JAPAN
Full-strength squad named
Shinji Kagawa and Keisuke Honda were named among a full-strength Japan squad by coach Alberto Zaccheroni yesterday for the final round of Asian 2014 World Cup qualifiers. Japan is scheduled to play three final-round qualifiers against Oman, Jordan and Australia next month. Kagawa demonstrated why he is being linked with a move to Manchester United during the off-season with a superb first goal in Japan’s 2-0 friendly win over Azerbaijan on Wednesday. Honda came through unscathed in his first Japan outing for nine months after recovering from injury, while Arsenal’s teenage winger Ryo Miyaichi has been selected after making his long-awaited international debut. Asian champions Japan take on Oman on June 3 and Jordan on June 8 in Saitama, before a difficult trip to Brisbane to tackle Australia four days later. The Blue Samurai are also drawn alongside Iraq, led by former Japan coach Zico, in Group B.
COPA LIBERTADORES
Corinthians, Boca go through
The Copa Libertadores served up a double dose of late drama as Boca Juniors and Corinthians scored last-gasp goals in Wednesday night’s games to reach the semi-finals. Santiago Silva scrambled home a 90th minute goal to give six-time champions Boca a 1-1 draw at Fluminense, which sent them through 2-1 on aggregate. In the other match, Paulinho headed an 87th minute winner for Corinthians, the only goal of a dour, fear-ridden two-leg tie against their fellow Brazilians, Vasco da Gama.
CHINA
Anelka might have problem
Shanghai Shenhua player-coach Nicolas Anelka has said there would be a problem if the Chinese club replaced him with former Argentina boss Sergio Batista. Chinese media have reported that struggling Shanghai will name the 49-year-old former Argentine midfielder as manager, with Anelka reverting back to a sole playing role. The Frenchman, who was famously kicked out of the 2010 World Cup for comments directed at then-coach Raymond Domenech, was unhappy at the prospect. “I don’t know this coach. I haven’t heard anything about this from the club. I have only learnt this from the media,” Anelka said at a news conference in Shanghai yesterday. “If that is going to happen, there is a huge problem of communication between me and the club, because of the language barrier. I am not aware of anything that is happening,” added the 33-year-old, speaking in French. “I am a coach, but also I am a player before anything. If something happens and I am not aware of it, you should know that I am a player and that would be a problem in the future, because I will still be here.”
ASIA
Saudi clubs advance
Saudi Arabian clubs al-Hilal and al-Ittihad both advanced to the quarter-finals of the Asian Champions League with resounding wins on Wednesday. South Korean striker Yoo Byung-soo scored four goals to lead al-Hilal to a 7-1 thrashing of Baniyas of the United Arab Emirates in their round-of-16 matchup, while al-Ittihad beat Iranian side Piroozi 3-0. Sweden winger Christian Wilhelmsson added two goals for al-Hilal. Naif Hazazi, Abdelghani Faouzi and Abdoh Autef scored for al-Ittihad. On Tuesday, Saudi Arabian club al-Ahli and Iran’s Sepahan also advanced to the quarter-finals.
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but