SOCCER
‘Les Verts’ end Rennes run
AS Saint-Etienne beat Rennes 2-0 in Ligue 1 on Friday to end their opponent’s run of three successive league victories. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang opened the scoring in the 22nd minute before Renaud Cohade doubled Saint-Etienne’s lead four minutes into the second half. Rennes striker Mevlut Erding was sent off in stoppage time for a foul on Jean-Pascal Mignot. Rennes were without midfielder Yann M’Vila and center-half Chris Mavinga, who have both been suspended until further notice after going to a nightclub while on international duty with the France under-21 squad earlier this month. ‘Les Verts’ move level on points with fifth-placed Valenciennes, while Rennes slipped to 10th.
FOOTBALL
Appendix sidelines Roos
Michael Roos’ run of 119 consecutive starts for the Tennessee Titans will end today after the offensive tackle was ruled out of the game against the Indianapolis Colts. Roos had an emergency appendectomy on Monday and the team was wary of bringing him back too soon. “We’re not going to take any risks or chances with that even though he’s feeling pretty good,” Titans coach Mike Munchak told reporters on Friday. “He probably needs a good week to rest, and then he’ll be good next week.” Munchak expressed sympathy that the 30-year-old had been ruled out for a non-football reason. “You take that for granted when you have a guy like that, that you count on every week and has always been there,” Munchak said. “I don’t think that guy missed a practice, very few practices in all that time too. That’s the hard part. The bottom line is he wants to play and help us win. The side story is it is too bad it has to end a great streak he has going.”
SOCCER
Hamburg win at Augsburg
Hamburg SV forward Son Heung-min scored an early goal to set them on the way to a 2-0 win at lowly Augsburg on Friday. Artjoms Rudnevs added a second just past the hour to give Hamburg a third win in their last four outings. Visiting goalkeeper Rene Adler was barely troubled as his side climbed to fourth place with 13 points from nine games. Hamburg went ahead in the 13th minute after an interception by Rudnevs who found Son. The South Korean then cut inside his marker and curled a shot into the bottom left-hand corner. Son was also involved in Hamburg’s second goal in the 63rd minute as he fed Rafael van der Vaart on the edge of the area. The Dutchman slipped a pass between two defenders and Rudnevs stole in to score.
Olympics
President blasts failure
Outspoken Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko hit out at Belarus sports bosses on Friday for the country’s “complete failure” at the 2012 London Olympics. “Belarus people will no longer tolerate such a disastrous showing,” Lukashenko, who also serves as president of the Belarus Olympic Committee (BOC), told delegates at the annual BOC convention. “The performance of our Olympic team in Britain this summer was a complete failure,” he said, referring to a total of 12 medals, two of them gold. “Our team should be in the top three [medal-winning nations] instead of finishing in 30th or 26th place,” he said. Last week, Lukashenko blasted his national soccer team following a 4-0 home thrashing by Spain in a World Cup qualifier. “I’ve never seen such a disgrace for our nation,” he said. “Our team, excuse my language, just shit themselves. They came out on the pitch with their legs and arms shaking.”
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
Playing soccer and competing for trophies is the best way that many transplanted Hong Kongers and Macanese have found to stay in touch, and to interact with Taiwanese society, said officials at the Taiwan-Hong Kong-Macau Football Friendship Cup, which was held on April 13. Twelve clubs, mostly of players and coaches originally from Hong Kong and Macau, took part in the tournament in New Taipei City. The event is sponsored by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) and the Taiwan-Hong Kong Economic and Cultural Co-operation Council. Participating teams were from the wider Taipei area, Hsinchu, Taichung, Kaohsiung and other areas. They divided into two