■BASEBALL
Taiwan beat Guatemala
Taiwan defeated Guatemala 7-2 on the first day of the Junior League Baseball World Series tournament that opened on Sunday in Taylor, Michigan. The competition sees the participation of 10 teams of 13- and 14-year-olds divided into two pools — one of teams from the US, the other an international pool. The US pool groups the five best teams from the western, southeast, central, southwest and eastern regions. Taiwan is in the international pool, which also includes Ukraine, Mexico, Guatemala and Canada. The top two teams from each pool will go through to the semi-finals on Friday, with the final to be played on Saturday.
■SOCCER
Hamburg hammer amateurs
Ruud van Nistelrooy hit a hat-trick and set up another goal to steer Hamburg SV into the German Cup second round with a 5-1 win over amateurs Torgelower SV on Sunday. VfL Wolfsburg had to wait until the 80th minute to break the resistance of regional league club Preussen Muenster, with Brazilian Grafite scoring the winner two minutes from time in a 2-1 victory. Van Nistelrooy opened the scoring from close range in the 34th minute. The hosts came back and two minutes before the break netted an equalizer through Daniel Pankau. Their joy was short-lived, however, with Paolo Guerrero firing in a free-kick to put Hamburg back into the lead eight minutes after the break. Van Nistelrooy added two more midway through the second half and David Jarolim rounded off the scoring nine minutes from time. Wolfsburg struggled against amateurs Muenster, with striker Edin Dzeko missing several clear scoring chances early on. He did well to set up Cicero for the lead in the 80th minute but six minutes later failed to clear a free-kick, deflecting the ball into his own net. Grafite came to the rescue two minutes later to score the winner. Earlier on Sunday, Mainz edged past Berliner AK 2-1 while Nuremberg beat Eintracht Trier 2-0.
■ SOCCER
Kuranyi opens account
German striker Kevin Kuranyi scored his first Russian Premier League goal as Dynamo Moscow drew 1-1 with leaders Zenit St Petersburg whose nine-match winning streak came to an end. Zenit stayed top with 40 points from 16 matches, seven points ahead of CSKA Moscow, who thrashed Makhachkala 4-0. Reigning champions Rubin Kazan are third, also on 33 points. Kuranyi put Dynamo ahead in the 26th minute with a close-range effort. Zenit’s Danko Lazovic equalized eight minutes later when he followed up Alexander Kerzhakov’s shot which had come back off the woodwork. CSKA Moscow scored all of their goals in the first half against Makhachkala. Oliseh Sekou and Vagner Love scored within eight minutes of each other for a 2-0 lead. Zoran Tosic added a third in the 34th minute, while Sekou added his second of the match just before half-time.
■SOCCER
Excelsior win local derby
Guyon Fernandez scored in injury time on Sunday to give promoted Excelsior Rotterdam a 3-2 win over Feyenoord in the Dutch league. Fernandez put the ball in the net after collecting a rebound in the third minute of stoppage time to give Excelsior their first win of the season. He also hit the opening goal in the 29th minute in the Rotterdam derby. Daan Bovenberg scored in the 77th for Excelsior, while Ron Vlaar and Miquel Nelom responded for Feyenoord. Also on Sunday, NEC Nijmegen beat Willem II 5-3, FC Utrecht downed NAC Breda 3-1 and Roda JC defeated ADO The Hague 3-1.
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