■ FRANCE
Lens bounce back to win
Relegation-threatened Lens showed their weekend win over champions Lyon was no flash in the pan on Wednesday as they came from behind to triumph 2-1 at Valenciennes. Jean-Pierre Papin's side claimed the victory thanks to goals from Brazilian Vitorino Hilton da Silva and teenager Kevin Monnet-Paquet either side of half time after Steve Savidan had put Valenciennes into a 34th-minute lead. Valenciennes had Guillaume Rippert sent off on the hour for fouling Monnet-Paquet and with 10 men the hosts failed to threaten an equalizer.
■ England
US star heading to London
Fulham's fight for Premier League survival will be bolstered by the arrival of US international forward Eddie Johnson. The 23-year-old is to leave the Kansas City Wizards for a three-and-a-half-year deal with the London club after receiving confirmation on Wednesday that he had succeeded with an application for a UK work permit. He is the third signing made by Fulham manager Roy Hodgson in the current transfer window, along with Danish midfielder Leon Andreasen and Norwegian defender Brede Hangeland.
■ England
Black Cats bolster attack
Sunderland have signed Sweden striker Rade Prica from Danish club Aalborg for £2 million (US$4 million), the struggling English Premiership club announced on Wednesday. Prica, 27, has signed a three-and-a-half-year contract after leaving Aalborg, where he was top scorer in Denmark's Super League last season. He is Black Cats boss Roy Keane's fourth signing of this month's transfer window, following loan signing Jonny Evans and defenders Jean-Yves Mvoto and Phil Bardsley to the Stadium of Light. "Rade is an experienced striker with a good goalscoring record," Keane said. "He is hungry to play in the Premier League and will give us attacking options."
■ Scotland
Burley named Scotland boss
George Burley was confirmed on Wednesday as the new manager of Scotland's national team, subject to the successful conclusion of negotiations on personal terms. The appointment of Burley, currently in charge of Southampton, was approved by the board of the Scottish Football Association (SFA) and SFA officials were able to quickly agree a compensation deal with the English Championship club. Burley's first match in charge will be a friendly against Croatia on March 26 with his first competitive fixture a trip to Macedonia in September. Burley began his coaching career as a player-manager with Ayr in 1991, moving on to Colchester in 1994 before managing Ipswich, Derby, Hearts and Southampton.
■ England
Pandev talk of Toon?
Lazio's Macedonia forward Goran Pandev claimed in an interview published on Wednesday that Newcastle boss Kevin Keegan is trying to bring him to St James' Park. Pandev has scored 13 goals in 24 matches for Lazio this season. And despite recently committing his future to the Roman club, Pandev admitted he could be tempted away from the Stadio Olimpico. "Some managers from my current team have let me know that Newcastle are interested in signing me," Italian news agency Ansa quoted Pandev as saying in an interview with newspaper Makedonski Sport. "From what I know, Keegan wants to sign me as soon as possible, but it's not up to me to decide. Lazio recently decided to hold onto me until the end of June. But in football, nothing is impossible.
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
One of Malaysia’s top soccer clubs has pulled out of today’s season-opening Charity Shield after a spate of assaults, including an acid attack, on players in the country. It leaves the kickoff of Malaysia’s season this weekend under a cloud following the unprecedented acts of violence against players, which have left the country shocked and angry. Authorities said they have imposed tighter security, but Selangor said that they would not play in the showpiece curtain-raiser against Malaysian Super League champions Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) citing “a series of criminal incidents and recent threats.” Selangor and Malaysia winger Faisal Halim is in intensive care