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TENNIS

Chung Hyeon moves up to No. 20 spot in world ranking

Chung Hyeon moved back into the top 20 in the world tennis ranking on Monday.

In men’s singles, Chung moved up a spot from last week’s ranking to No. 20. Though Chung’s ranking point decreased, from 1817 to 1807, after getting eliminated in the first round of the ATP Tour’s Madrid Open, his ranking still moved up.

While Chung’s ranking moved up, Kei Nishikori’s dropped to 24th, making Chung the highest-ranked Asian player in men’s singles. Chung’s previous high was No. 19.

Rafael Nadal of Spain moved down a spot to second and Roger Federer of Switzerland is now at the top for the first time in a year and a half. Alexander Zverev of Germany, who won the Madrid Open, maintained his spot at third.

In the women’s world ranking, Simona Halep of Romania maintained the top spot. Jang Su-jeong is the highest-ranked Korean female tennis player, at 188.

By Kang Yoo-rim



ASIAN GAMES

Koreas may only field a few unified teams at Asian Games

South Korea and North Korea may only be able to field a limited number of unified teams at this year’s Asian Games, the head of Seoul’s Olympic body said Monday.

Lee Kee-heung, president of the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee (KSOC), said the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA), which organizes the quadrennial continental competition, confirmed that it will only support joint Korean teams as long as they aren’t granted extra roster spots.

Lee returned home from a meeting with OCA President Sheikh Ahmad al-Fahad al-Sabah in Lausanne, Switzerland, on Sunday. Seven South Korean national sports federations have expressed interest in unified Korean teams at this year’s Asian Games, set for Aug. 18 to Sept. 2 in Jakarta and Palembang, Indonesia.

In particular, the Korea Table Tennis Association (KTTA) in the South has come up with a proposal for a unified Korean team in which all qualified South and North Korean athletes will be brought together, provided that the OCA would grant them added spots.

In Asian Games table tennis, each country can have up to two players each in the men’s and women’s singles, two teams each in the mixed doubles and five players in the team event.

“Unless roster spots are added, some South Korean athletes who have been preparing for the Asian Games may suffer,” Lee told reporters at Incheon International Airport.



ICE HOCKEY

North Korean ice hockey star cleared of doping

North Korea’s Kim Un-hyang, who participated in the PyeongChang Winter Olympics as a member of the unified inter-Korean ice hockey team, has been cleared of a doping offense as a banned substance detected from her sample showed an “extremely low concentration,” an online news outlet specializing in the Olympics reported recently.

Kim was found to have tested positive for the diuretic hydrochlorothiazide, which can be used as a masking agent to hide the presence of other banned substances, insidethegames said.

But the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) said the positive test came as a result of “unintentional consumption,” and the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) did not impose a penalty on Kim, allowing her to continue to compete at the Games in the South Korean alpine city in February, the media said.

The IIHF said there was an “extremely low concentration” found in Kim’s out-of-competition sample taken during the Olympics, adding the positive test was the result of “contaminated food products,” according to the media.

Three nanograms per millimeter were detected in Kim’s sample, which was 197 nanograms per millimeter less than the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) limit, the IIHF was cited as saying.

WADA has decided to not appeal the CAS verdict, the media said, citing an unidentified WADA official.

Yonhap
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