BADMINTON
Hsu Wen-chi ousted in India
Taiwan’s Hsu Wen-chi made it as far as the women’s singles semi-finals of the BWF Syed Modi India International in Lucknow yesterday, before losing 21-14, 17-21, 16-21 to world No. 21 Line Hojmark Kjaersfeldt of Denmark. The world No. 25 beat Malaysia’s Wong Ling-ching 19-21, 21-17, 21-15 in the quarter-finals on Friday. Taiwanese shuttler Chi Yu-jen, ranked 48th in the world, was later to compete against world No. 31 Priyanshu Rajawat of India in the men’s singles semi-finals, after beating compatriot Lee Chia-hao 21-12, 13-21, 21-13 on Friday.
SOCCER
Famous fan thanks Sinclair
International soccer’s all-time leading goalscorer, Christine Sinclair, who helped Canada to three Olympic medals, is calling time on a glittering career after a second friendly against Australia in Vancouver on Tuesday. The 40-year-old made her penultimate appearance for Canada in a 5-0 win over Australia at Langford on Friday. Sinclair has scored 190 goals for Canada over 23 years. As the 40-year-old prepares to take her final bow, tributes have been pouring in, including one from Canadian Hollywood actor Ryan Reynolds, who joked that her next soccer job could be with Wrexham, the club he owns with fellow actor Rob McElhenney. “Moving on in your career to Wrexham, it’s huge for the town, the club,” said Reynolds, smiling in a video to Sinclair played during an interview with CBC. “I think that you are going to be probably the key difference maker going forward up there in North Wales.” Caught off guard, a wide-eyed Sinclair played along, saying: “For the right amount of money I could go.” Reynolds, who like Sinclair is from Vancouver, also had a serious message. “What I really wanted to do is thank you,” Reynolds said. “I wanted to thank you for inspiring me, my kids, kids all over Canada and the world, young, old, middle-aged... You’re incredible and you deserve all the applause that hands could possibly give.”
FORMULA ONE
Bottas’ backside sells out
Alfa Romeo driver Valtteri Bottas has raised US$150,000 for men’s health charity Movember after a “Bottass 2024” calendar featuring photographs of him baring his backside sped off the shelves. An initial run of 10,000, with 5 euros (US$5.45) from each going to prostate cancer research, swiftly sold out with more printed. “Thank you so much for all the support in November. With the donations and with the calendars we have together raised a substantial amount for @Movember,” Bottas said on social media on Thursday. “Final figures to be calculated in the next days, but we are talking around $150k of funds raised!” Bottas had the calendar idea with photographer Paul Ripke after his partner and Australian cyclist Tiffany Cromwell took a picture of Bottas lying naked in a stream in Aspen, Colorado. That shot proved a hit on Instagram and was sold for charity. Bottas told speedcafe.com at the Las Vegas Grand Prix this month that his mother had some initial reservations. “She doesn’t really understand English that well, and she had seen some videos I had posted. She was quite confused and protective, asking me: ‘Are you sure that’s the path you want to go?’ So I explained the charity thing, and it’s fine.”
Tallon Griekspoor on Friday stunned top seed Alexander Zverev 4-6, 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (7/4) in the second round at Indian Wells, avenging a devastating loss to the German at Roland Garros last year. Zverev, the world No. 2 who is heading the field of the prestigious ATP Masters event with No. 1 Jannik Sinner serving a three-month drugs ban, is the first Indian Wells men’s top seed to lose his opening match since Andy Murray in 2017. It was a cherished win for Griekspoor, who had lost five straight matches — including four last year — to the German. That included a five-setter
Five-time champion Novak Djokovic on Saturday tumbled out of the Indian Wells ATP Masters, falling in his first match to lucky loser Botic van de Zandschulp as two-time defending champion Carlos Alcaraz advanced. “No excuses for a poor performance,” 24-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic said after 37 unforced errors in a 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 defeat. “It doesn’t feel great when you play this way on the court,” he said. “But congratulations to my opponent — just a bad day in the office, I guess, for me.” Djokovic is just the latest in Van de Zandschulp’s string of superstar victims. He
Manchester United on Thursday settled for a 1-1 draw with Real Sociedad in the first leg of their Europa League round-of-16 tie. United led on Joshua Zirkzee’s goal in the 58th minute, but the hosts equalized 12 minutes later after Bruno Fernandes’ hand ball and Mikel Oyarzabal sent Andre Onana the wrong way from the penalty spot. The Europa League could be a way for United to finish the season with a trophy after crashing out of the FA Cup on Sunday. A spot in the quarter-finals is to be on the line at Old Trafford in the second leg on Thursday next
Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday held their nerve to beat Liverpool 4-1 on penalties and reach the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals after their tie finished one-apiece on aggregate, while Bayern Munich saw off Bayer 04 Leverkusen to complete a 5-0 win over both legs. Lamine Yamal and Raphinha fired Barcelona into the next round as the Catalans bested SL Benfica 3-1, and Inter booked a last-eight meeting with Bayern by seeing off Feyenoord 2-1. At Anfield, Ousmane Dembele netted the only goal of the night as PSG bounced back from Liverpool’s late winner last week to force the tie to extra-time and penalties. Maligned
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