BADMINTON
Sung takes top Taiwan spot
Tai Tzu-ying has been replaced by Sung Shuo-yun as Taiwan’s top-ranked female player, BWF rankings released on Tuesday showed. Tai, 30, fell six places to 25th place, after having points deducted for not competing. The Taiwanese ace is still recovering from knee injuries that plagued her throughout last season. She applied for a three-month injury-protected ranking in October last year before undergoing surgery on her left knee in early December. Tai said that she “has never paid too much attention” to world rankings since they “always change,” and is instead focused on rehabilitation. Sung rose one place to rank 19th in the world in the latest weekly rankings. Wen Chi-hsu fell one spot to 26th, while Chiu Pin-chian remained No. 27. Sung on Tuesday lost 21-18, 21-16 to Scotland’s Kirsty Gilmour in the opening round of the All England Open Badminton Championships.
Photo: EPA-EFE
BOXING
Eubank fined over egg throw
British boxer Chris Eubank Jr has been fined ￡100,000 (US$129,385) for smashing an egg into the face of rival Conor Benn during a media event two weeks ago. The British Boxing Board of Control on Tuesday said that Eubank was fined after being found “in breach of Regulation 25 for his conduct at the press conference in Manchester.” The fighters had gone face-to-face as part of the promotion of their scheduled April 26 middleweight bout at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. The 35-year-old Eubank then reached into a pocket, pulled out an egg and smacked the right side of Benn’s face. Security guards rushed in to keep the pair separated. They were scheduled to fight at London’s O2 Arena in October 2022, but it was called off after Benn’s voluntary urine test showed trace amounts of fertility drug clomiphene, a banned substance that boosts testosterone levels while burning fat. The 28-year-old Benn later successfully argued that his consumption of eggs elevated his testosterone levels.
Photo: AP
GOLF
PGA takes aim at slow play
The PGA Tour might be unable to conclude a deal to unify professional golf, but there is finally progress on another key issue for spectators: slow play. Speaking ahead of the Players Championship, PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan revealed the imminent arrival of new sanctions that could include the naming and shaming of offenders. The two-time major champion Collin Morikawa had already made clear that the PGA Tour’s current pace of play policies — which only occasionally sees golfers fined — are unfit for purpose. “I think you just have to start stroking guys and giving guys actual penalties, whether it be strokes or FedEx Cup” points, Morikawa said. “What I’ve learned is that monetary fines are useless. We make so much money and some guys frankly could not care less.” Monahan, who had previously rebuffed the widespread sense that slow play was an issue worth tackling, has taken note. He said the Tour would publish speed-of-play statistics later this season and begin testing a new speed-of-play policy. Although Monahan would not directly address whether those punished would have their names shared with the public, it is understood that plan is under consideration.
Photo: AFP
Tallon Griekspoor on Friday stunned top seed Alexander Zverev 4-6, 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (7/4) in the second round at Indian Wells, avenging a devastating loss to the German at Roland Garros last year. Zverev, the world No. 2 who is heading the field of the prestigious ATP Masters event with No. 1 Jannik Sinner serving a three-month drugs ban, is the first Indian Wells men’s top seed to lose his opening match since Andy Murray in 2017. It was a cherished win for Griekspoor, who had lost five straight matches — including four last year — to the German. That included a five-setter
Five-time champion Novak Djokovic on Saturday tumbled out of the Indian Wells ATP Masters, falling in his first match to lucky loser Botic van de Zandschulp as two-time defending champion Carlos Alcaraz advanced. “No excuses for a poor performance,” 24-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic said after 37 unforced errors in a 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 defeat. “It doesn’t feel great when you play this way on the court,” he said. “But congratulations to my opponent — just a bad day in the office, I guess, for me.” Djokovic is just the latest in Van de Zandschulp’s string of superstar victims. He
Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday held their nerve to beat Liverpool 4-1 on penalties and reach the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals after their tie finished one-apiece on aggregate, while Bayern Munich saw off Bayer 04 Leverkusen to complete a 5-0 win over both legs. Lamine Yamal and Raphinha fired Barcelona into the next round as the Catalans bested SL Benfica 3-1, and Inter booked a last-eight meeting with Bayern by seeing off Feyenoord 2-1. At Anfield, Ousmane Dembele netted the only goal of the night as PSG bounced back from Liverpool’s late winner last week to force the tie to extra-time and penalties. Maligned
The Taoyuan Pauian Pilots last night lost their East Asia Super League (EASL) championship game against Japan’s Hiroshima Dragonflies 72-68. They on Friday secured Taiwan’s first-ever spot in an EASL final with a 71-64 comeback victory over Japan’s Ryukyu Golden Kings. In what the EASL official Web site described as an “upset,” Pilots forward Lu Chun-hsiang on Friday asserted his stardom in Macau by scoring a game-high 24 points, with four players in both teams reaching double figures. The win was also the first time a Taiwanese franchise has defeated a Japanese team in the EASL Final Four. “I was moved
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