Sports Briefs

BASKETBALL

Waiting game to decide KBL regular season champions

KBL fans will have to wait to find out the regular season champion this year. Tied for the lead, Jeonju KCC Egis and Ulsan Mobis Phoebus both clinched another victory on Tuesday.

In the game against the Goyang Orion Orions, Andre Emmett and Ha Seung-jin of the Egis combined 50 points on the board. Despite their effort, Egis was behind at 70-71 with a few seconds remaining in the game. Chon Tae-poong saved the day for the Egis as he drained one beyond the arc with 1.5 seconds left in the game. For Phoebus, it was the two native star players, Yang Dong-geun and Ham Ji-hoon, who scored 35 points together and brought the win against Wonju Dongbu Promy. Ham rescued the team with fast-breaks when Phoebus was behind at 65-66 in the fourth quarter. Once back in the lead, Yang secured the win as he calmly netted the free throws with 9 seconds remaining in the match.

With their win on Tuesday, both Egis and Phoebus have guaranteed their spot for the top four in the playoff.

choi.hyungjo@joongang.co.kr

TENNIS

Nadal win takes him into second round of Rio Open

After an hour-long delay because of rain, Rafael Nadal advanced to the second round at the Rio Open with 6-1, 6-4 win over fellow Spaniard Pablo Carreno. Nadal won gold in the Beijing Olympics in 2008 but missed the London Olympics with an injury. Despite being asked about it repeatedly, he is avoiding talking about the Rio’s Olympics that open in six months. “The Olympics is a very important event, a very special one, and I’m going to try my best when the Olympics arrive,” Nadal said. “But for now I’m playing the ATP tournament in Rio. That’s the most important thing for me.”

Also advancing Tuesday were No. 2 David Ferrer, who beat Nicolas Jarry of Chile 6-3, 7-6 (3), and No. 5 Dominic Thiem, who had a 6-3, 6-4 win over Pablo Andujar of Spain.

No. 3 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga had his match rained out against Thiago Monteiro. They will play Wednesday. AP