TABLE TENNIS
Taiwanese move up rankings
Taiwanese paddlers Lin Yun-ju, Cheng I-ching and Li Yu-jhun moved up in the world rankings due to their performances at the Singapore Smash, which ended on Sunday. Lin rose two spots in the ITTF rankings to world No. 6 in the men’s singles after reaching the semi-finals in Singapore. He earned 700 points after his 2-4 loss to China’s Liang Jingkun, taking him to a total of 3,106 points. Cheng and Li also moved up two positions to world No. 3 in the women’s doubles, despite losing 0-3 to Chinese duo Chen Meng and Wang Manyu in the final.
SOCCER
Chelsea, Lyon triumph
Chelsea hammered last-eight debutants AFC Ajax 3-0 while Olympique Lyonnais needed two second-half goals to claim a 2-1 win over SL Benfica in the opening first-leg quarter-final clashes of the UEFA Women’s Champions League on Tuesday. Lauren James opened the scoring for Chelsea in their away win over Ajax, the England forward calmly rounding the goalkeeper to slot into an empty net. Germany midfielder Sjoeke Nusken then scored a goal in each half as Chelsea went on to dominate the match and put themselves in compete control before the second leg at Stamford Bridge next week. Chelsea manager Emma Hayes called her team’s performance “really professional.” “We defended solidly, as we have been doing, and then once we started to attack the spaces down the sides, we got good opportunities: four crosses, two goals in the first half,” Hayes said. “Outstanding performance from [Kadeisha] Buchanan and Nusken in particular, but the team as a whole, you could see they were confident and delighted to get the third goal.” In Lisbon, Andreia Faria scored her first Champions League goal to hand Benfica the lead against Lyon, the most successful club in the women’s competition. However, the French side’s pressure in the second half paid off, with Delphine Cascarino and Sara Dabritz each scoring to hand Lyon control of the two-leg tie.
OLYMPICS
No parade for Russians
Russian and Belarusian athletes would not be allowed to take part in the traditional parade at the opening ceremony at the Paris Olympics, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said on Tuesday. The opening ceremony on July 26 is to have thousands of athletes travel on boats down the River Seine for several kilometers toward the Eiffel Tower, instead of the normal parade of teams inside a stadium. The IOC said athletes from Russia and Belarus who are approved to compete at the Olympics as neutrals would have a chance only “to experience the event” — likely watching from near the river. Russia and Belarus are barred from team sports at the Olympics because of the war in Ukraine and the IOC has laid out a two-step vetting procedure for individual athletes from those countries to be granted neutral status. Those athletes must first be approved by the governing body of their individual sport and then by an IOC-appointed review panel. Neutral athletes must not have publicly supported the invasion of Ukraine, or be affiliated with military or state security agencies. The IOC on Tuesday said it expects about 36 neutral athletes with Russian passports and 22 with Belarusian passports to qualify for the Paris Games.
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
Matvei Michkov did not score on Monday, but the Philadelphia rookie had a hand in both goals as hosts the Flyers earned a 2-1 victory over the Nashville Predators. Ryan Poehling and Jamie Drysdale got the goals for the Flyers (31-36-9, 71 points), who won their third straight. Michkov and Travis Konecny assisted on both. Ivan Fedotov stopped 28 shots to earn his first win since March 1, ending a personal six-game losing streak. Zachary L’Heureux got the lone goal for Nashville. Michael McCarron and Brady Skjei got the assists for the Predators (27-39-8, 62 points), who have just four goals in their
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