BOWLING
Taiwan win gold at champs
Taiwan on Tuesday won gold at the fifth World Deaf Bowling Championships in Munich, Germany, after defeating South Korea in the women’s trios category. Chang Yao-chien, Lin Ya-chin, Wang Yu-chin and Lin Hsiang-tzu won one silver and one bronze medal in the women’s doubles category on Sunday. Chang, Lin Ya-chin, and Wang on Tuesday combined to win gold. The trio advanced to the semi-finals after finishing their first six games with a score of 3,326 points, the Chinese Taipei Deaf Sports Federation said in a news release. In the semi-finals, they defeated South Korea 576-510 and topped another South Korean trio 633-547 in the finals to bag gold, it said. Taiwan also won bronze in the men’s trios category. The championships end on Saturday. Taiwan has one gold, two silvers and three bronzes, behind South Korea at the top of the medal table with 11 medals.
SOCCER
Lopetegui ditches Wolves
Julen Lopetegui on Tuesday left his position as Wolverhampton Wanderers manager after nine months in charge and less than a week before the start of the English Premier League season. The former Spain and Real Madrid coach was reportedly unhappy with the club’s financial situation. He took charge in November last year with the team in last place in the league and guided Wolves to safety and a 13th-place finish. “However, the head coach and club acknowledged and accepted their differences of opinion on certain issues and agreed that an amicable end to his contract was the best solution for all parties,” the club said. Wolverhampton are reportedly set to hire Gary O’Neil, who left AFC Bournemouth during the off-season.
BASKETBALL
No Olympics for Taiwan
Taiwan’s basketball association yesterday said that it would not take part in qualifying matches for the Olympics to be held in Syria due to security concerns. In a statement, the CTBA said it was “impossible to overcome” security concerns about host city Damascus, especially as the team would have to get there via land from a neighboring country. “Based on the priority given to the safety of the team members, it is determined not to participate in this competition,” it said. Taiwan has never won an Olympic medal for basketball.
Hong Kong-based cricket team Hung See this weekend found success in their matches in Taiwan, even if none of the results went their way. Hung See played the Chairman’s XI on Saturday morning, the Daredevils that afternoon and PCCT yesterday, with all three home teams winning. The team for Chinese players at the Happy Valley-based Craigengower Cricket Club sends teams on tour to “spread the game of cricket.” This weekend was Hung See’s second trip to Taiwan after visiting Tainan in 2016. “The club has been traveling to all parts of the world since 1982 and the annual tradition continues [with the Taiwan
‘TOUGH TO BREATHE’: Tunisian three-time Grand Slam finalist Ons Jabeur suffered an asthma attack in her 7-5, 6-3 victory over Colombia’s Camila Osorio Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei yesterday cruised into the second round of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while Iga Swiatek romped into a third-round women’s singles showdown with Emma Raducanu and Taylor Fritz was just as emphatic in his pursuit of a maiden Grand Slam title. Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia, the third seeds, defeated Slovakia’s Tereza Mihalikova and Olivia Nicholls of Britain 7-5, 6-2 in 90 minutes in Melbourne. Ostapenko and Hsieh — who won the women’s doubles and mixed doubles at the Australian Open last year — hit 25 winners and converted five of nine break points to set
HARD TO SAY GOODBYE: After Coco Gauff dispatched Belinda Bencic in the fourth round, she wrote ‘RIP TikTok USA’ and drew a broken heart on a television camera lens Defending champion Hsieh Su-wei of Taiwan yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while compatriot Chan Hao-ching on Saturday dominated her opponents in the second round, as world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka swept into the quarter-finals. Third seeds Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia toppled Hungary’s Timea Babos and Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US 6-4, 6-3, hitting 24 winners and converting three of seven break points in 1 hour, 18 minutes at 1573 Arena. Although rivals at last year’s Australian Open — where Hsieh and Belgium’s Elise Mertens beat Ostapenko and Ukraine’s Lyudmyla Kichenok 6-1, 7-5
Dubbed a “motorway for cyclists” where avid amateurs can chase Tadej Pogacar up mountains teeming with the highest concentration of professional cyclists per square kilometer in the world, Spain’s Costa Blanca has forged a new reputation for itself in the past few years. Long known as the ideal summer destination for those in search of sun, sea and sand, the stretch of coast between Valencia and Alicante now has a winter vocation too. During the season break in December and January, the region experiences an invasion of cyclists. Star names such as three-time Tour de France winner Pogacar, Remco Evenepoel and Julian Alaphilippe
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