TENNIS
Taiwan’s Chans advance
Taiwanese pair Latisha Chan and Chan Hao-ching advanced at the WTA Chicago Women’s Open on Wednesday, but Hsieh Su-wei was knocked out in the singles. The No. 2-seeded Chan sisters had a doubles quarter-final walkover against US duo Claire Liu and Hailey Baptiste and after press time last night were to play in the semis against Ukraine’s Lyudmyla Kichenok and Makoto Ninomiya of Japan, who advanced with a 7-6 (7/5), 6-3 win over Poland’s Alicja Rosolska and Eri Hozumi of Japan. Tereza Martincova of the Czech Republic eliminated Hsieh 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 in the round-of-16.
TENNIS
Serena Williams withdraws
Serena Williams has withdrawn from next week’s US Open after the American said on Wednesday that her torn hamstring had not completely healed ahead of the final Grand Slam of the year. She joined sister Venus Williams and Sofia Kenin as others in the women’s singles draws who will miss the tournament.
MOTORSPORT
Alonso to stay with Alpine
Double Formula One world champion Fernando Alonso is to stay at the Alpine F1 team next season, the team announced yesterday. Alonso is to race alongside French teammate Esteban Ocon for a second term following his new deal.
RUGBY UNION
Trio to miss Test
All Blacks captain Sam Whitelock, and first-choice halves Richie Mo’unga and Aaron Smith have been left out of the traveling squad for next week’s Rugby Championship Test against Australia in Perth, with the players’ wives expecting babies. Hooker Codie Taylor is expected to lead the side against Australia at Perth Stadium.
SOCCER
Infantino seeks releases
The English Premier League and Spain’s La Liga should release players for World Cup qualifiers next month to “preserve and protect sporting integrity,” FIFA president Gianni Infantino said on Wednesday. The Premier League has refused to release players headed to countries on the UK’s “red list” due to strict COVID-19 quarantine rules on their return, while La Liga supported its clubs in refusing to release players for qualifiers in South America.
CRICKET
Ted Dexter dies
Former England captain Ted Dexter has died after a recent illness, the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) said yesterday. He was 86. Dexter, nicknamed “Lord Ted,” was an aggressive batsman and part-time seam bowler who played 62 Tests for England after making his debut in 1958 against New Zealand. He captained England and Sussex in the early 1960s. “After a recent illness, he passed away peacefully in the Compton Hospice in Wolverhampton at midday yesterday [Wednesday], surrounded by his family,” the MCC said in a statement. “Ted was a cherished husband, father and grandfather and one of England’s greatest ever cricketers. He was captain in 30 of his 62 Test matches and played the game with the same sense of adventure and fun that captures much of the story of his remarkable life.”
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