Taiwan’s Huang I-hwa reached the second round of the women’s singles with a four sets to one victory over Andrea Bakula of Croatia yesterday.
However compatriot Pan Li-chun went down 11-9, 9-11, 4-11, 8-11, 6-11 to Melek Hu of Turkey.
The 24-year-old Huang beat Bakula 11-9, 11-6, 11-7, 9-11, 11-9 to set up a clash with Ni Xia Lian of Luxembourg.
PHOTO: AP
The 45-year-old Shanghai-born Ni is not lacking in experience having competed in the World Championships as long ago as 1983.
Other selected women’s singles first round results yesterday:
• Yi Fang Xian (France) beat Jie Xu of Poland 11-6, 11-4, 6-11, 11-9, 8-11, 8-11, 11-7
• Eva Odorova (Slovakia) beat Petra Lovas (Hungary) 11-9, 11-6, 11-4, 8-11, 8-11, 12-10
• Dana Hadacova (Czech Republic) beat Veronika Pavlovich (Belarus) 7-11, 11-7, 11-9, 5-11, 11-9 11-6
• Sandra Paovic (Croatia) beat Jian Fang Lay (Australia) 5-11, 11-9, 12-10, 10-12, 12-14, 11-4, 11-9
• Wenling Tan Monfardini (Italy) beat Tetyana Sorochinskaya (Ukraine) 11-7, 11-6, 9-11, 11-4, 7-11, 11-4
Japanese badminton star Chiharu Shida on Tuesday told Chinese fans to “stop stalking” her, adding that she was “very scared” by the unwanted attention. Shida, who won women’s doubles bronze at the Paris Olympics last year, has a strong following in China partly because of her engagement with the local culture. The 27-year-old, currently competing at the Badminton Asia Championships in Ningbo, China, has been dubbed the “Badminton Goddess” by fans and media. She hit out at some supporters on Tuesday, accusing them in an Instagram post of taking their fandom too far. “Every time we compete in China we always experience the harm
Two people died on Thursday after fans and police clashed outside the Estadio Monumental in Santiago ahead of a game in South America’s Copa Libertadores, Chilean authorities said. The fatalities happened shortly before the match between Chile’s Colo-Colo and Brazilian club Fortaleza, when police blocked about 100 fans when they attempted to enter the stadium. There were conflicting accounts of how the fatalities occurred, with local media reporting that one of the dead was a 13-year-old boy. The other victim was an 18-year-old woman, according to a relative at the hospital where she was treated. The fans died after being caught underneath a
Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) have shown the team do not need star power to win trophies and with the French Ligue 1 title won with six games to spare, the French champions would look to finish the season without losing, manager Luis Enrique said on Saturday. A 1-0 victory over Angers SCO at the Parc des Princes helped PSG win their fourth straight Ligue 1 title and a record-extending 13th overall. PSG can still break Nantes’ 30-year-old record of 32 games unbeaten. Although Nantes lost one game en route to the title, no French club has ever gone an entire league
A potential European league could be a gold mine for the NBA as the top-flight North American league looks to muscle its way into a deep pool of talent across the Atlantic Ocean. The NBA is exploring the launch of a European league with world basketball governing body FIBA as a partner, NBA commissioner Adam Silver said last week, with an eye toward a 16-team format made up of 12 permanent clubs and four qualifiers. The continent’s longstanding Euroleague quickly signaled its readiness to enter into talks with the NBA, even as it has balked at the idea of another league in