■ England
Niemi close to returning
Fulham expects goalkeeper Antti Niemi to be back in action within weeks after an MRI scan showed the Finnish goalkeeper suffered no spinal damage. Niemi was taken to hospital after landing awkwardly on his head in Fulham's 0-0 draw with Watford on Monday. "Having seen the incident on TV, I can see that it looked very bad but fortunately it looked a lot worse than it was," Niemi said on Wednesday. "However, I consider myself very lucky as the outcome could have been much worse." The 34-year-old was released from hospital on Monday, and scans revealed he suffered "irritation to the related soft tissues in his neck." Niemi played in all 20 games for the 12th-placed Cottagers this season.
■ England
`Drunk' Hammers hard up
West Ham "played like a bunch of drunks" in its 6-0 loss to Reading, midfielder Yossi Benayoun said on Wednesday. "I am ashamed. I am shocked at the way we played," Benayoun told the Sun newspaper. "If we keep on playing like this, we will definitely be relegated. The situation is very bad. I felt like crying." The 26-year-old Israel midfielder called the Hammers' next league match against Fulham on Saturday week "the most important of the season." After beating Manchester United 1-0 in manager Alan Curbishley's debut on Dec. 17, West Ham has drawn one and lost three straight to remain in 18th and in the relegation zone. The Hammers were promoted in 2005 and subsequently qualified for the UEFA Cup by reaching the FA Cup final, and finished ninth in the table. "Let's be serious, this isn't the team that played last year, so it's just nonsense to carry on comparing the two seasons," Curbishley said.
■ England
Leeds bag Tore Andre Flo
Leeds signed striker Tore Andre Flo from Norwegian club Valerenga on Wednesday. The 33-year-old Flo hooks up again with manager Dennis Wise and coach Guy Poyet, who he played with at Chelsea, after signing a contract that will keep him at Elland Road until the end of the season. Flo scored 28 goals in 76 appearances for Norway before retiring from the national side in 2004. He played at Rangers, Sunderland and Italian side Siena. Leeds, currently 23rd in the 24-team League Championship, also signed striker Tresor Kandol to a three-and-a-half year contract and Espanyol defender Armando Miguel Correia De Sa until the end of the season for an undisclosed fee.
■ England
Charlton appeal red card
Charlton appealed defender Osei Sankofa's red card on Wednesday from its 4-0 loss to Arsenal. Sankofa was sent off on Tuesday for taking down Arsenal forward Robin van Persie inside the area in the 29th minute. The Addicks believe that referee Mike Riley wrongly judged that Sankofa was the last man and that Van Persie was in an offside position. Striker Thierry Henry subsequently scored from the penalty spot. The appeal was to be heard by the Football Association's disciplinary commission yesterday.
■ England
FA charges Chris Morgan
The Football Association charged Sheffield United defender Chris Morgan with violent conduct on Wednesday. An FA disciplinary commission will hear the case today, which left the United captain until yesterday afternoon to appeal. Morgan appeared to strike Arsenal forward Robin van Persie in the stomach out of sight of referee Alan Wiley in United's 1-0 win over Arsenal last Saturday.
Shohei Ohtani and his wife arrived in South Korea with his Los Angeles Dodgers teammates yesterday ahead of their season-opening games with the San Diego Padres next week. Ohtani, wearing a black training suit and a cap backwards, was the first Dodgers player who showed up at the arrival gate of Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul. His wife, Mamiko Tanaka, walked several steps behind him. As a crowd of fans, many wearing Dodgers jerseys, shouted his name and cheered slogans, Ohtani briefly waved his hand, but did not say anything before he entered a limousine bus with his wife. Fans held placards
Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals at the All England Open, beating Kim Ga-eun of South Korea 21-17, 21-15. With the win, Tai earned a semi-final against China’s He Bingjiao, who beat Michelle Li of Canada 21-9, 21-9. Defending champion An Se-young defeated India’s P.V. Sindhu 21-19, 21-11. An on Wednesday cruised into the second round, unlike last year’s men’s winner, Li Shifeng, who suffered a shock defeat. South Korea’s An, the world No. 1, overcame Taiwan’s Hsu Wen-chi 21-17, 21-16 to set up the match against Sindhu. In other women’s singles matches, Taiwan’s Sung Shuo-yun lost 21-18, 24-22 against Carolina Marin of
EYEING TOP SPOT: A victory in today’s final against Storm Hunter and Katerina Siniakova would return 38-year-old Hsieh Su-wei to the world No. 1 ranking Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens on Thursday secured a spot in the women’s doubles finals at the BNP Paribas Open after dispatching Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez 6-2, 7-6 (7/5) at Indian Wells. Hsieh and her Belgian partner Mertens, who won the Australian Open in late January, coasted through the first set after breaking their opponents’ serve twice, but found the going tougher in the second. Both pairs could only muster one break point over 12 games, neither of which were converted, leaving the set to be decided by a tiebreaker. Hsieh and Mertens took a 6-3 lead,
DOUBLES PAYBACK: Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Martens avenged their defeat in the quarters at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open against Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei on Wednesday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California. Hsieh and partner Elise Mertens of Belgium dispatched Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani 6-1, 6-4 to set up a clash against Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez for a spot in the final of the WTA 1000 tournament. Hsieh and Martens made a blistering start to their rematch after they lost to Schuurs and Stefani in the quarter-finals at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open last month, winning three games without reply at the start of the first set