Thailand’s defending Olympic Games light-welterweight champion Manus Boonjumnong defeated world champion Serik Sapiyev of Kazakhstan on points to reach the semi-finals yesterday to ensure at least a bronze medal.
Manus, the 28-year-old fighter who famously squandered US$600,000 in prize money on a party-packed lifestyle after winning the gold in Athens in 2004, is bidding to become the first Thai boxer to win two Olympic boxing titles. It was an impressive 7-5 win yesterday.
Southpaw Sapiyev won back-to-back world titles in 2005 and last year, but when the two men last met at the 2006 Asian Games it was the Thai who triumphed 22-18 despite having been knocked to the canvas.
“It was really tough,” Manus said. “Sapiyev is aggressive, always moving in to attack so I was a little anxious.”
In his first round, Manus defeated Japan’s Kawachi Masatsugu, the man who had beaten him at last year’s world championships in Chicago.
The Thai now faces Cuba’s Roniel Iglesias Sotolongo, who beat Russia’s Gennady Kovalev 5-2.
The New Taipei Kings claimed the inaugural Taiwan Professional Basketball League (TPBL) championship on Sunday, defeating the Kaohsiung FamilyMart Aquas 108-89 in the final. Playing at home, the Kings pulled ahead with Jeremy Lin’s (林書豪) clutch three-pointers, securing their victory over the Aquas in the TPBL final. The Kings came out strong in the first quarter, dominating to build a 35-18 lead. By halftime, they had stretched their advantage to 61-38. In the third quarter, the Aquas narrowed the deficit to 12 points, but Lin stepped up, sinking several tough three- pointers to extend the lead. In the final quarter, the Kings pushed the
In an unlikely Ethiopian outpost of one the most French of pastimes, four men are leaning over their petanque balls, arguing over who is winning. Petanque, the bowling game also known as boules, is more readily associated with French village squares where locals launch metal balls at a jack while enjoying an afternoon drink, but for decades, it has also been a beloved pastime for members of a club near the iconic Meskel Square in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa. It was founded in the early 20th century to cater to French railway workers, who built a line connecting Addis Ababa
Taiwanese women’s doubles star Hsieh Su-wei and Australian teenager Maya Joint on Tuesday eased into the Eastbourne Open quarter-finals in England as Hsieh prepares for the Wimbledon Championships next week. Four-time Wimbledon women’s doubles champion Hsieh and 19-year-old Joint fired two aces and converted five of eight break points to defeat Japan’s Shuko Aoyama and Poland’s Katarzyna Piter 6-3, 6-3 in 58 minutes on the grass court. Hsieh and Joint are today to face fourth seeds Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic and Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko, who advanced on Monday with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Quinn Gleason of the US and
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