BADMINTON
Taiwan lose to Malaysia
Tai Tzu-ying yesterday won Taiwan’s only victory in their 4-1 defeat to Malaysia in their Group C tie of the Sudirman Cup Finals. The world No. 3 star dominated Goh Jin Wei in the women’s singles 21-8, 21-10. In the opening match of their final group tie, Ye Hong-wei and Lee Chia-hsin won just one game of their mixed doubles showdown with Chen Tang Jie and Toh Ee Wei, losing 17-21, 21-19, 21-17. That set the tone for the rest of the day, with Chou Tien-chen losing 21-14, 21-23 to world No. 8 Lee Zii Jia in the second match. In men’s doubles, Lu Ching-yao and Yang Po-han lost straight games 21-8, 23-21 to Ong Yew Sin and Teo Ee Yi, while Hsu Ya-ching and Teng Chun-hsun eked out a win in their 21-15, 19-21, 21-15 defeat to Pearly Tan and Thinaah Muralitharan in the women’s doubles.
RUGBY UNION
Kit switched for color blind
Saracens and Sale Sharks are to wear their away jerseys in the Premiership Rugby final this month to avoid a clash that would have posed a problem for color blind fans, the league said yesterday. Saracens traditionally would have worn their black home jerseys as top seeds, while Sale play in red-maroon, but Colour Blind Awareness said that fans with a vision deficiency would not be able to tell them apart. Saracens would now play in their white away jerseys, while Sale play in maroon after the league were told that one in 12 men and one in 200 women are color blind. “It is important that the accessibility needs of these groups are recognized to enable all fans of the sport to have a positive viewing experience that isn’t limited by avoidable color clashes,” Colour Blind Awareness CEO Kathryn Albany-Ward said.
ATHLETICS
Kenyan runner suspended
Kenyan distance runner Rhonex Kipruto, who won a bronze medal in the 10,000m at the 2019 World Athletics Championships, has been suspended for suspected doping, the Athletics Integrity Unit said yesterday. Kipruto has been notified of a charge relating to irregularities in his athlete biological passport, it said. The biological passport can detect possible irregularities in blood values assessed over time without an athlete testing positive for a banned substance. Kipruto was 19 when he finished third in the 10,000m in Doha. Months later, he set a record for a 10km road race in Valencia, Spain, and placed ninth in the 10,000m at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.
CYCLING
Virus knocks out more riders
The Giro d’Italia yesterday lost six more cyclists, four of them from former race leader Remco Evenepoel’s team, owing to positive COVID-19 tests taking the total of withdrawals due to the virus to 15 since the race began on May 6. Race favorite Evenepoel withdrew late on Sunday due to a positive test and despite the race organizers implementing stricter rules on Monday, COVID-19 continued to affect the peloton. “Soudal Quick-Step is disappointed to announce that four more riders from its Giro d’Italia squad have tested positive for COVID-19 and will leave the race,” read a team statement. “Following the positive test of Remco Evenepoel on Sunday, a further round of tests were made on the riders and staff that remained in Italy, with Jan Hirt, Josef Cerny, Louis Vervaeke and Matteo Cattaneo unfortunately unable to continue.”
SIBLING RIVALRY: Marc Marquez was locked in a duel with his little brother, falling behind at one point before recovering for his first season-opening victory since 2014 Six-time world champion Marc Marquez yesterday won the MotoGP season-opening Thailand Grand Prix to complete a dominant debut weekend at his new Ducati Lenovo Team, having also romped to Saturday’s sprint. The Spanish great took the 26-lap grand prix by 1.732 seconds for his 63rd MotoGP victory from younger brother Alex Marquez, who is still seeking a first checkered flag, with Francesco Bagnaia third to complete an all-Ducati podium. It completed a perfect weekend for Marc Marquez, who took pole position, the sprint victory and the grand prix win for a maximum 37 points to open the 22-leg 2025 campaign. He led from
AC Milan’s slender hopes of reaching next season’s UEFA Champions League took another hit on Thursday with a 2-1 defeat at Bologna which left them eight points from Serie A’s top four. Sergio Conceicao’s team sit eighth, some way behind fourth-placed Juventus after losing an entertaining contest at the Stadio Renato Dall’Ara, a match which was rescheduled from October last year due to torrential rain and flooding. Swathes of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy, much of which is fertile agricultural land, had been left under water following a massive autumn downpour. Dan Ndoye prodded home the decisive goal in the 82nd minute
Former Australian motorcycle gang member-turned-golfer Ryan Peake, who served a lengthy jail term for assault, yesterday produced a “life-changing” maiden win to qualify for The Open Championship. Peake held his nerve for a one-stroke victory at the New Zealand Open, earning him a berth at the major in Portrush, Northern Ireland, in July, pending clearance to travel as a convicted criminal. The 31-year-old from Perth celebrated animatedly and was showered with champagne by friends on the 18th green of the Millbrook Resort course near Queenstown after a redemption story rarely seen in the refined sport of golf. Peake held back tears as he
MILWAUKEE PREVAIL: Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 28 points as the Bucks withstood Nikola Jokic’s 27th triple-double of the season to beat the Nuggets Golden State star Stephen Curry on Thursday drilled 12 three-pointers in a scintillating 56-point display that carried the Warriors to a 121-115 victory over the Orlando Magic. Curry’s explosive performance helped the Warriors dig themselves out of a 17-point hole, with the point guard signaling the start of the fightback with a three-pointer from beyond the half-court line to end the first half that pulled the Warriors within 66-52 at the break. In the third quarter, he single-handedly outscored the Magic with 22 points to Orlando’s 21. The four-time NBA champion finished two three-pointers shy of former teammate Klay Thompson’s record for most
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