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Asian Games close after fortnight of turmoil and teenage triumph

The 20th Asian Games closed on Sunday after a rocky fortnight lit up by youthful brilliance in the sporting arenas but tempered by logistical dysfunction and subdued public interest.

Sabalenka knocked out of China Open

BEIJING — Second-ranked Aryna Sabalenka was bundled out in the third round of the China Open in straight sets by the Czech Republic's Nikola Bartunkova on Sunday. The No. 34-ranked Bartunkova defeated the four-time Grand Slam champion 6-4, 6-3 in just over an hour and a half leaving the tournament without its two top seeds in the first week. Newly-crowned world No. 1 Elena Rybakina was ousted from the tournament on Saturday and will now be joined by Sabalenka in exiting WTA-1000 event in Beijing early. Sabalenka, who was denied a three-peat at the US Open last month by Rybakina, squandered five break points in the first set as her historic struggles in Beijing continued. The 28-year-old Belorussian has never progressed past the quarterfinals at the event. “First of all, I focused on myself, to be calm,” Bartunkova said. “And Aryna, she’s great, she’s a legend, she’s a Grand Slam champion. So, yeah, I’m really happy that I won the match... I’m not a girl who celebrates too much.” Bartunkova will next play 24-year-old Sinja Kraus of Austria, who earlier defeated Dayana Yastremska 6-1, 6-4. Fifth-ranked Mirra Andreeva eased into the fourth round with a 6-4, 6-1 victory over Polina Kudermetova. This year's French Open winner fired six aces and took five of her seven break point opportunities to overwhelm her Uzbek opponent in just in 68 minutes. In the men’s tournament, Hubert Hurkacz beat Karen Khachanov 7-6 (2) 6-2 to make the final four. Later Sunday, top seed and U.S. Open champion Alexander Zverev plays his quarterfinal match against Novak Djokovic.

Jeus Yape shares challenging journey to historic Asian Games virtual taekwondo gold

History was made for Philippine taekwondo as Jeus Yape captured gold in the inaugural mixed individual virtual event on Friday, giving the country its first-ever Asian Games title in the sport.

UAAP: La Salle vents ire on UE, spoils Toper Lagat's 30

Eager to get back on the win column, defending champions De La Salle University trampled on University of the East, 112-87, Sunday at the Philsports Arena in Pasig City.

Asian Games set to close

NAGOYA — The Asian Games in Japan will close later Sunday after a fortnight of record-smashing displays from young stars, but marred by mix-ups, patchy crowds and accusations of mismanagement. More than 17,000 athletes and officials, a bigger number than the Olympics, descended on Nagoya and Aichi prefecture for the continent's premier sporting spectacular. Chinese swimming sensation Yu Zidi, just 13, stole the show in the pool with three gold medals, all in Games-record times. She looks set to be a major medal threat at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics. The schoolgirl was named a Games MVP on Sunday to cap an extraordinary showing that saw her scorch to gold in the 200m butterfly and do the 200m-400m individual medley double. But for that all that, the shy teenager said: "I don't think I am what people describe as a prodigy." Also in the pool, Japanese swimmer Shin Ohashi, himself only 17, smashed the men's 200m breaststroke world record to delight the home crowd. In athletics, where rain tumbled down over several days, Thai sprinter Puripol Boonson did the 100m-200m double and was named men's MVP. "This time there were a lot of global athletes at this event, so the MVP gives me a lot of confidence that I can make the podium in LA," the 20-year-old said. 'Failure grade' With the hours ticking down to the closing ceremony, when Japan will hand over the baton to Doha, top officials were on the defensive. Olympic Council of Asia director general Husain Al-Musallam said "numbers are facts," pointing to 50 world records broken at the Games since they opened on September 19. "The athletes cannot perform if they don't sleep good, the athletes cannot perform if they don't have good transportation," he said. This 20th edition of the Games, which were first contested in 1951, did not have a traditional athletes' village in a bid to save money. Instead, participants were housed in wooden temporary units, on a cruise ship and in hotels. Organizers said this was a template for future multi-sports events. But it came with issues, with some teams complaining the units were too cramped and the beds too short. More than that, the ballooning numbers of athletes and officials meant there were not enough beds for everyone. One Thai Olympic official told AFP it was "like musical chairs." The sport, including a blockbuster cricket final won by India against arch-rivals Pakistan, did sometimes shine through. North Korean weightlifter Ri Song Gum, a 140cm (4ft 7in) pocket powerhouse, set three new world marks in one day for gold. But problems kept coming too, including organizers playing North Korea's national anthem for the South Korean hockey team. There were athletes' buses that did not turn up when they should, or did not arrive at all. Two teams were sent to the wrong venue, delaying a volleyball match. "If I were to give them a grade, it would be an F," Ryu Seung-min, president of the Korean Sport and Olympic Committee, said. Games organizers were on the back foot as well over attendances, with the opening ceremony taking place in front of thousands of empty seats. At the women's football semi-final between hosts Japan and South Korea there were 998 spectators in a 50,000 stadium. Boy history-maker Japanese Olympic Committee president Seiko Hashimoto admitted that "there were many problems," but said the country wants to host more international events in future. She said bad weather had turned some spectators off, but was eager to point out that some sports were well attended. About 30,000 saw South Korea beat Japan 1-0 to clinch men's football gold, although the occasion was tarnished somewhat when the South Korean flag failed to go up in the victory ceremony. The hosts finished with 83 golds, a distant second in the medals table behind China with 169. Japan's tally included gold for Yuki Kurihara, who won an eSports competition aged 11, believed to make him the youngest Games champion in history. Several sports with ambitions of making the Olympics made their debut, including padel, MMA and virtual taekwondo.

LOOK: La Salle def. UE (112-87)

UAAP Season 89 Men’s Basketball Tournament La Salle def. UE (112-87) Mason Amos  Player of the game #UAAPSeason89

La Salle blasts UE, snaps 2-game skid

MANILA, Philippines --- De La Salle blasted University of the East, 112-87, at the PhilSports Arena Sunday to snap its 2-game skid in the UAAP Season 89 men's basketball tournament. The Green Archers pulled away from the Red Warriors in the second frame, flipping a 38-28 lead with a 13-2 run capped by a Mason Amos jumper to seize a 21-point, 51-30 lead with 3:22 left in the first half. Taking control for the rest o the way, La Salle improved to 2-2 for a 3-way with NU and UST from fifth to seventh places as of posting time. UE dropped to 0-5 and suffered its 25th straight loss dating back to Season 87 including that playoff for no. 4 defeat against Adamson.

Hong Kong’s Asian Games medal haul gives reason to be cheerful but reckoning awaits for some

When Cado Lee Ka-to carried Hong Kong’s flag into the Paloma Mizuho Stadium on Sunday, he did so at the head of what remained of the most successful Asian Games delegation in the city’s history. While only a handful of the 580 athletes who made up the team attended the closing ceremony, their impact will be felt far beyond the past fortnight, although it may be in what wasn’t achieved that a lasting legacy is created. At first glance, an overall medal count of 54, only one more than the previous...

Silva unanimously outpoints Cong to claim the UFC women’s flyweight championship

SALT LAKE CITY — Natalia Silva unanimously outpointed Wang Cong to claim the vacant UFC women’s flyweight championship Saturday night at UFC 332. Silva (21-5-1) extended her winning streak to 15 bouts after largely dominating Wang (10-2) over five rounds. “This is incredible for me,” Silva said. “I have worked hard for this moment and now I am the new (champion) and I am so so so happy.” Silva went from challenger to favorite in the title bout after Valentina Shevchenko vacated the title nearly a month ago because of back and shoulder injuries. She proved far more aggressive than Wang early, using her speed, fluid movement, and strong legs to create an advantage. Silva knocked Wang to the canvas midway through the second round with a sharp head kick. She kept Wang on her heels with her quick striking ability through the next two rounds and connected on other roundhouse kicks. Wang fought back in the final round, but Silva landed enough blows to stay in control and had winning scores of 48-47, 48-47, 49-46 from the judges. “I think if she had stepped on the gas a little earlier, it would have been a completely different fight,” UFC President Dana White said. Payton Talbott earned a victory via TKO over Delveson Figueiredo with 2:51 left in the first round of the bantamweight bout billed as the co-main event. Talbott (12-1) dominated Figueiredo (25-8-1) from the start of the fight. He put him on the canvas early with a right-handed strike and then delivered an elbow along the fence that sent Figueiredo reeling. Talbott pressed his advantage, raining down blows and forcing his opponent to cover up until he forced a TKO. “Definitely thought he was going to be more durable,” Talbott said. It marked a successful return to the octagon for the Nevada fighter after going 10 months between bouts. Talbott said he wished the latest bout had not ended so quickly. “I wanted to just feel that war,” Talbott said. “I’m really happy to get the finish because it’s been a while since I got that finish. Deep down, that’s who I am. I chase finishes. But, yeah, I definitely wanted it to come a little bit later in the fight.” Roman Kopylov defeated Ateba Gautier by TKO with 3:12 remaining in the first round of the middleweight bout that served as the first of three main card fights leading into the co-main event. Kopylov swarmed Gautier with several clean strikes before finally dropping him to the canvas with a left-handed blow. He earned his second UFC victory of the year while handing Gautier his second career defeat. UFC newcomer Roberto Soldic debuted with a unanimous decision victory, scoring 29-28, 29-27, 29-27 over Khaos Williams in the welterweight bout. The fight lasted all three rounds, but Soldic dominated his opponent throughout with timely blows and bottled him up on the canvas at the end of each of the first two rounds. Esteban Ribovics edged King Green by TKO with 52 seconds to go in the first round of the lightweight bout. Ribovics dropped Green to the canvas three times with well-timed strikes, overwhelming him after the third fall. White reported a gate of $2.7 million for the event with 16,492 fans in attendance.

Rybakina loses in China Open second round while Zverev wins to face Djokovic

BEIJING — No. 1-ranked Elena Rybakina was ousted from the China Open by No. 118 Alina Charaeva of Armenia in the second round on Saturday. Charaeva held her head in her hands in disbelief after winning 3-6, 6-4, 6-3. "I was just trying to stay really hard mentally and keep believing that at some point I could turn it around again to my side. And I guess I just never stopped believing,” said Charaeva, only the ninth woman outside the top 100 to beat a No. 1. Rybakina had seven double faults and dropped her serve five times, the last time to fall behind 4-2 in the third set. New US Open champion Rybakina became only the second woman to lose her first match as world No. 1. Naomi Osaka was the other, in 2019. “There was a lot going on after the US Open victory. I didn't get a lot of chances to sleep and recover," Rybakina said. “Congratulations to Alina. She played a very good match.” Coco Gauff, who lost to Rybakina in the US Open semifinals, won her first match since then against Camila Osorio 7-6 (4), 4-6, 6-2. In the men's tournament, top seed and US Open champion Alexander Zverev beat wild card Shang Juncheng 6-0, 6-3 to set up a quarterfinal against Novak Djokovic. Third-seeded Daniil Medvedev advanced by beating Jan-Lennard Struff 6-4, 6-3. In a second-round match, Alex de Minaur beat Quentin Halys 3-6, 7-6 (5), 7-5.

20th Asian Games Final medal tally

Despite logistical problems, OCA says Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games are a success

The Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) said on Sunday that a near 20% jump in revenue, strong viewership figures and a slew of world records proved the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games were a success, despite logistical problems plaguing the multi-sport showpiece.