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.”
College basketballer Kaitlyn Chen has become the first female player of Taiwanese descent to be drafted by a WNBA team, after the Golden State Valkyries selected her in the third and final round of the league’s draft on Monday. Chen, a point guard who played her first three seasons in college for Princeton University, transferred to the University of Connecticut (UConn) for her final season, which culminated in a national championship earlier this month. While at Princeton, Chen was named the Ivy League tournament’s most outstanding player three times from 2022 to last year. Prior to the draft, ESPN described Chen as
Robinson Cano spent 17 seasons playing in the MLB in front of all kinds of baseball fans, but he said there is something special about his stint with the Mexican Baseball League’s Diablos Rojos. He is not alone. The league last week opened its 100th season, aiming to keep an impressive growth in attendance that began after the national team’s surprise run at the 2023 World Baseball Classic, and is already surpassing some first-division soccer clubs. After finishing third in the 2023 tournament, many casual fans, some of them soccer enthusiasts disappointed after Mexico were eliminated in the first round in the 2022
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to
Arne Slot has denied that Darwin Nunez was dropped from Liverpool’s win against West Ham because of a training-ground row with a member of his coaching staff. The Liverpool head coach on Sunday last week said that Nunez was absent from the 2-1 victory at Anfield, having felt unwell during training the day before, although the striker sat behind the substitutes throughout the game. Speculation has been rife that the Uruguay international, whom Slot criticized for his work rate against Wolves and Aston Villa in February, was left out for disciplinary reasons. Asked on Friday to clarify the situation, Slot said: “He
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