TENNIS
Taiwan’s Chan wins opener
Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and partner Giuliana Olmos of Mexico on Wednesday survived McCartney Kessler of the US and Suzan Lamens of the Netherlands to advance to the second round of the women’s doubles at the French Open. The competitors were forced to suspend play due to rain in the middle of a tiebreaker in Paris, with ninth seeds Chan and Olmos winning 6-3, 7-5, 7-6 (10/8) in nearly three hours. They are to play Ann Li of the US and Lucia Bronzetti of Italy in the second round. Also on Wednesday, 10th seeds Wu Fang-hsien of Taiwan and Jiang Xianyu of China handily beat Colombia’s Camila Osorio and Alycia Parks of the US 6-4, 6-1 in just more than an hour. Wu and Jiang are next to play Anna Danilina of Kazakhstan and Aleksandra Krunic of Serbia. Third seeds Hsieh Su-wei and Latvian partner Jelena Ostapenko were after press time last night to play their opener against the Czech Republic’s Marie Bouzkova and Marketa Vondrousova. Meanwhile, British-Taiwanese player Joanna Garland, who on Tuesday became the first Taiwanese to win a women’s singles main draw opener since Hsieh in 2020, was after press time last night to face 32nd seed Yulia Putintseva in the second round.
BADMINTON
Lin advances in Singapore
World No. 19 Lin Chun-yi of Taiwan yesterday defeated world No. 4 Li Shifeng of China 21-18, 21-14 to advance to the quarter-finals of the Singapore Open. Lin is to face Hong Kong’s world No. 21 Lee Cheuk-yi, who advanced by beating Taiwanese star and world No. 6 Chou Tien-chen 21-12, 21-16 in 46 minutes. In women’s singles, Taiwan’s world No. 19 Sung Shuo-yun was knocked out of the round-of-16 21-13, 21-14 by world No. 3 Akane Yamaguchi. Taiwan’s Wang Chi-lin and Chiu Hsiang-chieh lost 21-12, 21-15 to China’s Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang in men’s doubles.
MOTOGP
Marini injured in testing
Honda rider Luca Marini sustained a nasty crash while testing in Japan, sustaining injuries to his hip, knee, chest and shoulder, as well as a collapsed lung, the Japanese team said on Wednesday. Marini had traveled to the Suzuka Circuit after the British Grand Prix that was held over the weekend and the Italian was testing Honda’s bike for the Suzuka 8-hour endurance race when he crashed heavily on the second day of testing. “Suffering from a dislocated left hip, damage to the ligaments in his left knee, fractures in the sternum and left collarbone and a right-sided pneumothorax, Marini was transferred to local hospital and stabilized,” Honda said. “Marini will remain under observation in Japan until he is deemed fit to travel.” Honda did not give a timeline for Marini’s return. The 27-year-old is 13th in the MotoGP riders’ standings after seven rounds.
SOCCER
Saudis in tough Ronaldo talks
Saudi Arabian officials are in “difficult” talks to keep Cristiano Ronaldo in the country, a source with knowledge of the negotiations said yesterday, after the star soccer player suggested he was leaving Al-Nassr. The Portuguese superstar, whose arrival in 2023 heralded a rush of late-career players to the oil-rich country, could transfer to Al-Hilal and feature at the upcoming Club World Club, the source said.
Twelve days after winning her second Grand Slam title at the French Open, Coco Gauff fell at the first hurdle on grass in Berlin on Thursday as beaten Paris finalist Aryna Sabalenka advanced to the quarter-finals. Recipient of a first round bye, American Gauff lost 6-3, 6-3 to Chinese qualifier Wang Xinyu as world number one Sabalenka beat Rebeka Masarova 6-2, 7-6 (8/6) in her second round tie. Winner of 10 main tour titles, including the US Open in 2023 and the WTA Finals last year, Gauff has yet to lift a trophy in a grass-court tournament. “After I won the first
While British star Jack Draper spent the past week trying to find rhythm and comfort in his first grass tournament of the season at the Queen’s Club Championships in London, Jiri Lehecka on Saturday bulldozed everything in his path. After more than two furious hours of battle, their form was reflected in the final scoreline as Lehecka toppled a frustrated Draper, the second seed, 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 to reach the biggest final of his career, against Carlos Alcaraz. Lehecka is also the first Czech to reach the men’s title match at Queen’s since Ivan Lendl lifted the trophy in 1990. Draper, who
Top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka staged a “crazy comeback,” saving four match points before beating Elena Rybakina 7-6 (6), 3-6, 7-6 (6) in the quarter-finals of the Berlin Open on Friday. Sabalenka was 6-2 down in the final-set tie-breaker, but won six straight points to reach her eighth semi-final of the season. “Elena is a great player and we’ve had a lot of tough battles,” Sabalenka said. “I have no idea how I was able to win those last points. I think I just got lucky.” “I remember a long time ago when I was just starting, I won a lot of matches being down
The Canterbury Crusaders edged the Waikato Chiefs 16-12 in an intense Super Rugby Pacific final battle in Christchurch yesterday to claim their 15th title in 30 years of the Southern Hemisphere competition. Hooker Codie Taylor scored a try and Rivez Reihana contributed 11 points from the kicking tee as the most dominant team in Super Rugby history extended their perfect home playoff record to 32 successive matches since 1998. The Chiefs, who were looking for a first title since 2013, scored first-half tries through George Dyer and Shaun Stevenson, but were unable to register a point after the break and fell to
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