BADMINTON
Chou ousted in first match
Taiwanese men’s singles star Chou Tien-chen yesterday lost his first match of the Victor China Open to world No. 7 Li Shifeng of China. The world No. 11 was defeated 21-14, 18-21, 21-18. Taiwan’s Lin Chun-yi fared better in Changzhou, beating France’s Toma Junior Popov 21-15, 10-21, 21-16. Among other Taiwanese results, mixed doubles pair Ye Hong-wei and Lee Chia-hsin thrashed the Netherlands’ Robin Tabeling and Selena Piek 21-13, 21-13. In the men’s doubles, Lee Yang and Wang Chi-lin upset compatriots Su Ching-heng and Ye 21-14, 21-14, while Chang Ko-chi and Po Li-wei lost 21-14, 21-17 to China’s He Jiting and Zhou Haodong. Sung Shuo-yun was beaten 21-15, 21-13 by China’s He Bingjiao in the women’s singles.
CRICKET
NZ level England T20 series
Mitchell Santner starred with the ball on Tuesday, before Tim Seifert led the way with the bat as New Zealand beat England by six wickets at Trent Bridge to end a four-match Twenty20 series all square at 2-2. When Jonny Bairstow was making a quickfire 73, T20 world champions England were on course for a huge total. However, with England white-ball captain Jos Buttler rested from the game, New Zealand took four wickets for 35 runs — with left-arm spinner Santner returning fine figures of 3-30. New Zealand controlled their chase, with Seifert making 48 and the in-form Glenn Phillips 42 before Mark Chapman’s unbeaten 40 completed a comfortable win with 16 balls left. “They [England] got off to a great start tonight, but we knew that if we kept taking wickets it was the best way to slow them down,” New Zealand captain Tim Southee said. “We were trying to be smart and make them take aggressive options.”
BASKETBALL
Stewart breaks WNBA record
New York Liberty’s Breanna Stewart on Tuesday broke the WNBA record for most points scored in a single season after her 40 against the Dallas Wings took her tally to 885 points from 38 games. The five-time All Star forward moved past the 860 points set by Phoenix Mercury guard Diana Taurasi in 2006 when the regular season was 34 games. Stewart has two games left — against Los Angeles Sparks on Thursday and Washington Mystics on Sunday — to add to her tally. “I have something I can hold over her head a little bit,” Stewart, 29, said, jokingly. “It means a lot. Any time I’m in the same limelight as ‘D’ it’s a huge honor. I really appreciate everything I’ve been able to do, and wouldn’t be able to do it without my teammates.”
SOCCER
Messi mural goes viral
High-school students in Argentina pieced together a massive mural of soccer superstar Lionel Messi out of thousands of recycled plastic bottle caps. The mural fills the floor of an open-air high school courtyard in the Grand Bourg neighborhood, just outside the capital, Buenos Aires. It depicts the beaming forward holding aloft the golden FIFA World Cup trophy from last year’s win in Qatar, along with a caption offering thanks to Argentina’s tattooed captain. Sebastian Ramirez, a teacher at the school, posted a video clip on social media that went viral summing up a widely-held assessment of Messi’s legacy. “A tribute to the greatest,” he said.
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
Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei yesterday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while Coco Gauff’s dreams of a first women’s singles title in Melbourne were crushed in the quarter-finals by Paula Badosa. World No. 2 Alexander Zverev was ruffled by a stray feather in his men’s singles quarter-final, but he refocused to beat 12th seed Tommy Paul and reach the semi-finals. Third seeds Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia defeated Elena-Gabriela Ruse of Romania and Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine 6-2, 5-7, 7-5 in 2 hours, 20 minutes to advance the semi-finals. Hsieh and Ostapenko converted eight of 14 break
‘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
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