TENNIS
Barbie based on Venus
Venus Williams has a new Barbie, this one part of the dollmaker’s Inspiring Women collection. Williams’ doll, to be released tomorrow, is to celebrate the tennis great with a doll wearing the uniform she wore while winning Wimbledon in 2007. Williams’ win for the fifth of her seven Grand Slam titles was the first time a woman received equal prize money as the men at a top-level tournament. The doll, suggested to retail for US$38, features Williams in all white with a green gem necklace, wristband, racket and tennis ball. Williams also had a Barbie doll released in May last year that highlighted nine trailblazing female athletes as part of Barbie’s 65th anniversary celebration.
Photo: AP
SOCCER
Wrexham get a boost
Wrexham’s win on penalties over Hull City in Tuesday’s EFL Cup first-round meeting has boosted their campaign after a disappointing loss to Southampton in the Championship, Wrexham manager Phil Parkinson said. Jack Marriott scored the winning penalty as Wrexham beat Hull 5-3 on penalties, after substitute Ollie Palmer scored twice in added-time to force a penalty shoot-out following a 3-3 draw. Wrexham on Saturday were defeated in their first English second-tier game for 43 years as Southampton won 2-1. “I said to the lads: ‘You know, we’re not coming into this division just to set up and to stop teams, we can play,’ but one thing’s for sure, the spirit, what we’re all about was there for all to see, which is really important for the new lads who have joined us to see that we go right to the end,” Parkinson said in an interview with club media. “We had a huge disappointment on Saturday and we’ve got our season off and running with a result tonight.”
CRICKET
Hope helps Windies win
Shai Hope on Tuesday helped deliver some long overdue good news for the West Indies with a century to inspire the Caribbean side to a series-clinching, 202-run win over Pakistan. It was the first bilateral ODI series won by the West Indies against Pakistan since 1991, and ended a run of home series defeats across the Test and T20 formats to Australia and Pakistan. Hope stroked an unbeaten 120 before pace bowler Jayden Seales destroyed Pakistan’s chase with six wickets in the third and final ODI.
MIXED MARTIAL ARTS
Bout on, Dana White says
The White House is to host a bout on July 4 next year, the day the US marks the 250th anniversary of its founding, UFC boss Dana White said on Tuesday. “It is definitely going to happen,” White told CBS television. “I talked to him last night — ‘him’ being the [US] president [Donald Trump] — and I’m flying out there at the end of this month, and I’m going to sit down and walk him through all the plans and the renderings, and we’re going to start deciding what he wants and doesn’t want.”
Carlos Alcaraz on Sunday fought through a second-set slump to post a roller-coaster 6-1, 2-6, 6-3 victory over Damir Dzumhur in his opening match at the Cincinnati Open. The Spaniard, playing his first tournament since losing to Jannik Sinner in the Wimbledon final, raced through the first set, but completely lost his way in the second, dropping his serve twice against the 33-year-old Bosnian. Alcaraz regained his intensity and cut down his errors in the third set as a seventh ace took him to a match point that was converted when Dzumhur fired wide. “It was just a roller coaster,” said the second
NEXT ROUND: World No. 1s Jannik Sinner and Aryna Sabalenka opened their title defenses with straight-sets wins, while Iga Swiatek and Taylor Fritz also advanced Jannik Sinner and Aryna Sabalenka got their title defenses off to smooth starts as they powered into the third round of the ATP-WTA Cincinnati Open on Saturday. The men’s and women’s top seeds, each ranked No. 1 in the world, were both competing for the first time since Wimbledon, where Sinner lifted the title and Sabalenka bowed out in the women’s semi-finals. Sinner crushed Colombian Daniel Elahi Galan 6-1, 6-1 in steamy afternoon weather, while Sabalenka beat 2023 Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova 7-5, 6-1 under the lights of the night session. Sabalenka needed 54 minutes and a service break in the final game
Taiwan’s men’s basketball team on Monday clinched a spot in the FIBA Asia Cup quarter-finals with a 78-64 win over Jordan in Saudi Arabia, securing their best finish in the tournament since placing fourth in 2013. The win was sweet revenge for Taiwan, who were denied a quarter-final spot by Jordan at the same stage of the previous Asia Cup in 2022 after blowing a nine-point lead in the final minute and losing 97-96 on a half-court buzzer-beater. “History is part of the journey,” Taiwan head coach Gianluca Tucci said when asked about the 2022 collapse of the team, who he did
TECH ISSUES: Before Sinner’s match against Diallo the lights went out at the courts, and during it the electronic line-calling system partly failed and an alarm sounded Jannik Sinner on Monday ignored technical issues interruptions and a blaring alarm to defeat Gabriel Diallo 6-2, 7-6 (8/6) on a day of distractions at the Cincinnati Open. The top-seeded defending champion got down to business against the 35th-ranked Canadian, who was plagued by eight first-set double faults and 49 unforced errors in the match as he faced the best in the world. Sinner recovered smoothly from an early break down and had his hands full on his way into the fourth round, sending over an ace on match point after saving a set point in the tiebreaker. Play was stopped briefly with
RSS