Sports Briefs

RHYTHMIC GYMNASTICS

Son notches up third win
at Asian championships

Korean rhythmic gymnast Son Yeon-jae became a three-time winner at the Rhythmic Gymnastics Asian Championships after notching a win in the individual all-around event on Tuesday in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

Son aggregated a 73.750 total score in the event at the regional championship which had gymnasts from eight other countries participating. She carded 18.600 in clubs and 18.200 in ribbon on Tuesday in addition to her 18.450 points from hoop and 18.500 from ball the previous day. The 21-year-old topped all four apparatuses, and outpaced second placed Elizabeta Nazarenkova of Uzbekistan by 2.300 points. Sabina Ashirbayeva from Kazakhstan finished third with a 70.500 score.

Son’s 73.750 total is short of her personal best which was set at the International Federation of Gymnastics (FIG) World Cup in Italy in April at 73.900.

Son claimed her first win in the biennial competition in 2013 and repeated the same result in 2015, bagging another win at this year’s event which was moved up from 2017.

Son plans to travel to Russia after the competition in Uzbekistan to prepare for the FIG World Cup in Minsk, Belarus, slated to start on May 20.

BASEBALL

Pirates’ Kang gets his first double against Cincinnati

Pittsburgh Pirates third baseman Kang Jung-ho hit his first double of the season on Tuesday during a Major League Baseball (MLB) game against the Cincinnati Reds at the Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati, Ohio. The Pirates lost to the Reds 2-3.

Batting sixth and playing at third base, Kang went 1-for-4 during the game, adding one run batted in (RBI). As of Tuesday, Kang notched .250 batting average with two home runs, two runs-scored and five RBIs.

Kang came to the plate in the top of the second inning with one out count but was called out on strikes against Reds starting pitcher Dan Straily. Kang made contact in the top of the fourth inning but popped out to Reds catcher in foul territory. At bat again in the sixth inning, Kang smashed an 82-mile-an-hour slider by Straily to ground out. However, Gregory Polanco from third base drove home for Kang to collect an RBI. Kang’s hit came in the ninth inning when he doubled on a sharp line drive off the first pitch by Tony Cingrani, a 93-mile-an-hour four seam fastball.

By Choi Hyung-jo