Defending champion Lin Dan and third-seeded Peter Gade had easy victories yesterday to advance to the second round of the badminton world championships.
Lin, seeking to become the first player to win three straight titles, defeated Misha Zilberman of Israel 21-9, 21-11, while Danish player Gade had a 21-11, 21-16 victory over Ukraine’s Valerly Atrashchekov.
The tournament began under tight security after England’s decision on Sunday to withdraw because of security concerns.
Lin, winner of the singles title at the 2006 and 2007 World championships and the 2008 Olympics, is seeded fifth because of his low ranking after missing several Super Series events.
Lin is regarded by many as favorite for the title but has tried to deflect the attention.
“I don’t consider myself as a favorite for the title. I think Gade and top seed Lee Chong Wei are the favorites,” he said.
Gade, 32, the losing finalist in the 2001 world championships, said he felt comfortable throughout his match, even though his opponent played a brisk game.
Gade is expected to meet Lin in the quarter-finals.
Dutch player Dicky Palyama scored the first upset of the tournament by ousting 11th-seeded Bao Chun Lai of China 21-18, 21-14 in the opening round.
Sixth-seeded Sony Dwi Kuncoro of Indonesia advanced to the second round with a 21-13, 21-9 victory over Austria’s Michael Lahnsteiner.
Women’s No. 14 Wong Mew Choo of Malaysia took just 19 minutes to defeat American Shannon Pohl 21-4, 21-6.
■ENGLAND’S PULLOUT
AP, LONDON
England badminton officials and players blamed what they said were inadequate security measures for their decision to pull out of the championships.
Badminton England chief executive Adrian Christy told a media conference yesterday the team was not given “appropriate levels of security” for the tournament.
Security concerns over sports events in South Asia have been heightened since the attack on the Sri Lanka cricket team in Lahore, Pakistan, that killed six policemen and a driver in March.
“It wasn’t a safe place for staff or players,” Robertson said at the media conference at Milton Keynes, England. “We were on back roads with no armed guards or anything — just a bus driver. It doesn’t matter to me where it is in the world, we weren’t safe in that situation. It wasn’t a difficult decision in my mind.”
England flew home from Hyderabad on Sunday, a day before the tournament started, because of a terrorist threat from a Pakistan-based Islamic militant group.
Indian police have denied there was a threat but team manager Andy Wood said that security was so lax that members of the public could easily walk into the players’ hotel unchallenged.
“I don’t think we have overreacted,” Christy said. “We were very clear of our expectation of security before the event. We went to Hyderabad with every intention of being met with appropriate levels of security. We were not particularly impressed with the level of security we were met with on arrival and subsequent days.”
Christy also expressed his unhappiness with comments from Badminton Scotland chief executive Anne Smillie, who said that England had overreacted.
England performance director Ian Ross said other teams were concerned with security and got in touch with their embassies for advice on whether to stay.
“This is unfortunate and an overreaction,” Indian home secretary G.K. Pillai said on Sunday. “The security arrangements in Hyderabad are good and the government of India is committed to ensure the complete security of all competitors and the championship.”
In March, two of England’s top badminton players withdrew from the India Open in Hyderabad citing security concerns.
The qualifying round of the World Baseball Classic (WBC) is to be held at the Taipei Dome between Feb. 21 and 25, Major League Baseball (MLB) announced today. Taiwan’s group also includes Spain, Nicaragua and South Africa, with two of the four teams advancing onto the 2026 WBC. Taiwan, currently ranked second in the world in the World Baseball Softball Confederation rankings, are favorites to come out of the group, the MLB said in an article announcing the matchups. Last year, Taiwan finished in a five-way tie in their group with two wins and two losses, but finished last on tiebreakers after giving
Taiwan suffered its first defeat of the 2024 World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Premier12, losing to defending champion Japan 3-1 at the Taipei Dome last night. Japan’s victory put Taiwan’s score at two wins and one loss in WBSC Premier12 championship Group B play. In the top of the first inning, a sacrifice fly from Japanese batter Shota Morishita allowed Masayuki Kuwahara to score a run on Taiwan’s starter Chen Po-ching (陳柏清). Taiwan’s attempt to catch up in the bottom of the first ended to no avail and an uneventful second inning saw the score
A debate over the soul of soccer is raging in FIFA World Cup holders Argentina, pitting defenders of the social role of the beautiful game against the government of libertarian Argentine President Javier Milei, who wants to turn clubs into for-profit companies. Argentina, which gave the world Diego Maradona and Lionel Messi, is home to some of the world’s most devoted soccer fans — a fact attributed by supporters like Gabriel Nicosia to the clubs’ community outreach. Nicosia is a lifelong supporter of San Lorenzo, a more than 100-year-old first division club based in the working-class Buenos Aires neighborhood of Boedo where
SIXTY IN VAIN: In California, De’Aaron Fox contributed a record in points, but it was not enough as his Kings lost 130-126 in overtime to the Timberwolves in the NBA Cup The floor and ball both looked different at the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland, Ohio, on Friday, but not the Cavaliers, who remained unchanged and kept their perfect start to the NBA season unblemished. They improved to 14-0 with a 144-126 win over the Chicago Bulls in their NBA Cup opener, which served as another showcase for a Cavs team clicking like never before. After the final buzzer, Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland and Jarrett Allen celebrated more history by dancing on the court with a giant green frog, who has quickly become an impromptu mascot to an unscripted start. “It’s Cleveland,” Allen said,
RSS