BADMINTON
Taiwan’s Chou advances
Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen yesterday advanced to the second round at the Singapore Open after defeating Jonatan Christie of Indonesia 21-17, 21-6. Chou is to play Canada’s Brian Yang today for a place in the quarter-finals. There was success for Taiwanese in doubles play as well. In the men’s doubles, Lee Fang-chih and Lee Fang-jen eliminated Danish pair Rasmus Kjaer and Frederik Sogaard 21-18, 21-16, while in an all-Taiwan encounter Lee Yang and Wang Chi-lin eliminated Lee Jhe-huei and Yang Po-hsuan 21-12, 12-21, 21-12. In the mixed doubles Yang and Hu Ling-fang beat Japan’s Yuta Watanabe and Arisa Higashino 13-21, 21-15, 21-17.
BASEBALL
Taipei Dome to host games
Taiwan are to play all five of their Group B games in the Premier12 tournament in November at the Taipei Dome, the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) said. After the Group B opener featuring Japan and Australia in Nagoya on Nov. 13, Taiwan are to host South Korea the next day, the schedule of the WBSC’s flagship tournament showed yesterday. The opener at the Vantelin Dome in Nagoya is the only Group B game not to take place in Taiwan. Taiwan are also to play the Dominican Republic on Nov. 14, Japan on Nov. 16, Australia on Nov. 17 and Cuba on Nov. 18. The game on Nov. 15 between Japan and South Korea, who were champions at the previous two editions of the Premier12, is the only non-Taiwan game being played at the Taipei Dome. The other eight games are to be held at Tianmu Stadium in Taipei. World No. 2 Mexico are to host Group A, which includes the Netherlands, Panama, Puerto Rico, the US and Venezuela, from Nov. 9 to 14. The top two teams in the two six-team groups advance to the Super Round in Japan.
SOCCER
Jorn Andersen quits HK
Norwegian Jorn Andersen, who took Hong Kong to their first Asian Cup finals in 56 years, yesterday quit as coach to take up an offer elsewhere. The 61-year-old, whose CV includes a stint as boss of North Korea, confirmed rumors of his departure at an emotional news conference in the territory. “I have recently received an invitation from a club outside [Hong Kong] that presents an opportunity I simply cannot refuse,” said Andersen, who had about a year left on his contract. “It is with great regret that I now bid farewell to the Hong Kong football scene.” Local media reported that Andersen might be headed to a club in mainland China.
GOLF
Tai to play US Masters
Young amateur golfer Hiroshi Tai is to be the first Singaporean to play in the US Masters after he won the national college championship in the US. The 22-year-old, who studies at Georgia Tech, won the NCAA Individual Men’s Championship in California on Monday by one stroke to earn a place at Augusta in April next year and a major debut at next month’s US Open at Pinehurst. “It means a lot,” the amateur world No. 70 Tai told the Golf Channel after surviving a late triple-bogey on his way to a one-under 71 in the final round. “All the guys in the team have really helped me a lot.”
The qualifying round of the World Baseball Classic (WBC) is to be held at the Taipei Dome between Feb. 21 and 25, Major League Baseball (MLB) announced today. Taiwan’s group also includes Spain, Nicaragua and South Africa, with two of the four teams advancing onto the 2026 WBC. Taiwan, currently ranked second in the world in the World Baseball Softball Confederation rankings, are favorites to come out of the group, the MLB said in an article announcing the matchups. Last year, Taiwan finished in a five-way tie in their group with two wins and two losses, but finished last on tiebreakers after giving
North Korea’s FIFA Under-17 Women’s World Cup-winning team on Saturday received a heroes’ welcome back in the capital, Pyongyang, with hundreds of people on the streets to celebrate their success. They had defeated Spain on penalties after a 1-1 draw in the U17 World Cup final in the Dominican Republic on Nov. 3. It was the second global title in two months for secretive North Korea — largely closed off to the outside world; they also lifted the FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup in September. Officials and players’ families gathered at Pyongyang International Airport to wave flowers and North Korea flags as the
For King Faisal, a 20-year-old winger from Ghana, the invitation to move to Brazil to play soccer “was a dream.” “I believed when I came here, it would help me change the life of my family and many other people,” he said in Sao Paulo. For the past year and a half, he has been playing on the under-20s squad for Sao Paulo FC, one of South America’s most prominent clubs. He and a small number of other Africans are tearing across pitches in a country known as the biggest producer and exporter of soccer stars in the world, from Pele to Neymar. For
Coco Gauff of the US on Friday defeated top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka 7-6 (7/4), 6-3 to set up a showdown with Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen in the final of the WTA Finals, while in the doubles, Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching was eliminated. Gauff generated six break points to Belarusian Sabalenka’s four and built on early momentum in the opening set’s tiebreak that she carried through to the second set. She is the youngest player at 20 to make the final at the WTA Finals since Denmark’s Caroline Wozniacki in 2010. Zheng earlier defeated Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic 6-3, 7-5 to book
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