Unseeded Japanese Kenichi Tago shocked Danish seventh seed Joachim Persson 16-21, 21-14, 21-13 in the men’s singles first round at the world badminton championships yesterday.
Tago fought back from a game down to win in 57 minutes on a day when the championships were hit by an (A)H1N1 virus threat, with a Malaysian coach quarantined with swine flu symptoms.
Eight people have died of swine flu in India, with hundreds infected. The southern state of Andhra Pradesh, of which Hyderabad is the capital, has recorded 76 positive cases.
PHOTO: AFP
Ninth-seeded Hsieh Yu-hsing of Taiwan scraped past India’s Arvind Bhat 21-14, 19-21, 24-22 in just over an hour in another first round match.
Indonesia’s former Olympic and world champion Taufik Hidayat and Chinese second seed Chen Jin were scheduled to open their campaigns later.
Also yesterday, Chen Hsiao-huan of Taiwan lost to Hong Kong’s Wang Chen 21-14, 19-21, 24-22, and in mixed doubles play, Taiwan’s Fang Chieh’min and Cheng Wen-hsing were defeated by China’s Zhang Yawen and Xie Zhongbo.
The championships are being played under tight security after England pulled out citing a “specific terrorist threat,” following media reports the event could be targeted by the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba.
The group has been blamed for the raid on Mumbai in November in which 166 people were killed.
Taiwan kept its hopes of advancing to the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome last night, backed by solid pitching. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. The win was crucial for Taiwan, as a loss would have eliminated the team from contention for the next WBC. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen (沙子宸) struck out one and allowed no hits, except for
The Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) is considering reducing its pitch clock by two seconds to help players better adjust to the rules applied at the World Baseball Classic (WBC). The proposal aims to shorten the pitch timer from 25 seconds to 23 seconds with the bases empty, and from 20 seconds to 18 seconds with runners on base. Currently, the WBC mandates that pitchers deliver a pitch every 18 seconds with the bases empty and 15 seconds with runners on base. The issue was raised during a pre-season CPBL managers’ meeting on Tuesday by Rakuten Monkeys bench and batting
‘SETTING THE TONE’: Donovan Mitchell said that their determination to dominate had nothing to do with past results, but was about a potential post-season clash The Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday boosted their NBA-best record with a 142-105 romp past the New York Knicks, tightening their grip on the Eastern Conference lead with an all-around dominant display. Donovan Mitchell scored 27 points to lead six Cavs players to score in double figures, connecting on five of seven three-pointers as Cleveland drilled 19 from beyond the arc. “I think the biggest thing was just try to set the tone early,” Mitchell said, adding that the determination to dominate had nothing to do with the Knicks’ first-round playoff win over the Cavs two seasons ago and everything to do with
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