■ GERMANY
Stuttgart reach cup final
Stuttgart advanced to the German Cup final against Nuremberg by beating Wolfsburg 1-0 on Wednesday thanks to a goal by Antonio da Silva. Da Silva scored the winner for the visitors in the 16th minute, curling a left-footed free kick from nearly 30m over the Wolfsburg wall. Wolfsburg appeared to have equalized in the second half but Marcelinho's goal was ruled out for offside, although television replays indicated otherwise. Three-time cup winners, Stuttgart last won the competition 10 years ago.
■ FRANCE
Marseille see off Nantes
Marseille set up a clash with Sochaux in next month's French Cup final with a 3-0 win over Nantes in their semi-final tie on Wednesday. French international Franck Ribery set the hosts on their way to their second consecutive Cup final after 28 minutes only to limp off the pitch at half-time with a thigh problem. Toifilou Maoulida doubled their account on 55 minutes with striker Djibril Cisse coming on as a late substitute and finding the net 14 minutes from time. Marseille will be looking for their first cup French Cup triumph since 1993 on May 12 in the Stade de France.
■ NIGERIA
Players attack referee
Gambian referee John Mendy was attacked by angry players from Cameroon's Union Douala on Wednesday after handing their opponents a last minute penalty which saw them knocked out of the African Confederation Cup, reports said. Mendy was hit by unidentified players after Union Douala went down 3-2 to Kwara United of Nigeria in Ilorin and out of the competition 4-3 on aggregate. Reports said Union Douala players had in turn been attacked by Nigerian supporters at the end of the game.
■ ARGENTINA
Chile draw local derby
Argentina were held to a 0-0 draw by neighbors Chile on Wednesday in their first home match since last year's World Cup. Both teams fielded experimental lineups of home-based players in front of a 60,000 crowd at the Malvinas Argentinas stadium in Mendoza, at the foot of the Andes separating the two countries. Argentina, whose players had only a handful of caps between them, started promisingly with Jonathan Bottinelli hitting the crossbar and Jose Sosa, Daniel Montenegro and Fernando Belluschi also going close. Chile playmaker Jorge Valdivia had a shot deflected wide as the visitors began to look menacing before half-time. In the second half, Belluschi struck the post for Argentina and Mariano Pavone squandered another chance for the hosts.
■ ENGLAND
David Dein quits Gunners
David Dein, one of the most powerful figures in English soccer, has quit as vice-chairman of Premier League club Arsenal because of "irreconcilable differences" with board colleagues, Arsenal said on Wednesday. Arsenal said in the same statement they were not about to agree to sell the club, in which US businessman Stan Kroenke recently bought an 11 percent share. Arsenal chairman Peter Hill-Wood said in an interview before the announcement of Dein's departure that he and three of the club's major shareholders had "no intention of selling to some stranger." "We're here for Arsenal Football Club, not to make a few bob. We would be horrified to see it go across the Atlantic," he told the Guardian.
OUT AGAINST INDONESIA: Taiwan reached the semi-finals at the tournament for the first time by defeating Denmark, with Chou Tien-chen beating Viktor Axelsen Taiwan yesterday crashed out of the Thomas Cup team competition in Chengdu, China, but achieved their best result at the top-tier badminton event by reaching the semi-finals. Indonesia were too good in the semis, winning 3-0 to advance to today’s final against China, who eliminated Malaysia 3-1. In the opening singles of the men’s team clash at the Hi-Tech Zone Sports Center Gymnasium 2, Anthony Ginting defeated Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen 21-18, 21-19 in 51 minutes, which put a huge hole in Taiwan’s aspirations to perhaps even make the final. In the men’s doubles, Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Ardianto downed Lee Yang and Wang
NO DOUBT: Spurs star Wembanyama was unanimously selected as NBA Rookie of the Year, winning all 99 votes to become the first Frenchman to capture the honor The Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night produced a dominant defensive display to seize a commanding 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven playoff series against the Denver Nuggets with a 106-80 road victory. The third-seeded Timberwolves harassed Denver relentlessly to claim a second straight win over the NBA champions as the series heads back to Minneapolis for Game 3 on Friday. Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards scored 27 points apiece, but the star of the show was Minnesota’s suffocating defensive effort, which knocked Denver out of their stride almost from the tip-off. The Timberwolves finished with 11 steals and 12 blocks, in sharp contrast to
Top-ranked Iga Swiatek on Saturday came through “the most intense and crazy final” she has ever contested to avenge her loss to Aryna Sabalenka in last year’s Madrid Open final with a grueling three hour, 11 minute victory in the Spanish capital. Coming back from 1-3 down in the decider and saving three match points in total, Swiatek claimed a 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (9/7) victory to secure the Madrid Open trophy for the first time. “Well, who is going to say now that women’s tennis is boring, right?” Swiatek said. Swiatek, who picked up the 20th title of her career, and ninth at
Playing soccer and competing for trophies is the best way that many transplanted Hong Kongers and Macanese have found to stay in touch, and to interact with Taiwanese society, said officials at the Taiwan-Hong Kong-Macau Football Friendship Cup, which was held on April 13. Twelve clubs, mostly of players and coaches originally from Hong Kong and Macau, took part in the tournament in New Taipei City. The event is sponsored by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) and the Taiwan-Hong Kong Economic and Cultural Co-operation Council. Participating teams were from the wider Taipei area, Hsinchu, Taichung, Kaohsiung and other areas. They divided into two