JUDO
Yang Yung-wei wins gold
Taiwan judo star Yang Yung-wei on Friday won a gold medal in the men’s under-60kg category at the Perth Oceania Open in Australia. Yang, 26, who is ranked world No. 4 by the International Judo Federation, knocked out his 21-year-old Taiwanese opponent Lin Chong-you in the gold-medal bout. Yang advanced to the final by beating Johan Rojas of Colombia in the round-of-16, Michel Augusto of Brazil in the quarter-finals and Joshua Katz of Australia in the semi-finals. Yang’s coach, Liu Wen-teng, said that the next major goal was qualification for next year’s Olympics in Paris. That would include preparing for the Tokyo Grand Slam on Dec. 2 and 3, which would pit Yang against some of the top judokas in the region, Liu said. “We expect that Japan will enter its best judo athletes in the Tokyo competition,” Liu said. The coach said he was confident regarding Yang’s chances of being one of the top eight seeds in Paris. “Seeding is important in judo, as you will be in a better position in the draw,” he said.
Photo: CNA
CRICKET
Semi-finalists decided
Australia yesterday beat Bangladesh by eight wickets at the World Cup in India, although the Aussies were already assured of a semi-final place against South Africa before the match started. On Friday, South Africa completed their group campaign with a five-wicket win over Afghanistan in Ahmedabad. They were already assured to finish second before the result. England played Pakistan last night, with the game to finish after press time. Pakistan had an almost hopeless shot at edging New Zealand for the fourth semi-final spot, but England’s first-innings score of 337 meant that chance was gone once Pakistan had faced 44 deliveries in their reply. They were 35-2 after eight overs. The group stage concludes with India, who are guaranteed top spot, to play the Netherlands today.
MOTOGP
Alex Marquez wins sprint
Alex Marquez of Gresini yesterday shocked Pramac Racing’s Jorge Martin and reigning champion Francesco Bagnaia to win the Malaysian Grand Prix sprint from fourth position as the title contenders dropped to second and third place respectively. Ducati’s Bagnaia, chasing his second world crown, had the first half of the sprint under control after starting from pole at the Sepang International Circuit, but the Italian was unable to hold of a late surge by Marquez. The result meant Bagnaia’s championship lead over Spain’s Martin was reduced to 11 points ahead of the main race today. Enea Bastianini took the fourth slot as Ducati bikes filled the first four places, with KTM’s South African rider Brad Binder being the best among the non-Ducatis, finishing fifth. Australian Jack Miller was sixth, while title-contender Marco Bezzecchi was seventh. Marc Marquez’s difficult season continued as the six-time MotoGP champion crashed for the 27th time in this campaign.
‘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
Olympic bronze medalist Lee Meng-yuan has become the first Taiwanese athlete to top the International Shooting Sport Federation’s (ISSF) men’s skeet world rankings, while top Taiwanese shooters won golds in each of yesterday’s finals in Taoyuan. Lee’s 6,610 points put him ahead of fellow men’s skeet medalists from the Paris Olympics Americans Vincent Hancock and Conner Prince. Lee on Monday said that he was surprised by the result, although he had expected his ranking to rise after the Games, which was also the first time a Taiwanese athlete had competed in men’s skeet. Despite topping the rankings, Lee said he believed Hancock, who