TENNIS
Alcaraz crashes out
World No. 3 Carlos Alcaraz on Friday crashed out of the Miami Open in his first outing, with Belgian veteran David Goffin pulling off a shock 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 win, while Taiwan’s only remaining representative at Hard Rock Stadium also exited. Alcaraz was not convincing with his serve, despite winning the first set, but began to struggle in the second and was not able to rediscover his game. Taiwan’s Tseng Chun-hsin was beaten in the round-of-64 by Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 in the US$9,193,540 tournament in Miami Gardens. Tseng on Wednesday advanced to the second round with a 7-6 (7/5), 6-2 win over Italian Mattia Bellucci.
Photo: AP
BADMINTON
Five Taiwanese advance
Taiwanese shuttlers Lin Chun-yi, and twin brothers Lee Fang-jen and Lee Fang-chih on Friday advanced to the semi-finals at the Swiss Open. The world No. 21 Lee brothers pulled off a stunning upset to beat Indonesians Sabar Karyaman Gutama and Moh Reza Pahlevi Isfahani 21-19, 14-21, 21-13 in the quarter-finals at the St Jakobshalle Arena in Basel. Both pairs put up a tough fight early in the opener, but the Taiwanese pulled away to take the first game. Unforced errors cost the brothers the second game, but they rallied to take an 11-9 lead in the third and reeled off six consecutive points to widen the gap before sealing victory. They were to play Muhammad Shohibul Fikri and Daniel Marthin of Indonesia after press time last night. World No. 11 Lin bested Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand 21-16, 21-15 in their men’s singles quarter-final in 43 minutes. Lin’s victory was due to his strategy of keeping his opponent under pressure through smashes and attacking the net, his coach Feng Sheng-chieh told reporters after the match. Lin was sheduled to play eighth-seeded Weng Hongyang of China after the Lees’ game. In the mixed doubles, Liu Kuang-heng and Jheng Yu-chieh were also to play after the Lees after beating Mads Vestergaard and Christine Busch of Denmark 21-18, 21-18. They were to meet China’s Zhu Yijun and Zhang Chi.
Photo: Trevor Ruszkowski / Imagn Images
BASKETBALL
Watford and Turner fined
The NBA on Friday fined Brooklyn Nets swingman Trendon Watford and Indiana Pacers forward Myles Turner US$35,000 each for an altercation in a game this week. Pacers guard Andrew Nembhard also was fined US$20,000 for his role in initiating the altercation in the Pacers’ 105-99 win over the Nets on Thursday. The tensions started with about five minutes left in the fourth quarter when Watford ran toward Nembhard after a made basket and hit him with a forearm to the chest. Watford also shoved Turner after he ran toward the scuffle. On the court on Friday, the Magic beat the Wizards 120-105, the Rockets beat the Heat 102-98, the Timberwolves downed the Pelicans 134-93, The Thunder defeated the Hornets 141-106, the Spurs downed the 76ers 128-120, the Mavericks beat the Pistons 123-117, the Celtic defeated the Jazz 121-99, the Suns beat the Cavaliers 123-112, The Trail Blazers bested the Nuggets 128-109 and the Clippers beat the Grizzlies 128-108.
‘AWFUL PERFORMANCE’: Golden State were always chasing the game after failing to threaten from long range, making just eight of 33 three-point attempts Aaron Gordon on Monday scored 38 points as the Denver Nuggets shrugged off the absence of Nikola Jokic to halt the Golden State Warriors’ seven-game winning streak with a 114-105 victory over their Western Conference rivals. A dazzling display from Gordon inspired what was ultimately a comfortable win for Denver, who were missing regular starters Jokic and Jamal Murray from their lineup. The absentees were barely felt by Denver, who startled the Warriors early at San Francisco’s Chase Center and led for most of the game. The Warriors threatened to stage a late rally after slashing the Nuggets’ fourth-quarter lead from 15 points
The US’ bid for a fourth consecutive CONCACAF Nations League title came to a stunning end as they fell 1-0 to Panama after a stoppage-time goal from Cecilio Waterman on Thursday in Inglewood, California. Despite dominating possession, the US struggled to break down a resilient Panama side for long periods. Panama spent the bulk of the match defending, but pounced on a giveaway by the US before substitute forward Waterman sent a shot from the right side of the area to the bottom left corner late in stoppage time. Up next for Panama in tomorrow’s final is to be Mexico, who beat
Barcelona’s Ferran Torres scored twice on Sunday to help secure a late 4-2 comeback win at Atletico Madrid in a pulsating La Liga clash that took the Catalan side back to the top of the table. Barca have 60 points and a game in hand after last week’s postponement of their home game with CA Osasuna. They are level on points with Real Madrid, who won 2-1 at Villarreal on Saturday. “I am happy and proud of this team,” Barcelona head coach Hansi Flick told a news conference. “They never give up... It’s a great three points and we are happy to
Armand Duplantis will be among the reigning Olympic champions adding star power to the world indoor championships this weekend when the Chinese city of Nanjing hosts the first major global athletics meet since the Paris Games last year. The three-day event was originally slated for 2020 and faced multiple postponements due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but Nanjing’s Sports Training Center would finally welcome more than 570 athletes for the start of the showpiece today. One of the main attractions would be pole vaulter “Mondo” Duplantis, who soared 6.27m to break the world record for a staggering 11th time in Clermont-Ferrand last
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