Fiji swept all before them to win gold yesterday at the World Games Rugby Sevens, retaining the title they won four years ago in an exciting tournament that saw Taiwan finish a respectable sixth out of eight teams.
The Main Stadium was turned into a mini Hong Kong as a crowd of more than 9,000 locals and foreign fans descended to cheer on their favorites.
Fiji, who had looked unimpressive a day earlier, had obviously been saving themselves, as they dominated proceedings from the start, outscoring Taiwan by four tries to one in their opening game, before comfortably beating a strong and previously undefeated South Africa in the semi-final 21-7 to set up a gold medal match with surprise finalists Portugal.
PHOTO: CHANG CHUNG-YI, TAIPEI TIMES
The Taiwanese, meanwhile, quickly got over the Fiji defeat to put on a good show against Hong Kong in their second match. No. 6 Chen Chih-wei was the star, scoring both tries in an end-to-end first seven minutes to give Taiwan a 10-7 halftime lead.
Hong Kong hit back almost immediately after the break with a try in the corner to take a 12-10 lead, before Wang Jen-his got his second try of the day, breaking from the halfway line after a turnover to touch down for a 17-12 win that set up a fifth-sixth place decider with the US.
Unfortunately, Taiwan couldn’t replicate their victory over the US on Saturday, losing after a thrilling match that saw the lead change hands on three occasions.
PHOTO: HUANG CHIH-YUAN, TAIPEI TIMES
Taiwan got off to the worst possible start, conceding two tries in the first five minutes to trail 14-0, but they put themselves right back in contention in first-half overtime as star player Chen scored under the posts after a turnover to make it 14-7 at the break.
Almost immediately after the restart, Taiwan made it 14-12 as a nice switch of passes between Chen and Wang Kuo-feng saw Wang score in the corner. The crowd then went wild as straight from the kick-off, Wang Ju-an dummied his way through the US defense to score and put Taiwan 19-14 in front.
However, they couldn’t hold out for the win as the US scored from a penalty with 90 seconds left to make the final score 21-19 and secure fifth place, pushing Taiwan into sixth.
In the final, the Fijians proved too strong and too full of running for the Portuguese, running in an impressive seven tries to win the match 43-10 and take the gold medal.
The crowd was further entertained as a streaker ran across the pitch just after the final buzzer, before the heavens opened to make for a wet medal presentation.
South Africa took the bronze medal after beating Argentina 17-0 in the third-fourth place play-off.
Japan finished seventh, while Hong Kong took the wooden spoon after losing all six matches.
Manchester United on Tuesday confirmed Michael Carrick as interim manager until the end of the season, tasking him with leading the Red Devils back into the UEFA Champions League. “Having the responsibility to lead Manchester United is an honor,” said Carrick, 44, who won 12 major trophies in his 12-year playing career at United. The former midfielder previously had an unbeaten three-game stint as caretaker boss at Old Trafford in 2021. Carrick then took on his first permanent managerial role at second-tier Middlesbrough in October 2022 and was sacked in June last year after the club finished 10th in the
MARRED FINAL: As most of Senegalese players walked off the pitch after a controversial decision, some supporters threw objects and attempted to get onto the pitch Senegal on Sunday won the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) as Pape Gueye’s extra-time winner sunk hosts Morocco 1-0 after a chaotic final that saw the eventual champions storm off the pitch late in the game. Brahim Diaz could have won the trophy for Morocco with a controversial spot-kick in the 24th minute of added time at the end of normal time as ugly scenes broke out in the stands. However, Senegal goalkeeper Edouard Mendy easily saved the weak attempted “Panenka” chip by the Real Madrid winger, who was clearly distracted by the long delay that followed the penalty award.
James Harden on Friday scored 31 points and came up big in overtime to help the Los Angeles Clippers erase a double-digit deficit on the way to a 121-117 NBA victory over the Toronto Raptors. Harden scored 16 points in the fourth quarter and overtime as the Clippers pushed their wining steak to five games despite the absence of star Kawhi Leonard with a sprained right ankle. The Clippers trailed by 11 entering the fourth quarter, but Harden drilled a pair of free-throws with 1:24 left in regulation to tie it and after misses from both teams, they went to
Dallas Mavericks rookie Cooper Flagg on Wednesday was ruled out for the second half of their 118-109 loss to the Denver Nuggets after the No. 1 pick sprained his left ankle in the first half. Flagg was called for a foul while defending against Peyton Watson and turned the ankle as he fell to the floor with 6 minutes, 1 second left in the second quarter. Flagg limped to the bench and continued to the locker room, but returned for the final 2 minutes, 35 seconds before the break. The 19-year-old did not come out for the second half before the announcement that
RSS