Digest

OLYMPICS

Ice Ribbon preparing for public opening

The National Speed Skating Oval, aka the Ice Ribbon, will open to the public before Labor Day on May 1, according to Wu Xiaonan, the vice-general manager of venue owner Beijing State-Owned Assets Management Co. Ltd.

The oval will invite partner representatives and the venue operation team to experience the "fastest ice "on which world records were set during the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games.

On Sunday, representatives from venue design, construction, ice making and supervision departments visited the Ice Ribbon.

Wu described the oval as a trailblazer of high-grade post-competition operation. He added that it will stage mass fitness and diversified business projects.

BASKETBALL

Shanghai, Zhejiang advance to semifinals

The Shanghai Sharks beat the Shenzhen Aviators 87-82 to reach the semifinals of the CBA playoffs in Nanchang, Jiangxi province, on Sunday.

Shanghai center Wang Zhelin had a game-high 25 points and 14 rebounds, while his teammate Jamaal Franklin added 19 points.

"We knew the game would be difficult, but today we were fully prepared. Shenzhen has top-level overseas players, so the game was closely contested. This result should be dedicated to our collective efforts," said Wang.

The Zhejiang Lions also made the last four after defeating the Jilin Northeast Tigers 110-100.

Zhejiang's Jarrod Jones notched a team-high 30 points, while Sun Minghui grabbed 22 points.

Both Shanghai and Zhejiang advanced to the semifinals by winning their best-of-three series 2-0.

Embiid claims scoring title as Giannis rested

Joel Embiid won the NBA scoring title to become the first Philadelphia player to top the league since Allen Iverson 17 years ago.

Embiid sat out the finale Sunday night against Detroit and finished at 30.6 points per game. Milwaukee's Giannis Antetokounmpo also rested Sunday, finishing at 29.9 points.

Embiid, the No 3 overall pick in the 2014 draft, became the face of the Sixers' rebuilding effort more commonly known as The Process. Embiid embraced the nickname and is introduced before every home game as Joel "The Process" Embiid.

He's been dominant again and is one of the contenders for NBA MVP－an award he set as a season goal. Embiid finished the season on a streak of nine games with at least 20 points and 10 rebounds. He had a whopping 12 games of 40 points and 10 rebounds, joining Russell Westbrook and Moses Malone as the only players to hit that mark since the NBA-ABA merger in 1976-77.

BADMINTON

Unheralded Chinese clinches Seoul crown

Little-known Chinese player Weng Hongyang stunned world No 8 Jonatan Christie to claim the men's singles title at the South Korea Open in Seoul on Sunday.

The 22-year-old world No 156 battled to a hard-fought 12-21, 21-19,21-15 victory over Indonesia's Christie, this year's Swiss Open champion.

Weng is virtually an unknown entity on the BWF World Tour, and the South Korea Open was his first tournament of the year.

Local favorite and second seed An Se-young beat sixth seed Pornpawee Chochuwong of Thailand 21-17, 21-18 to win the women's singles final.

The women's doubles title went to South Korea's seventh seeds Jeong Na-eun and Kim Hye-jeong, who swept eighth seeds Benyapa Aimsaard and Nuntakarn Aimsaard of Thailand 21-16, 21-12.

South Korea's Kang Min-hyuk and Seo Seung-jae won the men's doubles, while Malaysia's Tan Kian Meng and Lai Pei Jing claimed the mixed doubles crown.

SOCCER

Wu stars off bench to earn Espanyol victory

Team China forward Wu Lei netted his first goal of the La Liga season to earn Espanyol a 1-0 home win over Celta Vigo on Sunday.

Wu, who has struggled for minutes this term, came off the bench midway through the second half before firing home a neat Sergi Darder pass in the 89th minute to earn the points at RCDE Stadium.

"I'm happy that my goal helped the team to win and I'm thankful for the encouragement I've received from everyone all along," said Wu, who was named man of the match.

"In good times and bad, the fans have always supported me. I hope I can help the team more in the future."

Xinhua - Agencies