BADMINTON
Lee, Yang place 2nd in Paris
Taiwanese shuttlers Lee Jhe-huei and Yang Po-hsuan finished runners-up at the French Open on Sunday after losing to Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty in the men’s doubles final. Lee and Yang, who are ranked 16th, lost 21-11, 21-17 against the world No. 1 pair from India in a match that lasted just 37 minutes at the Adidas Arena in Paris. Despite the score being tied 4-4 early in the opener, Rankireddy and Shetty quickly set an aggressive tone to take the lead for the rest of the game. Lee and Yang improved in the second game, leading 14-13 at one point, but a series of unforced errors allowed their opponents to seal the win. The Taiwanese duo have lost all three of their matches against the Indian pair. Lee and Yang said that they were disappointed with their performance, and felt they were too conservative with many of their shots, pledging to fight harder next time they face the Indian duo. Rankireddy and Shetty attacked well, which is why many of their defensive shots went wide, the Taiwanese pair said, adding that they should have focused on attacking.
SPEEDSKATING
Champ Stolz sets record
Jordan Stolz on Sunday became the youngest allround speedskating world champion since Eric Heiden accomplished the feat as an 18-year-old in 1977. He is also the first American to win the title since Shani Davis in 2006, capping a dominating performance with the highest points total ever. Nineteen-year-old Stolz started the day with a track record in the 1,500m at Max Aicher Arena, crossing the line in 1 minute, 41.78 seconds. He then took 13 seconds off his personal best in the 10,000m. The Wisconsin native, who is positioning himself to be one of the biggest stars at the 2026 Milan Winter Olympics, totaled 144.740 points to eclipse by 0.821 the previous allround mark set by Patrick Roest of the Netherlands in 2019 on the high-altitude oval in Calgary, Canada. “I’ve been beaten by a phenomenon,” said Roest, a three-time world champion who settled for the runner-up spot this time behind Stolz. “He is just incredibly strong, he can handle all distances and he even defeats long-distance specialists in their own event. What he does is quite special.”
SUMO
Hakuho could lose stable
Sumo’s greatest champion, Hakuho, could have his stable of wrestlers forcibly closed after he failed to control a protege who was thrown out of the sport for bullying, Japanese media reported. The wider group to which Hakuho’s Miyagino stable belongs on Sunday submitted a plan to sumo authorities to transfer all of his wrestlers to other set-ups within the organization, reports said. If the proposal is accepted, Hakuho’s stable would close its doors from next month and the former yokozuna, who won a record 45 tournaments before retiring in 2021, would also be moved elsewhere. However, the stable could return, reports said. Hakuho was last month fined and downgraded to the lowest rank for sumo elders for failing to control the behavior of his protege Hokuseiho. Twenty-two-year-old Hokuseiho, who is 204cm tall, is alleged to have punched lower-ranked stablemates and stolen money from them. He was forced to quit the sport in disgrace when sumo authorities issued a recommendation for him to retire.
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
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