The second round of regional Olympic soccer qualifiers has been postponed even before the completion of the first round as Asian soccer spins into turmoil amid the deadly outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). \nThe Asian Football Confederation announced yesterday that five second-round Asian qualifying matches for the 2004 Athens Olympics had been postponed indefinitely. \nThe second round matches, also contested on a home-and-away basis, had been set down for May 3 and either June 6 or June 7. \nSouth Korea was due to meet the winner of the Hong Kong-Sri Lanka match, while Saudi Arabia was against the winner of the Taiwan-Singapore match and North Korea faced the winner of the Iraq-Vietnam encounter when the next round eventually gets underway. \nSecond-round matches between Thailand and the winner of the United Arab Emirates vs. Tajikistan match and China against the winner of the Syria vs. Pakistan match were also postponed. \nIn first-round matches going ahead, Syria is hosting Pakistan twice, on April 16 and April 19, and the UAE will host Tajikistan at Dubai on April 19 and travel to Dushanbe for the return leg on April 26. \n``In view of the severity of the SARS outbreak in the region, we have decided to postpone these five matches as the players, officials and fans health are of utmost importance to us,'' said AFC General Secretary Peter Velappan. \nSARS has reportedly killed 162 of the 3,000 people infected worldwide, mostly in Hong Kong and China, where the virus was believed to have originated. \n``FIFA and AFC will closely monitor the developments of the situation with the advice of the World Health Organization (WHO) and inform the teams and everyone involved of the new dates in due time,'' added Velappan. \nEarlier this month, the AFC postponed three first-round Olympic qualifiers and shelved the 14-nation Asian qualifying tournament for the women's World Cup. The Asian championship was due to be held in Bangkok, Thailand starting this week. \nSoccer's regional authorities have scrapped an East Asian men's series involving China, Japan and South Korea, while FIFA, soccer's international governing body, postponed the draw for the Sept. 23 to Oct. 11 women's World Cup in China. \nThe draw was due to be held in Wuhan, China on May 24 but was delayed as a ``preventive measure in the interests of the health of those taking part,'' FIFA officials said. \nDespite speculation that the women's World Cup will be postponed or switched to another venue, FIFA and the Chinese FA have said they're confident the quadrennial tournament will go ahead as scheduled. \nMeanwhile, English Premier League clubs Everton and Aston Villa have abandoned plans to tour China and Hong Kong for exhibition matches next month. \nOlympic qualifiers have been hit hard in Asia. \nOther sports have abandoned major events in the region. The women's ice hockey World Cup was canceled four days before its scheduled April 3 opener in Beijing, while the International Rugby Board pulled its Sevens Series events in China and Singapore.
The Taichung Warriors yesterday collapsed in the final at the 15th Taiwan Annual Cricket Cup in Chiayi City, but Chetan Sharma’s 50 scripted a near-unbelievable resurgence to snatch the trophy from the Taiwan Stars. Sharma’s 4-24 restricted the Stars to 130-6, but the reply was a disaster as the Warriors fell to 25-7 after six overs. However, Sharma undid all the work of opening bowlers Amir Sohail and Abrar Hussain (both 3-14) to guide them to a two-wicket win. The result reversed their group-stage encounter at the eight-team, two-day competition at the Yunsan baseball fields. In the semi-finals, Sohail took 4-21 as the Stars
Taiwanese swimmer Eddie Wang on Saturday broke the 200m short course butterfly world junior record at the opening meet of the International Swimming League season in Budapest, Hungary. The 18-year-old, who was representing the Cali Condors, a San Francisco-based professional swimming club, finished third in 1 minute, 50.79 seconds. Wang finished behind winner Tom Shields of the LA Current (1:50.43) and runner-up Chad le Clos of Energy Standard (1:50.48). Wang’s time broke the 2012 world junior record of 1:51.30 set by former Japanese national team captain Daiya Seto. It also broke his national record of 1:52.38, set at the 2018 FINA World Cup meeting
The All Blacks might have unearthed the next Jonah Lomu after 21-year-old Caleb Clarke yesterday proved to be a one-man demolition squad in the All Blacks’ 27-7 whipping of Australia in Auckland, New Zealand. Clarke, the son of former All Black Eroni Clarke, takes an uncomplicated approach to using his 1.84m, 107kg frame. “When you get the ball, just run. You don’t have to think about anything,” he said after his first Test start, after making his debut off the bench last week in the drawn first Bledisloe Cup Test. As the All Blacks lifted their aggression and accuracy in Auckland, much of
A team made up mostly of Guatemalans who live and work in Taiwan were on Sunday crowned winners of the women’s Copa America Taiwan soccer tournament after defeating a Paraguayan team in the final in New Taipei City. Guatemala defeated Paraguay 3-1 in a final that kept hundreds of spectators on the edge of their seats at Fu Jen Catholic University Stadium. The two teams attacked at will early in the match as both looked to take an early lead, but it was Paraguay who went in front after a cleverly worked free-kick was headed into the net. In the second half, Guatemala
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