TRACK AND FIELD
Rojas to miss Olympics
Reigning Olympic women’s triple jump champion Yulimar Rojas on Friday said she had injured her Achilles tendon and would miss the Paris Games. The 28-year-old Venezuelan said she had torn her Achilles during a training jump in Spain and had undergone surgery in Madrid on Thursday. “My heart is broken and I want to say sorry that I will not be able to take part in Paris 2024,” she said in a statement on social media. Rojas won the silver medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics and the Olympic title at the COVID-19-delayed Tokyo Games in 2021. The world record holder dramatically won the fourth of her outdoor world titles in Budapest last year with her last-round leap, moving from eighth place to gold medal position with a winning jump of 15.08m.
TENNIS
Djokovic sets another record
Novak Djokovic on Friday reached a record 77th Masters semi-final when he defeated Australia’s Alex de Minaur in straight sets in Monte Carlo. Djokovic, the 36-year-old world No. 1 came through a rollercoaster quarter-final to win 7-5, 6-4 and make the last-four in the principality for the first time since 2015 when he went on to claim his second title at the tournament. Djokovic, the oldest man to make the Monte Carlo semi-finals in the Open Era, would take on Casper Ruud of Norway for a place in today’s championship match. “It was tough for both of us. He is one of the quickest players on Tour. He gets a lot of balls back that normally 99 percent of other players don’t,” said Djokovic, who avenged his loss to De Minaur at the United Cup in January.
CLIMBING
Teen breaks speed record
Teenager Sam Watson on Friday broke the speed climbing world record twice in under an hour at a World Cup competition in China, signaling his status as one of the favorites for gold at the Paris Olympic Games. Watson, 18, from the US broke the previous world record of 4.9 seconds by Indonesia’s Veddriq Leonardo when he scaled the 15m wall in 4.85 seconds in his first run. He followed that up with 4.79 seconds in his second attempt to lower his own best mark further. Watson is ranked No. 8 in the world and is to make his debut at the Paris Olympics, having already qualified in October last year.
ICE HOCKEY
Coyotes to relocate
Arizona Coyotes players have been informed that the NHL club is expected to relocate to Salt Lake City, a person with knowledge of the meeting said on Friday night. General manager Bill Armstrong flew to Edmonton, Alberta, to tell players about the team’s potential move to Utah before their game against the Oilers, the person said on condition of anonymity because the decision has not been announced. Players and officials could visit Salt Lake City next week, possibly as soon as after the season finale on Wednesday, which could be the final game at the 5,000-seat Mullett Arena in Tempe. “This team has been through a lot of adversity,” Coach Andre Tourigny said. “The first time the rumor came around, we didn’t manage it well and we shot ourselves in the foot, went on a 14-game losing streak.”
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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