■ Soccer
Jurgen Klinsmann honored
Jurgen Klinsmann, who coached Germany to third place at last year's World Cup, received the country's highest honor on Wednesday at a private ceremony at the chancellery. Klinsmann, 42, was awarded the Cross of the Order Merit by German Chancellor Angela Merkel for his team's performance at the tournament. Based in California, Klinsmann did not attend a ceremony in August when the players received their distinctions, not of the same rank. Klinsmann said he was "very touched" by the honor, adding: "Last summer's World Cup remains an unforgettable experience for me." Merkel paid tribute to Klinsmann, a World Cup winning striker with Germany in 1990 and European champion in 1996, for "giving so much to our country."
■ Football
Smith's contract extended
Lovie Smith, who guided the Chicago Bears to a Super Bowl berth last season, has reportedly been rewarded with a four-year contract extension by the NFL team. The Chicago Tribune reported on its Web site on Wednesday that Smith and general manager Jerry Angelo were given contract extensions on Wednesday after a day of meetings with president Ted Phillips. Smith was given a four-year extension through 2011 and Angelo a six-year extension through 2013. Smith, who led the bears to the National Conference title in the recently completed season, was entering the final year of his contract and was the lowest-paid coach in the NFL at US$1.45 million. According to the report he was asking for a contract worth US$5 million a year. Over the past two years, the Bears have the second-best record in the league. Only the Indianapolis Colts, who beat Chicago in the Super Bowl in January, have a better record.
■ Cricket
Gough named as captain
Veteran England fast bowler Darren Gough was on Wednesday unveiled as the new captain of Yorkshire, three years after leaving his home county. Gough, 36, made his debut for Yorkshire in 1989 but moved from Headingley to Essex in 2004. It is a move which could reinvigorate the veteran's career after his omission from the England World Cup squad appeared to signal the end of his international ambitions. Gough admitted he never thought a return to his home county was likely. "I thought today would never happen," he said. "Today is a very proud day, to come back as captain. There are some exciting things happening at this club. I am just looking forward to the challenge. With the blend we have got I think we have a good chance this year of putting in some good performances." Gough retired from Test cricket in 2003 after taking 229 wickets in 58 appearances.
■ Soccer
Euro 2008 tickets on sale
Tickets for next year's European soccer championship finals being jointly hosted by Austria and Switzerland went on sale yesterday. European soccer's governing body UEFA announced on Wednesday that some 330,000 of the 1 million tickets available will be on offer through www.euro2008.com with the final application phase ending on March 31. Sales will be on a "first come, first served" basis and applicants can apply for one match per day and for a maximum of four tickets per match, UEFA said. If there is more demand than tickets available, a lottery will determine the successful applications. UEFA warned the public against purchasing tickets on the black market.
Taiwanese world No. 1 women’s doubles star Hsieh Su-wei on Saturday overcame a first-set loss to win her opening match at the Madrid Open. Top seeds Hsieh and partner Elise Mertens of Belgium, with whom she last month won her fourth Indian Wells women’s doubles title, bounced back from a rocky first set to beat Asia Muhammad of the US and Aldila Sutjiadi of Indonesia 2-6, 6-4, 10-2. Hsieh and Mertens were next to face Heather Watson of the UK and Xu Yifan of China in the round of 16. Thirty-eight-year-old Hsieh last month reclaimed her world No. 1 spot after her Indian
EYES ON THE PRIZE: Armed with three solid men’s singles shuttlers and doubles Olympic champions, Taiwan aim to make their first Thomas Cup semi-final, Chou Tien-chen said Taiwanese badminton star Tai Tzu-ying yesterday quickly dispatched Malaysia’s Goh Jin Wei in straight sets, while her male counterpart Chou Tien-chen beat Germany’s Kai Schaefer, as Taiwan’s women’s and men’s teams won their Group B opening rounds of the TotalEnergies BWF Thomas and Uber Cup Finals in Chengdu, China. World No. 5 Tai beat Goh 21-19, 22-20 in a speedy 33 minutes, her fourth straight victory over the world No. 24 shuttler since they first faced each other in the quarter-finals of the 2018 Malaysia Open, where Tai went on to win the women’s singles title. Malaysia followed up Tai’s opening victory
Chen Yi-tung (陳奕通) secured a historic Olympic berth on Sunday by winning the senior men’s foil event at the 2024 Asia Oceania Zonal Olympic Fencing Qualifiers in United Arab Emirates. Chen defeated Samuel Elijah of Singapore 15-4 in the final in Dubai to secure the only wild card in the event, making him the first male Olympian fencer from Taiwan in 36 years and only the sixth Taiwanese fencer to ever qualify for the quadrennial event. The last appearance by a Taiwanese male fencer at the Olympics was in 1988, when Wang San-tsai (王三財) and Cheng Ming-hsiang (鄭明祥) competed in Seoul. The
Rafael Nadal on Tuesday lost in straight sets to 31st-ranked Jiri Lehecka in the fourth round at the Madrid Open, while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei advanced to the semi-finals in the women’s doubles. Nadal said that he was feeling good about his progress following his latest injury layoff. Nadal called it a “positive week” in every way and said his body held up well. “I was able to play four matches, a couple of tough matches,” Nadal said. “So very positive, winning three matches, playing four matches at the high level of tennis. I enjoyed a lot playing at home. I leave here with