TENNIS
Chan sisters advance
Taiwanese sisters Latisha Chan and Chan Hao-ching on Monday beat Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Ellen Perez of Australia 6-4, 3-6, 10-7 to advance to the women’s doubles quarter-finals at the Internationaux de Strasbourg in France. They are to face the winners of last night’s match of Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Chinese partner Wang Xinyu against Angelina Gabueva of Russia and Kaia Kanepi of Estonia, which was to begin after press time. Taiwanese Wu Fang-hsien and Australian partner Olivia Tjandramulia advanced last night, beating France’s Severine Deppner and Sarah Iliev 2-6, 7-5, 10-6. On Monday, Hsieh crashed out of the women’s singles round of 32, losing 7-6 (7/2), 1-6, 6-1 to New Zealand’s Erin Routliffe.
MOUNTAINEERING
Nepalese sets record again
Veteran guide Kami Rita Sherpa yesterday scaled Mount Everest for the 28th time, beating his own record less than a week after setting it, as two guides compete with each other for the title of most climbs of the world’s highest peak. Kami Rita Sherpa, considered one of the greatest mountain guides, reached the 8,849m summit at 9:20am yesterday, expedition organizer Seven Summits Treks said. His latest climb came a day after fellow guide Pasang Dawa Sherpa matched his record of 27 trips to the summit. The race for the title began with Pasang Dawa Sherpa climbing the peak for the 26th time on May 14, equaling Kami Rita Sherpa’s previous record. Kami Rita Sherpa went on to the peak three days later for the 27th time.
BASEBALL
Announcer fired over slur
Oakland Athletics broadcaster Glen Kuiper was let go by NBC Sports California after using a racial slur during a telecast while describing a trip to the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, the network said on Monday. Kuiper was suspended by the network following the incident during a pregame segment on May 5. Kuiper seemingly mispronounced the word “negro,” making it sound instead like a slur. A person familiar with the investigation said “the decision was based on a variety of factors, including information uncovered in the internal review.” Kuiper said in a statement on Monday night that he mispronounced the word “negro” out of his excitement talking about his visit to the museum. “It was a terrible, but honest mispronunciation, and I take full responsibility,” he said.
SOCCER
Thai FA bans players
The Football Association of Thailand (Thai FA) yesterday banned two players, two officials and a coach over brawls that marred the men’s final at the Southeast Asian Games. Thai FA announced a one-year ban from the national team for a goalkeeping coach and two team officials. “The fact-finding team agreed unanimously that as adults, the goalkeeping coach and team officials should be mature enough to control the situation and set a good example for the players, who are aged under 22,” it said in a statement. “They should not lead or take part in the incident.” Goalkeeper Soponwit Rakyart — who was red-carded after he ran half the length of the pitch to deliver a diving punch — and substitute Teerapak Pruengna were banned from the national team for six months.
Shohei Ohtani and Clayton Kershaw on Friday joined their Los Angeles Dodgers teammates in sticking their fists out to show off their glittering World Series rings at a ceremony. “There’s just a lot of excitement, probably more than I can ever recall with the Dodger fan base and our players,” manager Dave Roberts said before Los Angeles rallied to beat the Detroit Tigers 8-5 in 10 innings. “What a way to cap off the first two days of celebrations,” Roberts said afterward. “By far the best opening week I’ve ever experienced. I just couldn’t have scripted it any better.” A choir in the
The famously raucous Hong Kong Sevens are to start today in a big test for a shiny new stadium at the heart of a major US$3.85 billion sports park in the territory. Officials are keeping their fingers crossed that the premier event in Hong Kong’s sporting and social calendar goes off without a hitch at the 50,000-seat Kai Tak Stadium. They hope to entice major European soccer teams to visit in the next few months, with reports in December last year saying that Liverpool were in talks about a pre-season tour. Coldplay are to perform there next month, all part of Hong Kong’s
Shohei Ohtani, Teoscar Hernandez and Tommy Edman on Thursday smashed home runs to give the reigning World Series champions the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5-4 victory over Detroit on the MLB’s opening day in the US. The Dodgers, who won two season-opening games in Tokyo last week, raised their championship banner on a day when 28 clubs launched the season in the US. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts shuffled his batting lineup with all four leadoff hitters finally healthy as Ohtani was followed by Mookie Betts, then Hernandez and Freddie Freeman in the cleanup spot, switching places with Hernandez. “There’s a Teoscar tax to
Marcus Rashford’s first goals for Aston Villa on Sunday inspired a 3-0 win against Preston North End that sent his side into the FA Cup semi-finals for the first time in 10 years. Rashford struck twice in the second half at Deepdale to end Preston’s stubborn resistance before Jacob Ramsey wrapped up Villa’s long-awaited return to the last four. Villa are to face Crystal Palace — 3-0 winners at Fulham on Saturday — in the semi-finals at Wembley Stadium in London. Revitalized since joining Villa on loan from Manchester United during the January transfer window, Rashford is beginning to show the form that
RSS