TENNIS
Hsieh wins Prague opener
Taiwanese star Hsieh Su-wei and partner Tsao Chia-yi on Monday won the women’s doubles opener at the Prague Open as they prepare for the opening of the Paris Games. The third seeds defeated the Czech Republic’s Miriam Kolodziejova and Jesika Maleckova 5-7, 6-1, 10-4 to advance to the quarter-finals. The Taiwanese are to face the winners of yesterday’s match, Estelle Cascino of France and Tang Qianhui of China against Elixane Lechemia of France and Astra Sharma of Australia. Women’s Olympic doubles start on Saturday, the day after the Prague Open ends. Chan Hao-ching and her sister, Latisha Chan, are also to compete in Paris.
OLYMPICS
Snoop Dogg to carry torch
US rapper Snoop Dogg is to be among the torchbearers carrying the Olympic flame in the final stretch before the opening ceremony of the Paris Games on Friday. Snoop Dogg, 52, is to carry the torch through the streets of Saint-Denis, the underprivileged northern Paris suburb that is home to the Stade de France Olympic Stadium, Saint-Denis Mayor Mathieu Hanotin wrote on X. “Saint Denis: last step before the Eiffel Tower. An international cast @SnoopDogg for the last stretch of the Olympic Flame,” Hanotin wrote. The rapper, who is also contributing to NBC coverage of the Games, is better known in the sports world for his Snoop Youth Football League. The championship game is called the “Snooper Bowl.” Other torchbearers in Saint-Denis on Friday include French actress Laetitia Casta and French rapper MC Solaar.
BASKETBALL
Miami win Summer League
Pelle Larsson on Monday broke a tie by scoring from the lane in overtime to give Miami a 120-118 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies and hand the Heat their first NBA Summer League championship. “Coach [Dan Bisaccio] drew up a great play we’ve run in practice a bunch of times,” Larsson said. “They did a good job guarding it. We have shooters everywhere and they want to help, and I just made it.” It was the highest-scoring game in championship history and just the second one to go into overtime. The Los Angeles Lakers’ 110-98 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers in 2017 had the previous record for total points in the Summer League final. Just the year before, the Chicago Bulls defeated the Minnesota Timberwolves 84-82 for the only other final to reach OT. Under Summer League overtime rules, both teams played to a target score rather than under a clock. That score was set at 120 points.
CYCLING
No more Tours: Cavendish
British cyclist Mark Cavendish has confirmed that he has competed in his last Tour de France, having finally broken the all-time record for most stage wins at the Tour. Cavendish had been level on 34 stage wins with Eddy Merckx since 2021, but this year he sprinted to victory on stage five to make the record his own, and now the 39-year-old can bow out in style. “I think now it’s time. I’ve done 15 Tours de France and I’ve created some incredible memories of the Tour de France,” Cavendish said. “This race has given me a life I could only dream of. It’s given me the highest of highs and the lowest of lows.”
Taiwan’s participation in the Olympic Games has been a story of politics as much as sports, with the name it has competed under since 1984 — Chinese Taipei — drawing as much attention as its athletes. However, with the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad set to begin in Paris on Friday, the exploits of Taiwan’s athletes past and present who have won 36 medals since the country’s debut in Melbourne in 1956 deserve a nod. Many of Taiwan’s medal winners have gained considerable name recognition, but only two have achieved legendary status — Maysang Kalimud and Chi Cheng, the only medal winners
Shohei Ohtani on Sunday hit a 473-foot (144m) home run as the Los Angeles Dodgers went deep six times in a 9-6 victory over the Boston Red Sox. Freddie Freeman, Teoscar Hernandez, Gavin Lux, Austin Barnes and Jason Heyward also connected as Los Angeles swept the three-game series. “Going into the break, we weren’t playing good baseball, and then to come out fresh against a really good ball club and to play the way we did — the offense came to life,” Los Angeles manager Dave Roberts said. It was the 25th time the Dodgers launched at least six homers in a game
Canada women’s soccer coach Bev Priestman on Wednesday said she would step away from the team’s opening game against New Zealand at the Paris Olympics in the wake of a drone scandal. New Zealand complained to the International Olympic Committee’s integrity unit after it said drones were flown over closed practice sessions earlier in the week. As of press time last night, Canada, the defending Olympic champions, were set to open the Paris Games against New Zealand in Saint-Etienne. In the fallout of the complaint, two staff members — assistant coach Jasmine Mander and analyst Joseph Lombardi — were sent home, the
Conventional wisdom dictates that the average retirement age for elite female players in the intense and physically demanding sport of badminton is well under 30 years old. Five female shuttlers are set to turn that on its head when they make their fourth Olympic appearances at the Paris Games, a feat never accomplished before. Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying, 30, Thailand’s Ratchanok Intanon, 29, Belgium’s Lianne Tan, 33, and Hong Kong’s Tse Ying Suet and Canada’s Michelle Li, both 32, are to compete for Olympic glory at Porte de La Chapelle Arena from Saturday to Aug. 5. “These achievements get missed because they’re women,” said