OLYMPICS
Mexico launches bid
Mexico has launched an official bid for the 2036 Summer Olympic Games, the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the national Olympic committee (COM) said in a joint statement on Wednesday. Mexican Minister of Foreign Affairs Marcelo Ebrard said that the agencies would announce a promotion committee on Nov. 30 as the first step of the process, followed by assessments to determine potential host cities. “We see ourselves as a successful and ambitious country,” Ebrard told reporters. “We are the only country that will host three FIFA World Cups, we are a vigorous country with one of the best economies in the world.” COM president Maria Jose Alcala said that Mexico had been under consideration as a candidate since July, when International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach sent a letter expressing his enthusiasm for a potential bid.
CRICKET
BCCI announces fee equity
India’s female cricketers would be paid the same match fee as men in a move to counter discrimination, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) said yesterday. “I’m pleased to announce @BCCI’s first step towards tackling discrimination. We are implementing pay equity policy for our contracted @BCCIWomen cricketers,” BCCI secretary Jay Shah wrote on Twitter. “The match fee for both Men and Women Cricketers will be same as we move into a new era of gender equality in Cricket,” Shah wrote. The announcement came ahead of the reported debut next year of a women’s version of the Indian Premier League T20 tournament.
MOTORSPORTS
Audi to supply Sauber
German manufacturer Audi is to make its entry into Formula One by supplying the engines for Sauber from 2026, the team said on Wednesday. Sauber presently race as Alfa Romeo with a Ferrari engine, but they are cutting ties with Alfa Romeo at the end of next year. They will continue to use the Ferrari engine until the 2026 campaign. “We already know the Sauber Group with its state-of-the-art facility and experienced team from previous collaborations and are convinced that together we will form a strong team,” said Oliver Hoffmann, Audi AG board member responsible for the F1 program. “To become Audi’s official works team is not only an honor and a great responsibility, it’s the best option for the future and we are fully confident we can help Audi achieve the objectives they have set for their journey in Formula 1,” Sauber Motorsport chief executive officer and team principal Fred Vasseur said. The engine is to be developed at Audi Sport’s facility near Ingolstadt, Germany. It would be “the first time in more than a decade that a Formula 1 power train will be built in Germany,” Audi said in August, when it announced its entry into Formula One. The new motors are to increase electrical power by up to 50 percent and use 100 percent sustainable fuel. Audi also expects that being associated with Formula One would help it sell more vehicles globally. “The great interest in Formula 1 is global and the racing series is one of the sporting events with the highest reach in the world,” it said. “Formula 1 is popular in key markets such as China and the USA and the trend continues to rise, even among young target groups.”
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