Soccer
African big guns misfire
Heavyweights Algeria, Ghana and Nigeria all suffered poor results in Africa Cup of Nations qualifying games on Sunday. Algeria’s 2-0 away defeat against the lowly ranked Central African Republic was one of the biggest upsets in the tournament’s qualifying history. It marked only the second time the Central African Republic, who rarely enter the tournament and have only ever played in a single World Cup qualifying campaign before, had won a competitive international. Their last success was in 1973. Algeria now have just a single point from their opening two qualifiers after being held at home by Tanzania last month in another upset result. Both Ghana and Nigeria have yet to appoint new coaches after their World Cup managers moved on and the instability showed on Sunday. Nigeria’s 1-0 loss in Guinea was exacerbated by the uncertainty of the status of the game up until Friday. Nigeria were suspended last week by FIFA for political interference in the running of their football association, leaving the team’s preparations in limbo until Friday when the ban was temporarily lifted. Ghana played a first match since coach Milovan Rajevac departed to a more lucrative club job in Saudi Arabia and also looked lackluster in a goalless home draw with Sudan.
Soccer
Jamaica win, Taiwan draw
Dane Richards of MLS’ New York Red Bulls scored from a penalty kick in the 19th minute to help Jamaica beat Trinidad and Tobago 1-0 on Sunday in an international friendly in Kingston. It was the teams’ second match in two months. Jamaica also won 3-1 in August in Port of Spain. In another friendly on Sunday, Taiwan drew 1-1 with the Philippines in Kaohsiung.
Volleyball
Brazil retain world title
Brazil hammered Cuba 3-0 in Rome to secure their third straight world men’s championship on Sunday. The South Americans took the final set 25-22 thanks to a winning shot from the consistently excellent Leandro Vissotto. He fell to the ground in ecstasy after securing victory in a largely one-sided final. Cuba had beaten Brazil 3-2 in the first round and finished above their rivals in Pool B. “It was a hard-fought victory,” Brazil coach Bernardinho told Italy’s Rai television. “Psychologically it was a equal game for both teams because Brazil with the pressure have to win and Cuba have a young team that were in this position for the first time.” Hosts Italy earlier lost the third/fourth place playoff to Serbia 3-1.
Cricket
Bangladesh beat Black Caps
Openers Imrul Kayes and Shariar Nafees smashed half-centuries to help Bangladesh comfortably win the third match of a five-game limited-overs series against New Zealand yesterday in Dhaka. Nafees scored 73 while Kayes collected 50 as Bangladesh reached 177-3 in just 40 overs after New Zealand were dismissed for 173. Bangladesh lead the series 2-0 after winning the first match last Tuesday. The second match was abandoned because of rain. Nafees’ runs came off 73 balls with 13 boundaries while Kayes’ 50 came from 83 balls that included four boundaries. Earlier, left-arm spinner Suhrawadi Shuvo claimed three wickets for the hosts when New Zealand batted. After losing seven wickets for only 101, Ross Taylor had attempted to engineer a New Zealand recovery hitting 62 runs off 72 balls. Taylor and Kyle Mills added 72 in an eighth-wicket partnership before Mills was dismissed.
Shohei Ohtani and his wife arrived in South Korea with his Los Angeles Dodgers teammates yesterday ahead of their season-opening games with the San Diego Padres next week. Ohtani, wearing a black training suit and a cap backwards, was the first Dodgers player who showed up at the arrival gate of Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul. His wife, Mamiko Tanaka, walked several steps behind him. As a crowd of fans, many wearing Dodgers jerseys, shouted his name and cheered slogans, Ohtani briefly waved his hand, but did not say anything before he entered a limousine bus with his wife. Fans held placards
Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals at the All England Open, beating Kim Ga-eun of South Korea 21-17, 21-15. With the win, Tai earned a semi-final against China’s He Bingjiao, who beat Michelle Li of Canada 21-9, 21-9. Defending champion An Se-young defeated India’s P.V. Sindhu 21-19, 21-11. An on Wednesday cruised into the second round, unlike last year’s men’s winner, Li Shifeng, who suffered a shock defeat. South Korea’s An, the world No. 1, overcame Taiwan’s Hsu Wen-chi 21-17, 21-16 to set up the match against Sindhu. In other women’s singles matches, Taiwan’s Sung Shuo-yun lost 21-18, 24-22 against Carolina Marin of
EYEING TOP SPOT: A victory in today’s final against Storm Hunter and Katerina Siniakova would return 38-year-old Hsieh Su-wei to the world No. 1 ranking Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens on Thursday secured a spot in the women’s doubles finals at the BNP Paribas Open after dispatching Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez 6-2, 7-6 (7/5) at Indian Wells. Hsieh and her Belgian partner Mertens, who won the Australian Open in late January, coasted through the first set after breaking their opponents’ serve twice, but found the going tougher in the second. Both pairs could only muster one break point over 12 games, neither of which were converted, leaving the set to be decided by a tiebreaker. Hsieh and Mertens took a 6-3 lead,
DOUBLES PAYBACK: Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Martens avenged their defeat in the quarters at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open against Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei on Wednesday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California. Hsieh and partner Elise Mertens of Belgium dispatched Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani 6-1, 6-4 to set up a clash against Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez for a spot in the final of the WTA 1000 tournament. Hsieh and Martens made a blistering start to their rematch after they lost to Schuurs and Stefani in the quarter-finals at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open last month, winning three games without reply at the start of the first set