OLYMPICS
Flame departs Greece
The Olympic flame yesterday began its journey to France on board the Belem leaving the Greek port of Piraeus. “The feelings are so exceptional. It’s such an emotion for me,” Tony Estanguet, Paris Olympics chief organizer, told reporters before the departure of the ship. The 19th-century three-masted barque is set to reach Marseille — where a Greek colony was founded in about 600 BC — on May 8.
Photo: AP
OLYMPICS
Thomas Bach backs equity
International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach distanced himself from a taboo-busting move from World Athletics’ governing body to offer prize money to gold medalists at this year’s Paris Olympics. World Athletics president Sebastian Coe’s announcement earlier this month that track and field winners at the Paris Games are to receive US$50,000 has sparked mixed reactions. No other sports federation pays prize money at the Olympics. During an interview, Bach said that he thought international sports federations should be focused on reducing inequalities between countries. “The international federations have to treat all their member federations and their athletes on an equal basis and to try to balance this gap between the privileged and the less or under-privileged,” he said.
SOCCER
Leicester City to move up
Leicester City on Friday booked a place in the Premier League after rivals Leeds United crashed to a shock 4-0 defeat against Queens Park Rangers. The result left Leicester City at top of the Championship with 94 points with two games to play, while Leeds remained second on 90, but with just one match left. Third-place Ipswich Town can pip Leeds for the second automatic promotion place as they have 89 points with three matches still to play. They were to play Hull City after press time last night. “It’s not in our hands anymore (automatic promotion), we need to be honest,” Leeds United manager Daniel Farke told the BBC. “The race is not over, if Ipswich win the next two games, then I will say congratulations, but if they don’t win them, then we will have a lot to play for” against Southampton on the final day of the season. “As long as we have a chance, I’m far away from giving up,” he said. “Congratulations to QPR and congratulations to Leicester,” Farke added. “In the first 20 minutes we didn’t do the basics and QPR used this in an effective way to be 2-0 up.” Enzo Maresca’s Foxes achieved promotion at the first time of asking having been relegated from the Premier League last season. Their final two games begin with a trip to Preston North End on Monday, before they round off the season with a home finale against Blackburn Rovers on May 4.
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
RSS