SWIMMING
McKeown on a record roll
Kaylee McKeown on Saturday smashed a second world record in as many days, with the star Australian swimmer bettering her own 100m backstroke mark. The 22-year-old touched in 57.33 seconds at the World Aquatics Swimming World Cup in Budapest to shave 0.12 seconds off the time she set in Adelaide before the Tokyo Olympic Games. McKeown now has the five fastest times in history as she builds up to next year’s Paris Olympics. The new mark comes a day after she clocked 26.86 seconds for a new 50m backstroke world record, improving on the previous best of 26.98 seconds set by China’s Liu Xiang in 2018. That made her the first woman ever to hold world records in all three backstroke disciplines and the first swimmer since the US’ Lenny Krayzelburg set all three men’s marks in 1999. “No, I honestly didn’t think about swimming a world record,” McKeown said after her 100m exploit. “I was really relaxed coming into tonight. I tend to swim better when I go out a bit faster, I am trying to learn to swim a bit sharper... I’m happy that some of the things we are trying are working.”
SKATEBOARDING
Teen wins gold in Santiago
Brazil’s 15-year-old skateboarding sensation Rayssa Leal, one of the favorites to win a gold medal in the street event at the Paris Olympics next year, won her first Pan American Games crown on Saturday. The sport is debuting in the largest multisport event on the continent. The teen has become one of the biggest names in the sport since she won a silver medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. She showcased her board flips, slides and grinds to score a total of 236.98 points in Santiago. Her compatriot and friend, Pamela Rosa, finished with the silver medal, 25 points behind. The US’ Paige Heyn, another 15-year-old, won the bronze . Dressed in black, Leal looked effortless throughout the competition, spending more time on her cellphone than watching her adversaries. A different scenario awaits her in Paris, with her most likely rival being once again 16-year-old Momiji Nishiya of Japan, the gold medalist at the sport’s Olympic debut in Tokyo. “This does help me get more confidence for Paris,” Leal said. “The Olympics and the Pan American Games are different from the tournaments I usually compete. It is less about being playful. Being here today helps me prepare better for what is to come next year.”
ICE HOCKEY
Vegas break Cup record
Nicolas Roy, Mark Stone and Paul Cotter scored in the third period, as the undefeated Vegas Golden Knights beat the Chicago Blackhawks 5-3 on Saturday night. The Golden Knights became the first Stanley Cup champions to begin their title defense with six consecutive victories. “We’re playing good hockey,” Vegas defenseman Brayden McNabb said. “We have some stretches where we don’t like our games, but we’re finding ways to win.” William Karlsson and Jonathan Marchessault also scored for Vegas, who extended their franchise-record start. Adin Hill made 21 saves. “We knew after two periods that we were going to have to be better if we expected to win, and I thought we responded well,” Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said. Connor Bedard, Reese Johnson and Corey Perry scored for Chicago, while Arvid Soderblom made 19 stops.
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
The San Francisco Giants signed 18-year-old Taiwanese pitcher Yang Nien-hsi (陽念希) to a contract worth a total of US$500,000 (NT $16.39 million). At a press event in Taipei on Wednesday, Jan. 22, the Giants’ Pacific Rim Area scout Evan Hsueh (薛奕煌) presented Yang with a Giants jersey to celebrate the signing. The deal consisted of a contract worth US$450,000 plus a US$50,000 scholarship bonus. Yang, who stands at 188 centimeters tall and weighs 85 kilograms, is of Indigenous Amis descent. With his fastest pitch clocking in at 150 kilometers per hour, Yang had been on Hsueh’s radar since playing in the HuaNan Cup
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
RSS