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.”
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
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