CRICKET
Narine under suspicion
West Indian spinner Sunil Narine has again been reported for a suspect bowling action, the latest being at the ongoing Pakistan Super League (PSL) competition in the United Arab Emirates. The off-spinner, whose career has been blighted by the issue, was reported twice during the Champions League Twenty20 in 2014 and twice more the following year. “Sunil Narine has been reported for a suspected illegal bowling action during match between Lahore Qalandars and Quetta Gladiators at Sharjah,” PSL organizers said in on Twitter. “Narine has now been placed on the warning list and may continue to be selected to play and bowl for his team.”
RUNNING
Champions win tower race
The Eiffel Tower was transformed into a sparkling vertical racecourse on Thursday night, as athletes dashed to the top of the iconic Paris monument in an annual race. Puffing, yet in good spirits, 129 runners from five continents made their way, one-by-one, up 1,665 steps to see who could reach the apex of the 324m structure in the fastest time. Piotr Lobodzinski of Poland, who has been the men’s champion since the vertical race first began in 2015, successfully defended his title, reaching the tower’s summit in 7 minutes, 56.67 seconds. In the women’s category, Suzy Walsham of Australia also gained her fourth victory, getting to the top in 10 minutes, 2.7 seconds.
SOCCER
West Ham security beefed up
Extra police are to be employed at West Ham United’s next home game following crowd trouble at their last Premier League match, London Stadium’s Safety Advisory Group (SAG) announced on Thursday following an emergency meeting. Four pitch invasions marred West Ham’s 3-0 home defeat by Burnley on Saturday and the SAG warned that future trouble could lead to ground closures. “Following reassurances that have been given, it is the SAG’s view that the council does not need to use the ultimate sanction, which would see capacity reduced at the venue and spectators excluded. The remaining homes games will be closely monitored,” the SAG said in a statement. “The SAG must make clear that in the event of future disorder, it would seriously consider advising the certifying authority to take forward this sanction.” West Ham’s co-owners David Sullivan and David Gold had to leave the directors’ box for their own safety and the club are seeking life bans for the supporters who ran on to the pitch.
MOTOR SPORTS
Bee attack hospitalizes Foyt
Four-time Indianapolis 500 winner A.J. Foyt was briefly hospitalized on Wednesday after an attack of Africanized killer bees he encountered while working on his ranch. The attack was the second time the 83-year-old has disturbed beehives while working on his bulldozer. He sustained more than 200 stings to his head alone in a 2005 bee attack. A.J. Foyt Enterprises said in a statement that Foyt was released from a Texas hospital once he was stabilized. The team said this second bee attack was more serious than the first because the first encounter made Foyt more sensitive to bee stings. Foyt is to miss this weekend’s Twelve Hours of Sebring in Florida. He was scheduled to be inducted into Sebring’s Hall of Fame yesterday.
An “outstanding” 17-year-old Chinese badminton player died of cardiac arrest after collapsing on court during a tournament in Indonesia, officials said yesterday. Zhang Zhijie was playing a match late Sunday against Japan’s Kazuma Kawano at the Badminton Asia Junior Championships in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. The score was 11-11 in the first game when Zhang fell to the floor between points. The teenager received treatment at the venue and was rushed to hospital in an ambulance, but passed away later that night after repeated efforts to resuscitate him failed. “Medical conclusions ... indicated that the victim experienced sudden cardiac arrest,” Broto Happy, spokesman for
Taiwan will have two pairs vying for the women’s doubles at the Olympic Games’ tennis event in Paris as Chan Hao-ching (詹皓晴) and her older sister Latisha Chan (詹詠然) officially clinched their third straight Olympic berth, the Chinese Taipei Tennis Association said Thursday. According to the association, the International Tennis Federation confirmed Wednesday evening the Chan sisters’ qualification for the event, meaning they will join the duo of Hsieh Su-wei (謝淑薇) and Tsao Chia-yi (曹家宜) to compete in the quadrennial sports jamboree. There are 16 entries in each doubles event. Hsieh, ranked No. 2 in the world on the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA)
Taiwan’s men’s national basketball team is set to upgrade its depth in the paint after signing Brandon Gilbeck of the P.League+’s Formosa Dreamers to a naturalized player’s contract. The 27-year-old big man from the US landed in Taoyuan early on Monday, where he was welcomed by Chinese Taipei Basketball Association deputy secretary-general Chang Cheng-chung. The two signed the deal, which still has to be approved by the Sports Administration and the Ministry of the Interior. Chang said he is confident that “the proceedings would go smoothly.” If approved, Gilbeck would become the third naturalized basketball player in Taiwan, following the New Taipei Kings’ Quincy
ONE GAME LEFT: ‘We 100 percent believe that this is the team,’ Kagiso Rabada said when asked if this team could end South Africa’s long World Cup drought A long, tortuous World Cup title drought is closer than ever to ending for South Africa after a nine-wicket win over first-time semi-finalist Afghanistan at the global T20 World Cup cricket tournament on Wednesday. Marco Jansen and Kagiso Rabada set the foundations for the lopsided victory with destructive opening bursts of pace bowling to have Afghanistan reeling at 20-4 in the fourth over, and eventually all out for a paltry 56. The South Africans lost just one wicket in pursuit of its first semi-final win at a global men’s limited-overs tournament, with Reeza Hendricks hitting a six and a four on consecutive