money from sport, even after the Middle East war that sparked Iranian attacks around the Gulf, they said. “Saudi Arabia is not
Anastasia Potapova on Wednesday turned tennis heartbreak into history by becoming the first lucky loser to reach a WTA 1000 semi-final with her thrilling 6-1, 6-7 (4/7), 6-3 victory over Karolina Pliskova at the Madrid Open, as Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei exited in the women’s doubles quarter-finals. The Russian-born Austrian, who lost in qualifying last week, has capitalized on her unexpected main draw entry and stunned former world No. 1 Pliskova in a roller-coaster clash despite squandering three match points. Potapova’s run has included impressive victories over former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko and world No. 2 Elena Rybakina. Asked if she had thought
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