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Tennis: Ana Ivanovic (picture) overcame a slow start to beat top seed Angelique Kerber 7-5 6-3 in the semi-final of the Pan Pacific Open yesterday to set up a title clash with second seed Caroline Wozniacki. World number 10 Ivanovic, seeded third in the $1 million event, was down 5-3 in the opening set but went on to win 10 of the next 13 games to seal her victory against her eighth ranked German opponent. Wozniacki, also a former top-ranked player, was the first to book her spot for the final after a tough match against an aggressive Garbine Muguruza. The Danish player saved 19 of the 23 break points she faced in the match, including all nine in the first set, to win 6-4 2-6 6-2 against the 20-year-old Spaniard.
American Football: When NFL players strap on their pink shoes and gloves in October for the league’s annual Breast Cancer Awareness Month campaign, it will be doing so with one less sponsor, a notable retreat blamed on the league’s handling of domestic violence. Crest, Procter & Gamble Co’s dental brand, will no longer be offering pink mouth guards to NFL players, the company said, the first sponsor to publicly withdraw from the NFL’s signature overture to women. “The brand has decided to cancel on-field activation with NFL teams,” Procter & Gamble said. The company added it will honour its planned $100,000 donation to the American Cancer Society, the NFL’s long-time partner in the October campaign.
Winter Olympics: South Korea’s ice hockey teams will compete at the 2018 Winter Olympics after the sport’s governing body gave the hosts automatic entry into the competition in Pyeongchang. The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) had been keen for South Korea to compete at their home Olympics but were wary of the potential for the kind of lopsided losses that would embarrass the hosts and damage the sport’s reputation. However, with the promise of financial backing, and after the Korean Ice Hockey Association (KIHA) presented details of a four-year plan on how it would develop the game, the IIHF decided to grant them automatic spots in four years’ time.
Athletics: Three-times U.S. 200 metres champion Wallace Spearmon Jr. has been suspended for three months after testing positive for a banned substance, the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) said. Spearmon, 29, tested positive at a meeting in Edmonton, Canada in July for methylprednisolone, a banned substance contained in a prescribed medication the twice Olympian was taking under the care of a physician, USADA said. Only six men have ever run the 200m faster than the three- times world championship medallist whose lifetime best time is 19.65 seconds.
Weightlifting: North Korean weightlifter Om Yun Chol broke his own clean and jerk world record on the way to winning his country’s first gold medal of the Asian Games in Incheon yesterday. Om, who won a gold medal at the London Olympics, raised 170 kilograms to better his old record by 1kg in the men’s 56kg class. He earlier lifted 128kg in the snatch for a combined total of 298kg.