Digest

SPORT CLIMBING

Chinese athletes scale heights at World Cup

Team China grabbed the men's and women's speed gold medals at an IFSC Climbing World Cup stop in Chamonix, France, on Saturday.

China's Deng Lijuan, who triumphed at the Villars leg in Switzerland the previous week, continued her winning streak as she stopped the clock in an Asian-record 6.55 seconds in the women's final.

Poland's Aleksandra Kalucka took silver, with Indonesia's Desak Rita claiming bronze.

The men's competition saw Long Jinbao, the bronze medalist in Villars, top the podium after tapping the finish pad in 5.11 seconds, 0.38 sec ahead of second-place Erik Noya Cardona of Spain.

"I want to thank all the people who have supported me in becoming the champion. This is the result of my hard work and training," said Long after clinching his first gold of the series.

Indonesia's Aspar Aspar took bronze.

Scottish capital Edinburgh will host the next stop of the World Cup series, from Sept 9-11.

SOCCER

Wu, Zhang ruled out of East Asian tourney

Wu Xi and Zhang Yuning have been omitted from Team China's squad for the East Asian Cup after both sustained injuries in recent club games.

Zhang is ruled out with a shoulder dislocation and soft tissue tear, his club Beijing Guo'an confirmed on Saturday.

The striker picked up the injury after falling awkwardly under a challenge late in Guo'an's 0-0 Chinese Super League draw with Meizhou Hakka on Thursday. He was helped off the pitch with his right shoulder bandaged and his right arm in a sling.

Wu sustained a rib fracture during Shanghai Shenhua's 4-2 loss to Wuhan Three Towns on July 3.

Shenhua said it had briefed the Chinese national team on Wu's injury with relevant medical documents.

The East Asian Cup tournament will be held from July 19-29 in Japan.

Former Arsenal star Wilshere retires at 30

Former Arsenal and England midfielder Jack Wilshere has retired at the age of just 30.

Wilshere became Arsenal's youngest league debutant when he featured aged 16 and 256 days in 2008 after graduating from the club's youth academy.

Widely predicted to emerge as a key figure for both Arsenal and England, Wilshere made a bright start to his career.

But his progress was hampered by a series of injuries and concerns about his off-field lifestyle.

Wilshere made his first England appearance in 2010, winning 34 caps and featuring at the 2014 World Cup and Euro 2016.

Although Wilshere won the FA Cup with Arsenal in 2014 and 2015, he never quite fulfilled his potential in 197 appearances for the Gunners.

He spent a season on loan at Bournemouth and made a permanent switch to West Ham in 2018.

Wilshere returned to Bournemouth on a short-term deal in January 2021 and also had a spell at Danish club AGF before deciding to hang up his boots on Friday.

VOLLEYBALL

China beats Bulgaria for third VNL victory

Team China fought back from a set down to beat Bulgaria 3-1 and secure its third victory in the men's FIVB Volleyball Nations League in Gdansk, Poland, on Saturday.

Aleksandar Nikolov, Svetoslav Gotsev and Denis Karyagin scored five points each as Bulgaria edged a closely fought first set 28-26.

China responded well to take an early lead in the second set, with Peng Shikun's power spike helping his team take the second set 25-23 to tie the match.

China opened a five-point lead (16-11) by the second technical timeout in the third set, before again prevailing 25-23.

Peng delivered two consecutive aces and Yu Yuantai rose imperiously for a monster block as China raced into a 5-0 lead in the fourth. The Bulgarians struggled to recover from that spurt as China went on to claim the set 25-17.

Zhang Jingyin was China's most prolific player of the game with 18 points. Karyagin top-scored with 15 for the Bulgarians.

"I am so excited about this victory. I think we did very well today and accumulated precious experience from this match. Every victory pushes us to do better," Chinese player Yuan Dangyi said.

Also on Saturday, Amirhossein Esfandiar led Iran to a massive straight-sets win over Serbia; Poland also enjoyed an easy win, thrashing the Netherlands 3-0.

GOLF

Norman not invited to British Open festivities

Greg Norman once talked about playing in this week's British Open. Now he doesn't even get to attend the dinner for past champions.

Norman, who won the Open at Turnberry in 1986 and at Royal St. George's in 1993, would have been eligible for the "Celebration of Champions" exhibition that will take place at St. Andrews, along with the Champions' Dinner.

The Royal& Ancient said Saturday it contacted Norman to tell him "we decided not to invite him to attend on this occasion".

Norman is the CEO of the Saudi-funded LIV Golf series that is paying as much as $150 million to sign former major champions like Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau and staging 54-hole events with a shotgun start that pay $25 million in prize money.

Agencies