Mardan joint 12th in Taiwan Masters
TAIPEI • Singapore golfer Mardan Mamat closed with a three-over 75 yesterday to finish joint 12th at the Mercuries Taiwan Masters.
His total of 292 was nine shots more than Chinese Taipei's Lu Wei-chih (70), who won the US$800,000 (S$1.1 million) Asian Tour event by a stroke from Filipino Miguel Tabuena (70).
Gao exits World Cup in round of 16
SAARBRUCKEN (Germany) • Singapore's top paddler Gao Ning was comprehensively beaten 4-0 (11-3, 11-3, 11-6, 11-3) by China's world No. 2 Fan Zhendong in the Men's World Cup round of 16 yesterday.
The world No. 41 had qualified for the knockout phase by finishing second in Group 4 on Friday, edging out Nigerian Quadri Aruna 4-3 (5-11, 6-11, 16-14, 11-6, 11-8, 7-11, 13-11) before being thumped 4-0 (11-2, 11-7, 11-9, 11-6) by Sweden's Par Gerell.
S'pore play HK in U-19 cricket semi
Singapore, who finished second in Group A, will play Hong Kong, the winners of Group B, in the semi-finals of the International Cricket Council Under-19 World Cup Asia qualifier Division Two at the Bayuemas Oval in Klang on Wednesday.
The other semi-final will be played on the same day between Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates at the Kinrara Academy Oval in Kuala Lumpur.
Shuttler Qiao Bin wins Korea Open
SEOUL • Rising Chinese star Qiao Bin, 23, won the men's singles crown at the Badminton World Federation Korea Open yesterday, after crushing South Korean veteran Son Wan Ho.
The unseeded player, currently ranked world No. 41, defeated world No. 8 Son 21-11, 21-23, 21-7.
Japanese seventh seed Akane Yamaguchi defeated South Korea's Sung Ji Hyun 20-22, 21-15, 21-18 in the women's singles final, while Korean pairs won all three doubles titles.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Man, 39, dies after coach crashes
GLASGOW • One man was killed after a coach carrying football supporters to a Rangers match overturned on its way to a game on Saturday, a police spokesman said.
The accident happened when the coach, believed to be carrying 36 fans plus the driver, overturned in East Ayrshire to the south of Glasgow en route to the afternoon match at Ibrox. The man who died was 39 years old, said local police.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Nadal against shortening matches
BEIJING • Rafael Nadal slammed changes being mulled over by tennis' governing bodies to shorten matches and make them more TV-friendly.
"The kind of matches that stay on (in) the memory and on the history of our sport are a little bit long matches and dramatic matches that become emotional," the world No. 4 told reporters in Beijing yesterday.
Women's tennis boss Steve Simon said last week the Women's Tennis Association was considering introducing super tie-breakers and no-ad scoring for singles matches.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
