Print

Mail

wiki links

Sports Briefs

■ SOCCER

Chasetown stun Port Vale

English minor league club Chasetown stunned League One Port Vale 1-0 on Tuesday to reach the third round of the FA Cup for the first time. The tiny Midlands club from the Southern League -- five divisions below their opponents -- held Vale to a 1-1 away draw in their initial second-round meeting then took their scalp in the home replay when Danny Smith struck a minute from time. Chasetown, who were in the Midlands Alliance last year, will now host Cardiff City in the third round.



■ CYCLING

Tour dates announced

Next year's Tour de Taiwan, the nation's most prestigious cycling event, will be held between March 9 and March 16, celebrating the 20th anniversary of the event, the Chinese Taipei Cycling Association said at a press conference on Tuesday. The race will have eight stages and cover a distance of 861.2km, setting off from Kaohsiung and finishing in Taipei. In between, the route covers the western counties of Pingtung, Changhua, Taichung, Hsinchu and will finish at the Nangang Exhibition Hall in Taipei.



■ MOTOR RACING

Schumi takes control

Michael Schumacher can add the unofficial title of Germany's fastest taxi driver to his other achievements after taking over behind the wheel to get his family to the airport on time. The retired Formula One champion drove the cab back to the airport himself after a trip out to the village of Gehuelz, near Coburg in southern Germany, left the family short of time to make their flight home, the Muenchner Abendzeitung newspaper reported. "It was crazy having Schumi driving, with me in the passenger seat," the taxi driver was quoted as saying.



■ SOCCER

Kahn suspended by Bayern

Bayern Munich goalkeeper and captain Oliver Kahn has been suspended for one game and fined by coach Ottmar Hitzfeld on "disciplinary grounds." Neither the club nor the goalkeeper gave the reason for his suspension. "I am not so surprised," Kahn said. "I understand it. Discipline has to be the highest requirement." He was also fined 25,000 euros (US$36,500). Bayern president Franz Beckenbauer hinted that the reason for Kahn's punishment was his early departure from the team's Christmas party. "It's a time that brings the team together," Beckenbauer said on German television. "He's the captain and he can't just get up and leave early."



■ CRICKET

IOC recognition welcomed

Cricket's world chief yesterday welcomed the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) move to grant recognition to his sport, saying it would help to boost cricket's profile. "This is great news," International Cricket Council president Ray Mali said in a statement after cricket was given the status of a "recognized sport" by the IOC. "The Olympic Movement is instantly recognizable around the world and for cricket to be a part of that again has to be a good thing," he said. The IOC said on Monday that cricket was accorded this status for two years, usually granted to sports that are not part of the Olympic program but conform to its ideals of youth promotion and anti-doping policies. Cricket could receive permanent status in 2009 and then would be eligible to be part of the Olympics, as it was in the 1900 Paris Games. In the Paris Games, Britain -- represented by the Devon and Somerset Wanderers -- beat a French team mainly made up of British embassy staff.
This story has been viewed 904 times.