Digest

BADMINTON

China claims Uber Cup with victory over Japan

Chen Qingchen

The Chinese women's badminton team came from behind to defeat Japan 3-1 in the Uber Cup final on Saturday in Aarhus, Denmark.

In the opening singles rubber, Tokyo Olympic champion Chen Yufei lost 21-18, 21-10 to world No 5 Akane Yamaguchi. Chen also lost to Yamaguchi two weeks ago in the Sudirman Cup final.

"The two games were very much alike. Akane did a good job in covering the court," said Chen. "My moves and responses to the shuttle were a bit slow. I felt like I was running out of energy."

China's Chen Qingchen and Jia Yifan prevailed in an epic encounter against Yuki Fukushima and Mayu Matsumoto in the following match. It took the Chinese pair 46 minutes to snatch an enthralling first set 29-27. The longest rally of the set featured a bewildering 56 shots.

The Japanese pair tied responded by taking the second set 21-15. However, China's Olympic silver medalists sealed the victory by winning the decider 21-18, leveling the overall score at 1-1.

He Bingjiao cruised to a 21-9, 21-18 singles victory over Sayaka Takahashi. Huang Dongping and Li Wenmei then sealed China's 15th Uber Cup triumph by edging Misaki Matsutomo and Nami Matsuyama 24-22, 23-21.

SOCCER

Haaland savors double with pitch-invading fan

Erling Haaland (r)

Erling Haaland celebrated his successful return from injury with a pitch-invading fan after scoring two goals in a 3-1 win over Mainz on Saturday to send Borussia Dortmund top of the Bundesliga.

Norwegian striker Haaland missed Dortmund's last four games with a thigh complaint, but returned against Mainz to score his third brace in as many appearances and take his season tally to nine league goals.

The 21-year-old then delighted the home crowd even more by celebrating arm-in-arm with a supporter who had somehow made it onto the pitch, and handing him his jersey as a gift.

"Erling really wanted to play and he gave everything to be on the pitch today," Dortmund coach Marco Rose told Sky. "We really missed him, and it's great that he scored two goals. That's what we signed him for," added captain Marco Reus.

Victory sent Dortmund top of the Bundesliga standings, leapfrogging both Bayern Munich and Bayer Leverkusen, who were due to meet on Sunday.

Klopp: Salah better than Messi, Ronaldo

Jurgen Klopp hailed Mo Salah as the best player in the world after the Liverpool forward scored another sublime goal in Saturday's 5-0 demolition of Watford.

Salah underlined why Liverpool is so desperate to get the Egypt forward to sign a new contract with his audacious second-half strike at Vicarage Road.

Dancing through the Watford defense, Salah's magical moment topped even his eye-catching goal against Manchester City before the international break.

For the first time in his career, Salah has scored in eight successive top-flight matches and Reds boss Klopp has no doubts he is now better than even Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

"Come on, we all see it. Who is better than him right now?" Klopp said. "We don't have to talk about what Ronaldo and Messi did for world football, and how long they were really dominant. But in the moment it's clear there is nobody better than him (Salah)."

FORMULA 1

Australian Grand Prix returns to Melbourne

Formula 1 has confirmed Melbourne as the host of next year's Australian Grand Prix, making it the third stop on the recently announced 2022 calendar.

The event is scheduled for April 7-10 at Melbourne's iconic Albert Park, which will feature Aussie driver Daniel Ricciardo's first home race with McLaren.

According to organizers, the Albert Grand Prix Circuit has been modified to promote more aggressive driving. As part of the development, seven corners have been modified, with two removed entirely to create a new high-speed zone. The circuit will also be resurfaced for the first time since it was originally laid in 1995.

The Australia Grand Prix was canceled in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

GOLF

Former PGA Tour player has leg amputated

Casey Martin

Casey Martin, who successfully sued the PGA Tour to gain the right to use a golf cart during tournaments, had his right leg amputated on Friday, Golf Digest reported.

Martin was in recovery Saturday at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota after reportedly having the leg amputated above the knee.

The 49-year-old Martin was born with a rare circulatory disease that affected the blood vessels in his lower right leg.

The condition, known as Klippel-Trenaunay-Weber syndrome, led to Martin's fight with the PGA to use a cart. Martin, who earned a PGA Tour card for the 2000 season, said the condition of his leg made it impossible to walk all 18 holes. He cited the Americans with Disabilities Act and his lawsuit made it all the way to the US Supreme Court. The vote was 7-2 in Martin's favor.

Though Martin has had lifelong troubles with the leg, the road toward amputation began when he broke the leg two years ago. Reportedly, the tibia was unable to heal despite being in a cast and repeated injections also didn't help.

"In many ways I exceeded what my doctors told me as a kid," Martin recently told Golf Digest. "I always felt this would be my destiny. So while it's weird to be here now, about to become seriously disfigured, it's not unexpected."

Agencies / Xinhua