BADMINTON
Taiwanese duo advance
Taiwan’s mixed doubles duo Ye Hong-wei and Nicole Chan have advanced to the semi-finals of the Malaysia Masters. The pair defeated Denmark’s Mads Vestergaard and Christine Busch, ranked No. 20 in the world, 21-18, 21-19 yesterday to secure their first-ever semi-final berth at a Super 500 tournament. Ye, 25, and Chan, 20, teamed up last year and are currently ranked No. 23 in the world. After the match, Ye said he was unsatisfied with his and Chan’s performance, especially because they had trailed at the start of both games. “It’s great that we were able to come back,” he said, adding that they would work on improving that aspect of their game. They are to next face China’s Feng Yanzhe and Huang Dongping, the second seeds in the mixed doubles event.
SOCCER
UEFA runs out of medals
UEFA has apologized for running out of winners medals during the Europa League final trophy ceremony on Wednesday after more Tottenham Hotspur players than expected lined up to receive their individual prizes. Spurs captain Son Heung-min and two other players, the last to line up for individual medals, were left empty-handed after their team beat Manchester United 1-0 to win the club’s fourth European title. Son lifted the trophy without a medal around his neck. “To our great displeasure, we did not have enough medals available on stage during the trophy ceremony presentation due to an unexpected discrepancy in the player count,” UEFA said on Thursday, adding that “more team members — including injured players — participated in the ceremony than initially anticipated. The missing medals were promptly delivered to the winning team in the dressing room, along with our sincerest apologies for the oversight.”
SAILING
Americans to miss own cup
American Magic has put its participation in the next America’s Cup in serious doubt after it cited “transparency” concerns related to Team New Zealand’s decision to hold the 2027 regatta in Naples, Italy. The team who represented the New York Yacht Club in last year’s cup in Barcelona, Spain, issued a statement on Thursday saying defending champions Team New Zealand “has been unwilling to commit to the transparency and cooperation necessary” regarding its plans for Naples that were announced last week. If American Magic does not compete and no other American team enters in its place, then for the first time in the event’s history, there would not be an American syndicate in the America’s Cup. American boats have won the America’s Cup a record 30 times and held it from its first race in 1851 all the way through 1983, when an Australian syndicate won. Team New Zealand responded to the American Magic statement by publicly releasing the latest draft version of the 2027 protocols “as an illustration of complete transparency.” American Magic’s complaint was made public shortly after British team Athena Racing, representing all challengers, issued a statement criticizing what it called the lack of information provided by Team New Zealand on the deal with Italian organizers. It is “difficult to understand what exactly has been agreed between Team New Zealand and the government of Italy as the sporting framework and details of the event do not yet exist,” Athena said.
Badminton world No. 3 Anders Antonsen clinched his first Indonesia Open title yesterday after beating Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen, while South Korea’s An Se-young won her second championship in Jakarta. The 28-year-old Dane sank world No. 7 Chou at the Indonesian capital’s Istora Senayan arena, winning 22-20, 21-14 in a 60-minute match to secure the prestigious Super 1000 event. Antonsen came out on top in a tightly contested first game before cruising to victory in the second. In a more closely fought women’s singles final, South Korean ace and world No. 1 An fought back from one game down to beat China’s
‘STILL’: In front of a packed New Jersey arena attended by Donald Trump and Mike Tyson, UFC 316 delivered high drama as Merab Dvalishvili retained his title Georgia’s Merab Dvalishvili scored a second-round submission win over Sean O’Malley to retain his bantamweight title at Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) 316 on Saturday, with Kayla Harrison also winning by submission in the co-main event, tapping out Juliana Pena to claim the women’s bantamweight crown. In front of a packed crowd at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, which included US President Donald Trump and retired heavyweight great Mike Tyson, Dvalishvili, a 34-year-old from the country of Georgia, won the belt in a convincing, although not aesthetically pleasing, unanimous decision. Dvalishvili (19-4) sat on top of the cage and shouted
Manchester City on Monday completed the signing of left-back Rayan Ait-Nouri from Wolverhampton Wanderers for a reported ￡31 million (US$41.8 million). The 24-year-old Algeria international has signed a five-year contract and will be available for the FIFA Club World Cup, which begins later this week. Ait-Nouri is expected to be just one of a trio of new City faces for that tournament with deals close to completion for AC Milan midfielder Tijjani Reijnders and Olympique Lyonnais playmaker Rayan Cherki. After missing out on a major trophy in the recently completed season for the first time since 2016-2017, City are hoping
Hulking Italian sprinter Jonathan Milan on Monday surged away from the pack to win the second stage of the Criterium de Dauphine in Issoire, France, to take the overall lead from Tadej Pogacar. The 1.93m, 87kg Milan had to battle to keep up on a hilly 204.6km run through central France from Premilhat. When the pack hit the home straight, he rocketed away from his rivals to collect a 10-second victory bonus and the yellow jersey. “That was really tough,” Milan said. “I was dropped at one point, and I was really on the limit, but I have to say
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