BADMINTON
Taiwanese pair make final
Taiwanese made one final at the Vietnam Open after the men’s doubles pair of He Zhi-wei and Huang Jui-hsuan advanced with a walkover in yesterday’s semi-finals in Ho Chi Minh City. Japanese pair Takumi Nomura and Yuichi Shimogami were unable to play yesterday, handing He and Huang free passage into today’s final against Raymond Indra and Patra Harapan Rindorindo of Indonesia, who beat Cui Hechen and Peng Jianqin of China 24-22, 21-16 at the US$100,000 event. In the women’s doubles, Lee Chih-chen and Lin Yen-yu lost 21-16, 21-18 against Tidapron Kleebyeesun and Nattamon Laisuan of Thailand, while in the women’s singles, Vietnam’s Thuy Linh Nguyen beat Lin Hsiang-ti 21-13, 22-20. At the Hong Kong Open, the final Taiwanese were eliminated. Chiu Hsiang-chieh and Wang Chi-lin were the last Taiwanese remaining at the Hong Kong Coliseum, but were beaten in their men’s doubles semi-final 21-23, 21-15, 21-16 by South Korean duo Kang Min-hyuk and Seo Seung-jae. Chiu and Wang advanced on Friday with a 23-21, 21-17 win over Chinese pair Huang Di and Zhou Haodong.
TABLE TENNIS
Taiwan’s Kao loses
Taiwan’s Kao Cheng-jui yesterday was eliminated in the men’s singles at the World Table Tennis Champions Macau, losing to Qiu Dang of Germany 4-2 (8-11, 16-14, 12-10, 11-6, 6-11, 11-3). Kao reached the semis with a 3-2 (4-11, 12-10, 11-9, 7-11, 11-7) win against Truls Moregard of Sweden. Lin Yun-ju exited on Friday, beaten in the quarter-finals 3-0 (11-7, 11-7, 11-9) by Lin Shidong of China. In the women’s singles on Friday, Taiwan’s Cheng I-ching was eliminated in the quarters by China’s Wang Manyu, who won 3-1 (8-11, 11-6, 11-9, 11-7).
BASEBALL
Taiwan finish with loss
Taiwan yesterday lost to Britain 2-1, both teams’ final game at the WBSC Under-23 Baseball World Cup in Shaoxing, China. Britain went ahead in the top of the second inning after Taiwan left three men on base in the bottom of the first. They doubled their lead in the fourth inning and held Taiwan scoreless until the seventh and final inning. Right fielder Huang Bo-rui hit a double and pinch hitter Wang Shun-ho singled to right center to bring Huang home with two out, but second baseman Zheng Jun-wei hit a fly-ball that was caught to end it. On Friday, Taiwan beat Australia 4-3. Taiwan finished fifth in the Placement Round with a 2-3 record. Nicaragua (5-0) were first, followed by Venezuela (3-2), South Korea (3-2) and the Netherlands (2-3). South Africa (0-5) were last. The teams from the Super Round are to play the bronze-medal game and the world championship final today.
CRICKET
England level series
Liam Livingstone and Jacob Bethell on Friday shared 90 runs to lead England to a T20 series-tying win over Australia at Sophia Gardens. The series is to be decided today at Old Trafford. Set 194 to win, England slipped to 79-3 when Phil Salt walked into an apparent trap laid by fellow captain Travis Head, but Livingstone and Bethell broke the back of the chase. Bethell’s dismissal disrupted England, but Livingstone carried them to the brink of victory with a superb 87 off 47.
‘SOURCE OF PRIDE’: Newspapers rushed out special editions and the government sent their congratulations as Shohei Ohtani became the first player to enter the 50-50 club Japan reacted with incredulity and pride yesterday after Shohei Ohtani became the first player in Major League Baseball to record 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in a single season. The Los Angeles Dodgers star from Japan made history with a seventh-inning homer in a 20-4 victory over the Marlins in Miami. “We would like to congratulate him from the bottom of our heart,” top government spokesman Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters in Tokyo. “We sincerely hope Mr Ohtani, who has already accomplished feat after feat and carved out a new era, will thrive further,” he added. The landmark achievement dominated Japanese morning news
When Wang Tao ran away from home aged 17 to become a professional wrestler, he knew it would be a hard slog to succeed in China’s passionate but underdeveloped scene. Years later, he has endured family disapproval, countless side gigs and thousands of hours of brutal training to become China’s “Belt and Road Champion” — but the struggle is far from over. Despite a promising potential domestic market, the Chinese pro wrestling community has been battling for recognition and financial stability for decades. “I have done all kinds of jobs [on the side]... Because in the end, it is very
No team in the CPBL can surpass the Taipei Dome attendance record set by the CTBC Brothers, except when the Brothers team up with Taiwanese rock band Mayday. A record-high 40,000 fans turned out at the indoor baseball venue on Saturday for Brothers veteran Chou Szu-chi’s first farewell game, which was followed by a mini post-game concert featuring Mayday. This broke the previous CPBL record of 34,506 set by the Brothers in early last month, when K-pop singer Hyuna performed after the game, and the dome’s overall record of 37,890 set in early March, which featured the Brothers and the
With a quivering finger, England Subbuteo veteran Rudi Peterschinigg conceded the free-kick that sent his country’s World Cup quarter-final into extra-time before smashing his plastic goalkeeper on the floor in frustration. In the genteel southern English town of Tunbridge Wells, 300 elite players have gathered to play the game they love. “I won’t say this is the best weekend I’ve ever had in my life, but it’s certainly in the top two,” said Hughie Best, 58, who flew in from Perth, Australia, to compete and commentate at the event. Tunbridge Wells is the “spiritual home” of Subbuteo, which was invented there in 1946