TENNIS
Taiwan’s Wu makes quarters
Taiwan’s Wu Fang-hsien and her Norwegian partner, Ulrikke Eikeri, yesterday beat seventh seeds Chan Hao-ching of Taiwan and Giuliana Olmos of Mexico 3-6, 7-6 (7/5), 10-6 in their round-of-16 women’s doubles match at the Dubai Open. They next face Belarus’ Aliaksandra Sasnovich and Germany’s Laura Siegemund in the quarter-finals after they shocked top seeds Hsieh Su-wei of Taiwan and her Belgian partner, Elise Mertens, 6-7 (5/7), 6-2, 10-8.
CHESS
Eight-year-old takes record
An eight-year-old on Sunday became the youngest player to defeat a grandmaster in classical chess when Ashwath Kaushik beat Poland’s Jacek Stopa at the Burgdorfer Stadthaus Open in Switzerland. Indian-born Ashwath, who lives in Singapore, defeated 37-year-old Stopa to break the record set a month earlier by Leonid Ivanovic from Serbia when he beat grandmaster Milko Popchev, the Chess.com Web site said. Ivanovic is also aged eight, but was born five months before Ashwath. “It felt really exciting and amazing, and I felt proud of my game and how I played, especially since I was worse at one point, but managed to come back from that,” Ashwath told Chess.com. Ashwath learned to play the game at the age of four, and became a World Under-Eight Rapid Champion in 2022, the Web site said. “He picked it up on his own, playing with his grandparents,” his father Kaushik Sriram said. “It’s surreal as there isn’t really any sports tradition in our families. Every day is a new discovery.” Ashwath finished the tournament in 12th place after losing to International Master Harry Grieve.
SOCCER
Son, Lee ‘sorry’ for fight
Son Heung-min yesterday apologized for his role in a bust-up with South Korea teammate Lee Kang-in at the AFC Asian Cup and urged fans to forgive the Paris Saint-Germain player. “Kang-in has been going through a very difficult time after the incident,” Tottenham Hotspur’s Son wrote. South Korea were beaten 2-0 by Jordan at the tournament earlier this month and it later emerged that skipper Son had dislocated a finger in an altercation with Lee on the eve of the semi-final. Lee, who has been blamed by fans for the fracas and dumped by advertisers, said yesterday that he had traveled to London to apologize to Son in person. The incident at the Asian Cup reportedly happened after some younger players, including Lee, rushed through their meal so they could leave to play table tennis. This displeased Son and some of the older players, because meals on the eve of big games are seen as a time for bonding. Lee then tried to punch Son, local media reported.
CRICKET
Kohli has second child
Virat Kohli has announced the birth of his second child, ending speculation over the reason for his absence from India’s ongoing home Test series against England. Kohli said his wife, the Bollywood actress Anushka Sharma, delivered a baby boy on Thursday last week. The couple already have a daughter named Vamika. “With abundant happiness and our hearts full of love, we are pleased to inform everyone that on 15th February, we welcomed our baby boy Akaay and Vamika’s little brother into this world,” Kohli wrote on Instagram.
Shohei Ohtani and Clayton Kershaw on Friday joined their Los Angeles Dodgers teammates in sticking their fists out to show off their glittering World Series rings at a ceremony. “There’s just a lot of excitement, probably more than I can ever recall with the Dodger fan base and our players,” manager Dave Roberts said before Los Angeles rallied to beat the Detroit Tigers 8-5 in 10 innings. “What a way to cap off the first two days of celebrations,” Roberts said afterward. “By far the best opening week I’ve ever experienced. I just couldn’t have scripted it any better.” A choir in the
The famously raucous Hong Kong Sevens are to start today in a big test for a shiny new stadium at the heart of a major US$3.85 billion sports park in the territory. Officials are keeping their fingers crossed that the premier event in Hong Kong’s sporting and social calendar goes off without a hitch at the 50,000-seat Kai Tak Stadium. They hope to entice major European soccer teams to visit in the next few months, with reports in December last year saying that Liverpool were in talks about a pre-season tour. Coldplay are to perform there next month, all part of Hong Kong’s
Shohei Ohtani, Teoscar Hernandez and Tommy Edman on Thursday smashed home runs to give the reigning World Series champions the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5-4 victory over Detroit on the MLB’s opening day in the US. The Dodgers, who won two season-opening games in Tokyo last week, raised their championship banner on a day when 28 clubs launched the season in the US. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts shuffled his batting lineup with all four leadoff hitters finally healthy as Ohtani was followed by Mookie Betts, then Hernandez and Freddie Freeman in the cleanup spot, switching places with Hernandez. “There’s a Teoscar tax to
Marcus Rashford’s first goals for Aston Villa on Sunday inspired a 3-0 win against Preston North End that sent his side into the FA Cup semi-finals for the first time in 10 years. Rashford struck twice in the second half at Deepdale to end Preston’s stubborn resistance before Jacob Ramsey wrapped up Villa’s long-awaited return to the last four. Villa are to face Crystal Palace — 3-0 winners at Fulham on Saturday — in the semi-finals at Wembley Stadium in London. Revitalized since joining Villa on loan from Manchester United during the January transfer window, Rashford is beginning to show the form that
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