All S'pore shuttlers out of Taiwan event
World No. 28 Loh Kean Yew crashed out in the second round of the Chinese Taipei Open yesterday after a 22-20, 17-21, 21-16 defeat by Koki Watanabe.
The tightly contested match went into the rubber game, with the 53rd-ranked Japanese pulling off an unexpected win over Singapore's top shuttler to advance to the last eight.
Compatriot Yeo Jia Min exited on Wednesday after a 21-19, 21-14 loss to women's singles second seed Michelle Li of Canada, while Loh's older brother Kean Hean and Danny Bawa Chrisnanta fell 15-21, 21-18, 21-13 yesterday to men's doubles fourth seeds Goh V Shem and Tan Wee Kiong from Malaysia.
Monza to host Italian race till 'at least 2024'
MONZA • The Italian Grand Prix will be held at Monza until "at least 2024", Formula One announced on Wednesday in the lead-up to Sunday's race at the storied track.
F1 has held a GP in Italy since the championship began in 1950, and the race has been run at Monza every year bar 1980, when it was held at Imola.
This year's event takes place following Ferrari's first win this season in Belgium through Charles Leclerc last week.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
48,000 tennis tickets snapped up in 10min
JOHANNESBURG • South African tennis fans bought 48,000 tickets in under 10 minutes on Wednesday for a Cape Town exhibition match next February between superstars Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.
The match at the Cape Town Stadium, built for the 2010 Fifa World Cup, is set to break the attendance record of 35,681 for a tennis match set by Kim Clijsters and Serena Williams in 2010 in Brussels.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
It may 'snow' at Tokyo summer Games
TOKYO • The Tokyo 2020 Olympic organising committee has already rolled out everything from misting stations to flowerbeds to beat the heat at next year's July 24-Aug 9 Games, and now they want to let it snow.
Organisers confirmed yesterday they plan to test the use of artificial snow at a canoe event later this month as they look for novel ways to keep spectators and athletes cool in Tokyo's hot summer.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
