Singapore held Tajikistan to a 1-1 draw in Dushanbe while Thailand ground out a 1-0 victory at home over Yemen yesterday to book their places in the 2010 World Cup draw in South Africa next weekend.
They join 11 Asian teams who have already qualified for the third round along with the top seeds from the region -- Australia, Japan, South Korea, Iran and Saudi Arabia -- who received byes.
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Two other berths were up for grabs with Hong Kong playing Turkmenistan yesterday after a 0-0 first leg, while Indonesia faced the almost impossible task of overturning a 4-1 first leg deficit to Syria when they play in Damascus.
At the draw, the countries will be split into five groups of four teams with the winners and runners-up advancing to the fourth round of qualifying.
It will culminate with four teams from Asia playing at the World Cup in 2010, with the region's fifth placed team playing off against the top team from Oceania.
advantage
Singapore took a 2-0 advantage into their showdown with Tajikistan and knuckled down to ensure they made it to the preliminary draw for the first time.
Tajikistan took the lead after just two minutes of play through Jamshed Ismailov, but the Lions held firm, knowing they still had a one goal cushion.
They pressed forward and were paid off when Noh Alam Shah gave the equalizer after 27 minutes on a pitch that was rock hard and devoid of grass in places.
In Bangkok, Sarayoot Chaikamdee was the hero with his 15th minute strike proving decisive, allowing the Thais to go through 2-1 on aggregate.
The other Asian teams through include Bahrain, China, Iraq, Iran, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, North Korea, Oman, Qatar, the UAE and Uzbekistan.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
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Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB