TENNIS
Hsieh advances in Wuhan
Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Latvian partner Jelena Ostapenko yesterday defeated American Sofia Kenin and Russian Irina Khromacheva in their women’s doubles round of 16 at the Wuhan Open. Fourth seeds Hsieh and Ostapenko — who were runners-up at Wimbledon and the Australian Open last year and had advanced to the second round on a bye — won 2-6, 7-6 (7/0), 10-7. Taiwan’s Wu Fang-hsien and Hungarian partner Fanny Stollar on Tuesday defeated New Zealand’s Erin Routliffe and Indonesia’s Aldila Sutjiadi 6-3, 6-3 to advance to the round of 16. Meanwhile, Taiwan’s Liang En-shuo and Japanese partner Shuko Aoyama yesterday crashed out in their opening round, while Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Japanese partner Miyu Kato exited in their opener on Monday.
Photo: EPA
FOOTBALL
Alaric Jackson suspended
Los Angeles Rams starting left tackle Alaric Jackson has been suspended for two games without pay for striking Buffalo linebacker Bradley Chubb in the face after their teams’ overtime game on Monday night. The NFL on Tuesday announced the suspension for Jackson, who is slated to miss their games against Arizona and Las Vegas. Jackson would appeal the league’s ruling, Rams coach Sean McVay said. “Have to make better decisions than that,” McVay said. “I spoke with him. We’ll keep that in-house... I want to understand the totality of the situation. I’m not condoning by any means, but I want to gather all the information.” Jackson struck Chubb after the two exchanged words following the Bills’ 37-34 overtime victory over the Rams at SoFi Stadium.
SOCCER
English clubs in danger: IFR
English soccer clubs are “dangerously exposed” to financial risk, the country’s Independent Football Regulator (IFR) said in a report released on Tuesday, after finding that 94 percent of clubs in the top five divisions were operating at a loss. The regulator, established last year, proposed stronger cost controls and contingency planning as part of a six-point plan to improve the financial sustainability of the English game. Its draft State of the Game report, which is to undergo an eight-week public consultation before a final version is published, found nearly two-thirds of English Football League and National League clubs were “technically insolvent” and increasingly dependent on cash injections from owners. “While some of our clubs are among the richest and most competitive in the world, others are standing on the edge of financial disaster... A significant number of clubs have told us they would not survive if their owners walked away,” IFR chair David Kogan said.
ATHLETICS
Runner Korir suspended
Kenyan marathon runner Ronald Kipkoech Korir has been provisionally suspended for using a prohibited substance, the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) said on Tuesday. Korir, 35, finished fourth behind winner Eliud Kipchoge in the 2023 Berlin Marathon and his time of 2 hours, 4 minutes, 22 seconds placed him in the elite bracket of marathon performers. An athlete is provisionally suspended while his case is investigated. More than 140 Kenyan athletes, including current women’s marathon world record holder Ruth Chepngetich, have been suspended or banned by the AIU since 2017.
TOUCH Taiwan team dominated Taiwan’s men’s over-45 team are winless so far at the Asia Pacific Seniors Touch Cup in Japan over the past few days. Taiwan face New Zealand, England, Japan and Australia in the grade, one of nine at the Federation of International Touch-run tournament in Utsunomiya. Taiwan opened their campaign with a 14-1 loss to New Zealand on Wednesday before falling 12-0 to England later on the first day. The challenge continued on day two yesterday. Taiwan were defeated 10-0 by the hosts before taking on Australia, one of the sport’s traditional powerhouses, losing 14-1. In a second meeting
NBA superstar LeBron James on Thursday delivered a solid first half in his first pre-season game for Philadelphia, although the new-look 76ers fell 114-108 to the New York Nets in Brooklyn. James, the NBA’s all-time leading scorer, in July announced that he had signed a two-year, US$8 million deal with the 76ers, ending weeks of speculation over where the four-time NBA champion would land as a free agent after eight seasons and one title with the Los Angeles Lakers. The 41-year-old, entering a record-extending 24th NBA season, won two titles with the Miami Heat, another with the Cleveland Cavaliers and a fourth
SHOCK KNOCKOUT: US Open finalist Ben Shelton was caught off-guard by Arthur Gea yesterday, after skipping the Japan Open, which ended last week, due to fitness concerns Daniil Medvedev has won his first match since being disqualified at the China Open for hitting a spectator in the eye with a ball he hit into the stands. Medvedev beat Jan-Lennard Struff 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 in a second-round match on Saturday at the Shanghai Masters, an ATP 1000 tennis event. Medvedev, who now holds a 10-2 career edge over Struff, had been disqualified during his semi-final on Monday last week against Novak Djokovic for hitting the spectator with a ball the Russian player had hit into the stands at Beijing. Medvedev, who apologized after the incident, saying it was an accident, lost
COMPETiTIVE FINISH: Powering through the tournament in China, Lin Yun-ju finished second, losing in the final to the world No. 1 in a close-fought match Taiwan’s Lin Yun-ju finished second in the men’s singles at the World Table Tennis (WTT) China Smash on Sunday in the final against world No. 1 Sora Matsushima of Japan. Lin, the world No. 6, recovered from a loss in the first two games to take a 3-2 lead, but was overtaken by Matsushima, who won the match 4-3. In the 55-minute final at Shougang Park in Beijing, Lin finished as the runner-up, with game scores of 7-11, 9-11, 11-7, 11-8, 11-5, 7-11, 9-11. Lin entered Sunday’s final with a 6-1 career record against Matsushima, although the Japanese player had won their
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