TABLE TENNIS
Taiwan men win gold
Taiwan on Friday won gold in the men’s team section of the fourth World Deaf Table Tennis Championships after beating Ukraine 3-2. The team of Wang Yi-hsiang, Yang Rong-tsung and Lu Shih-jie were tied with Ukraine at 2-2, but Wang won the decider over Ukraine’s Ovcharenko Majsym, 3-1, to clinch gold. The second-seeded Taiwan men’s team advanced to the semi-finals after defeating the Philippines 3-1 and Poland 3-0 in the group stage. They beat Japan 3-1 in the semi-finals to reach the gold medal showdown against Ukraine, who won last year’s Summer Deaflympics. Meanwhile, Taiwan’s women’s squad fifth after defeating Hungary 3-1. The championships are being held at the National Taiwan University Sports Center until Thursday.
CRICKET
India decimate Windies
Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin finished with a 12-wicket match haul as India handed the West Indies a crushing innings and 141-run defeat inside three days during the first Test at Windsor Park in Roseau on Friday. Ashwin had claimed 5-60 to help skittle out West Indies for 150 in the first innings on a slow, turning track in the first match of the two-Test series. India amassed 421-5 in reply before declaring their first innings with debutant Yashasvi Jaiswal (171), skipper Rohit Sharma (103) and Virat Kohli (76) scoring the bulk of their runs. Having conceded a lead of 271, West Indies did even worse in their second innings when they were bundled out for 130. Ashwin was the wrecker-in-chief again, claiming 7-71 even though teammate Jaiswal was player of the match. “Our bowling was superb. Bowling them out for 150 actually set the game for us,” Rohit said. “On that pitch, we knew we wanted to bat once, bat long.”
ATHLETICS
England upgraded to gold
England’s 4x100m women’s relay team have been upgraded to Commonwealth Games gold after last year’s winners Nigeria were disqualified because of a doping contravention, it was announced on Friday. The English quartet of Asha Philip, Imani-Lara Lansiquot, Bianca Williams and Daryll Neita finished second on home soil in the Midlands city of Birmingham last year. However, the Commonwealth Games Federation has announced Nigeria sprinter Nzubechi Grace Nwokocha had returned an adverse finding in her sample for two banned anabolic agents. Nwokocha’s results from the 100m, 200m and sprint relay have been declared void, with the issue of her anti-doping infractions passed on to the Athletics Integrity Unit for any possible further sanctions.
CYCLING
UCI tightens gender rules
Female transgender athletes who transitioned after male puberty are no longer able to compete in women’s races, world cycling governing body UCI said on Friday. The UCI’s decision came after US rider Austin Killips became the first openly transgender woman to win an official cycling event in May. “From now on, female transgender athletes who have transitioned after [male] puberty will be prohibited from participating in women’s events on the UCI international calendar — in all categories — in the various disciplines,” the international federation said in a statement. The UCI said the ban, starting tomorrow, was necessary to “ensure equal opportunities.”
‘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