TENNIS
Hsieh advances to quarters
Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and partner Barbora Strycova of the Czech Republic on Monday beat Japan’s Miyu Kato and Indonesia’s Aldila Sutjiadi 6-3, 6-3 at the Madrid Open to advance to the quarter-finals. They are today to play Taylor Townsend of the US and Leylah Fernandez of Canada, who beat Georgia’s Oksana Kalashnikova and Russia’s Yana Sizikova 6-3, 7-5. In women’s singles, world No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka made light work of 16-year-old Mirra Andreeva with a 6-3, 6-1 win to reach the quarter-finals. “Of course I’m happy with the win. I wish I would have played at Madrid when I was 16,” Sabalenka said.
SOCCER
Wolfsburg beat Arsenal
VfL Wolfsburg are to play Barcelona in the UEFA Women’s Champions League final after Pauline Bremer’s last-gasp winner sealed a dramatic victory against Arsenal on Monday. The Germans won 3-2 in the semi-final second leg at the Emirates Stadium, as Bremer’s goal in the closing seconds of extra-time sealed a 5-4 aggregate success. Stina Blackstenius put Arsenal ahead, with Jill Roord and Alexandra Popp netting for Wolfsburg before Jennifer Beattie leveled for the Gunners, setting the stage for Bremer’s decisive goal. “Credit to Arsenal, they’ve been through a lot as a team, but they made it super hard,” Roord said. “At the end they could have won, we could have won. We were the lucky ones.”
BOXING
IBA lashes out at ‘hyenas’
International Boxing Association (IBA) president Umar Kremlev on Monday blasted the national federations who broke away from the body to form a new world boxing federation, describing the officials as “black sheep” and “hyenas” who do not belong in sports. A group including the US and Britain announced a new federation — World Boxing — last month in a breakaway aimed at securing the troubled sport’s Olympic future while seeking recognition from the International Olympic Committee. With representatives from Germany, Britain, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the Philippines, Sweden and the US, World Boxing has an interim executive board and said there would be no bar on any national federation being a member of both bodies. Russian Kremlev said the IBA is the only international association that governs the sport. “We say that there’s always a black sheep in our family, there are always people who go their own ways... Someone tried to register an international association from their garage, why should we even consider them,” he told a news conference.
SOCCER
Fan with chainsaw caught
A soccer fan wielding a chainsaw was arrested during riots at a CAF Champions League match in Tunis, a source at the Tunisian Ministry of the Interior said on Monday. The return leg of the quarter-final between Tunisia’s Esperance and Algeria’s JS Kabylie at the Rades Stadium on Saturday was interrupted by violence, which caused a 40-minute delay to the second half. Esperance fans clashed with security forces and lit fireworks on the terraces. Local reports said that a warehouse at the stadium was looted and some equipment, including a chainsaw, was stolen. “We can confirm the arrest of a fan holding the chainsaw,” said the ministry source, who requested anonymity.
‘SOURCE OF PRIDE’: Newspapers rushed out special editions and the government sent their congratulations as Shohei Ohtani became the first player to enter the 50-50 club Japan reacted with incredulity and pride yesterday after Shohei Ohtani became the first player in Major League Baseball to record 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in a single season. The Los Angeles Dodgers star from Japan made history with a seventh-inning homer in a 20-4 victory over the Marlins in Miami. “We would like to congratulate him from the bottom of our heart,” top government spokesman Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters in Tokyo. “We sincerely hope Mr Ohtani, who has already accomplished feat after feat and carved out a new era, will thrive further,” he added. The landmark achievement dominated Japanese morning news
When Wang Tao ran away from home aged 17 to become a professional wrestler, he knew it would be a hard slog to succeed in China’s passionate but underdeveloped scene. Years later, he has endured family disapproval, countless side gigs and thousands of hours of brutal training to become China’s “Belt and Road Champion” — but the struggle is far from over. Despite a promising potential domestic market, the Chinese pro wrestling community has been battling for recognition and financial stability for decades. “I have done all kinds of jobs [on the side]... Because in the end, it is very
No team in the CPBL can surpass the Taipei Dome attendance record set by the CTBC Brothers, except when the Brothers team up with Taiwanese rock band Mayday. A record-high 40,000 fans turned out at the indoor baseball venue on Saturday for Brothers veteran Chou Szu-chi’s first farewell game, which was followed by a mini post-game concert featuring Mayday. This broke the previous CPBL record of 34,506 set by the Brothers in early last month, when K-pop singer Hyuna performed after the game, and the dome’s overall record of 37,890 set in early March, which featured the Brothers and the
With a quivering finger, England Subbuteo veteran Rudi Peterschinigg conceded the free-kick that sent his country’s World Cup quarter-final into extra-time before smashing his plastic goalkeeper on the floor in frustration. In the genteel southern English town of Tunbridge Wells, 300 elite players have gathered to play the game they love. “I won’t say this is the best weekend I’ve ever had in my life, but it’s certainly in the top two,” said Hughie Best, 58, who flew in from Perth, Australia, to compete and commentate at the event. Tunbridge Wells is the “spiritual home” of Subbuteo, which was invented there in 1946