TENNIS
Hsieh beats Chan in Ningbo
Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Czech partner Katerina Siniakova on Wednesday defeated Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and China’s Jiang Xinyu in straight sets to advance to the women’s doubles quarter-finals at the Ningbo Open. Hsieh and Siniakova, the No. 1 seeds, dominated their opponents 6-3, 6-1 in an hour of play on a hard court. They are today to face the Chinese pairing of Wang Xinyu and Zheng Saisai, who beat Emily Appleton of the UK and Isabelle Haverlag of the Netherlands 6-4, 6-3.
Photo: Eric Bolte-Imagn Images
BASEBALL
Koo seeks to keep WBSC seat
Baseball Federation of Asia (BFA) president Jeffrey Koo Jr is to seek re-election as executive vice president of the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) tomorrow, aiming to raise Asian baseball’s global profile and expand grassroots development, the federation said on Wednesday. Since taking office in 2022, Koo has spearheaded initiatives to grow the sport across Asia, including establishing the Southeast Asia Baseball Development and Training Center in Thailand and the Asian Women’s Baseball Training Base in Hangzhou, China. He also visited the United Arab Emirates to explore opportunities to develop baseball in West Asia as part of his “Asian Major League” initiative, the BFA said.
BASKETBALL
UK federation suspended
The British Basketball Federation (BBF) has been suspended by the sport’s world governing body and its men’s team barred from international competition because of governance issues, FIBA announced on Wednesday. FIBA in August set up a task force to investigate “regulatory noncompliance” within British basketball after a power struggle between the federation and Super League Basketball. The BBF in April awarded a 15-year licence to run a new professional men’s competition to a consortium led by American businessman Marshall Glickman. However, the nine clubs who last year set up Super League Basketball, after the collapse of the British Basketball League, refused to join, claiming the tender process run by the national governing body was an abuse of its dominant position. “These measures aim to restore regulatory integrity and promote sustainable governance of men’s basketball in Great Britain as soon as possible,” FIBA said in a statement. Under the terms of the suspension the BBF would not be permitted to license or recognize national men’s competitions, or field a men’s national team in FIBA senior competitions.
CHESS
FIDE approves new Tour
The International Chess Federation (FIDE) has approved a new global competition set up by Norway Chess that would crown a “World Combined Champion” across three time formats — Fast Classic, Rapid and Blitz, organizers said on Wednesday. The tournament series, called the Total Chess World Championship Tour, would feature four events a year in cities around the world, with the overall winner taking the FIDE title. A one-off pilot event is scheduled for late next year before the full championship season begins in 2027. “We are looking for the total chess player — a versatile, tactically intelligent and technically skilled athlete who adapts to multiple time controls,” Norway Chess CEO Kjell Madland said. “It will be a game changer, both for the players and the fans.”
Yu Yao-hsing on Tuesday nabbed Taiwan’s only goal in the final round of qualifiers for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup, as they fell 3-1 to Sri Lanka at Taipei Municipal Stadium. Early goals from Sri Lanka in the first half left Taiwan struggling to get on the board, and Christopher Tiao’s own goal at 53 minutes sealed the team’s fate in the third round of qualifiers. While acknowledging that the defeat, Taiwan’s sixth in Group D, was disappointing, head coach Matt Ross said he saw reasons to stay positive about the team’s development. “There were lots of positive signs in terms of the
Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli yesterday vowed to “keep raising the bar” after winning the Japanese Grand Prix to become the youngest driver in Formula One history to lead the championship standings. The 19-year-old Italian took advantage of a mid-race safety car to jump into the lead after a dreadful start from pole position, crossing the line ahead of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. Antonelli’s Suzuka victory came two weeks after the first grand prix win of his career in China, and sent him top of the championship standings after three races, nine points ahead of team-mate George Russell. Mercedes are struggling to
INDIGESTION: Italy failed to qualify for the World Cup for a third consecutive time after a 4-1 defeat to Bosnia on penalties in a loss Gattuso said was ‘difficult to digest’ Coach Graham Arnold on Tuesday challenged his players to “shock the world” after Iraq became the 48th and final team to qualify for the FIFA World Cup with a nerve-shredding 2-1 win over Bolivia in an intercontinental playoff in Mexico, as Bosnia and Herzegovina, Turkey, the Czech Republic, Sweden and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) also secured their places at the finals. Iraq, whose preparations were disrupted by the war in the Middle East, sealed their first appearance at the finals in 40 years and are to play in Group I against France, Senegal and Norway. Goals from Ali al-Hamadi
Teng Kai-wei, the only Taiwanese player on an opening-day roster in this year’s Major League Baseball (MLB) season, took his first win of the year with the Houston Astros in his season debut. Teng entered in relief in the top of the fifth inning against the Los Angeles Angels on Saturday, with the Astros trailing 5-0. He pitched 2-1/3 scoreless innings with two strikeouts, as Houston scored 11 runs during his outing to snatch an 11-9 comeback victory. The win is the Astros’ first of the season and the third of Teng’s MLB career. “It’s my first time pitching for the Astros, so
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