China and South Korea opened their East Asian Games campaigns yesterday by each earning two gold medals, with the Chinese winning in snooker and cycling and the South Koreans finding success in shooting and English billiards.
In an all-Chinese men’s snooker final, Tian Pengfei beat Yu Delu 4-2, while Ma Liyun crossed first in the women’s BMX cycling finals, finishing in 35.746 seconds.
Ma finished just ahead of Ayaka Miwa of Japan and more than three seconds ahead of Jiang Nannan of China.
PHOTO: AFP
South Korea’s reigning 50m pistol Olympic champion Jin Jong-oh scored 685.8 points in the 10m competition, narrowly beating teammate Lee Dae-myung by 0.4 points. Tomoyuki Matsuda of Japan took bronze with 683.2 points.
Hwang Chul-ho staved off Eric Lee of Hong Kong 3-1 in the men’s English billiards final.
China also advanced in table tennis, moving into the finals of both the men’s and women’s team competitions. Led by Olympic silver medalist Wang Hao, the Chinese men defeated Hong Kong 3-0, setting up a showdown against Japan, who beat South Korea 3-0. The Chinese women swept Taiwan 3-0, earning them a final spot against Hong Kong, who eliminated Japan 3-1.
In men’s singles, Xu Xin upset top-seeded Jun Mizutani of Japan 4-1 to move into the semi-finals along with teammate Zhang Jike, who edged Kaii Yoshida of Japan 4-3.
Host Hong Kong also had an impressive first day, winning two golds. While it is ruled by China, the former British colony fields separate teams in international sports events.
In the men’s BMX final, Steven Wong won gold, crossing the line in 30.181 seconds, just ahead of Masahiro Sampei of Japan. Zhao Zhiyang of China was third, 1.646 seconds behind.
PHOTO: AFP/ASIA TOUR
A Hong Kong squad led by Marco Fu beat Taiwan 3-1 in the men’s snooker team final.
Hong Kong also guaranteed themselves two squash golds by sweeping the men’s and women’s semi-finals without dropping a set. Lau Siu-wai beat Lee Se-hyun of South Korea and Lee Ho-yin beat Shinnosuke Tsukue of Japan. Annie Au and Rebecca Chiu both shut out Japanese opponents.
Taiwan’s men’s table tennis team won bronze on Saturday at this year’s International Table Tennis Federation World Team Table Tennis Championships in London, matching the country’s best-ever finish at the regular tournament. Consisting of Lin Yun-ju, Taiwan’s top-ranked player at world No. 7, Feng Yi-hsin, Kuo Guan-hong, Hong Jing-kai and Hsu Hsien-chia, the team won bronze after losing 0-3 to Japan in the semifinals. In the opening match, 24-year-old Lin played the first game against world No. 3 Tomokazu Harimoto 11-5, but ultimately lost the next three closely contested games 9-11, 10-12 and 10-12. Feng then faced world No. 8 Sora Matsushima in
Taiwanese fire dancer Yang Li-wei advanced to the final of Britain’s Got Talent this weekend after receiving a Golden Buzzer during her live semi-final performance. Yang, a member of Taiwan’s Coming True Fire Group, awed judges and audiences with a high-intensity fire performance featuring flaming umbrellas, fire swallowing and spinning metal structures balanced with her legs. Judge Simon Cowell praised Yang as a star, while guest judge KSI reacted with amazement before pressing the Golden Buzzer, sending her to the finals. The dance group wrote on social media that the Golden Buzzer was “the highest honor” on the talent show, adding: “Twenty-three years
Memphis Grizzlies forward Brandon Clarke, 29, has died, the NBA team said in a statement on Tuesday, while the family of Jason Collins, the first openly gay man to play in a major US pro sports league, announced the former Grizzlies and Brooklyn Nets player had died after a battle with brain cancer. “We are heartbroken by the tragic loss of Brandon Clarke,” the Grizzlies said in a statement posted on social media. “Brandon was an outstanding teammate and an even better person whose impact on the organization and the greater Memphis community will not be forgotten.” The statement did not provide
As Super Rugby fast approaches its playoff season it finds itself racing toward a reckoning with many issues that threaten the southern hemisphere tournament. A group of stakeholders met in the New Zealand city of Christchurch late last month to address problems that are making the future of the 31-year-old competition increasingly tenuous. The discussion was made more urgent by the decision by the owners of Moana Pasifika to fold the Auckland-based club for financial reasons. That followed the closure of the Melbourne Rebels at the end of the 2024 season, likewise because of financial difficulties. Problems addressed included player retention as more
RSS