The upcoming WTA tournament in Nuremberg, Germany "will take place immediately ahead of the French Open." Organizers said that the WTA "confirmed that the tournament will take place from May 14-24." Tournament organizer Sandra Reichel said, "The players can now perfectly prepare themselves in Nuremberg for the Grand Slam tournament in Paris." This year's event "was played between June 9-15 and therefore right between the French Open and Wimbledon." The result was that the tournament, which is played on clay, "attracted only a few top players as the majority was already preparing for a grass event in London" (DPA, 12/10). ... The Taipei City government said that "a record high number of runners have registered to compete in this Sunday's Taipei Fubon Marathon." In its 10th year, the marathon "has become the most iconic running event in Taiwan, and 46,500 runners will take part in this year's competitive full marathon, half marathon and 9-kilometer run." The number of female runners "will hit a new high this year, increasing 23 percent from last year's race to 13,000, and a large foreign contingent of 1,700 foreign competitors from 50 countries will also line up at the starting line" (CNA, 12/11).
