CAF SUPER CUP
Al Ahly win fifth Super Cup
Egypt’s Al Ahly won the CAF Super Cup on Saturday, surviving several scares before overcoming AC Leopards Dolisie of the Democratic Republic of the Congo 2-1 in Alexandria, Egypt. It was the fifth victory in the past 11 years for the Cairo giants in the annual match between the previous year’s winners of the African Champions League and the Confederation Cup. Teenager Rami Rabiea opened the scoring for Al Ahly in the 55th minute before the experienced Mohamed Barakat added a second goal in the 72nd. Leopards captain Rudi Ndey pulled a goal back in the 77th minute and the Confederation Cup champions almost snatched an equalizer when a last-gasp effort was cleared off the line. The visitors also hit the upright in the first half and forced a point-blank save from Al Ahly goalkeeper Sherif Ekrami midway through the second half.
SERIE A
Palermo, Genoa draw
Rock-bottom US Citta di Palermo had a man sent-off in a 0-0 draw with Genoa on Saturday, a result which did little to help their Serie A survival chances. Salvatore Aronica received his marching orders in the second half for a foul on Marco Borriello — it was the Sicilians’ eighth red card of the season. Josip Ilicic had a chance to win it for Palermo, but goalkeeper Sebastien Frey pulled off a fine save to earn Genoa a point. Meanwhile, Bologna’s Serie A derby with local rivals ACF Fiorentina has been postponed to Tuesday from yesterday because of heavy snow. The league said in a statement on Saturday that the safety of spectators could not be guaranteed. Fiorentina are sixth in the league, two points off the third and final Champions League qualifying spot, while Bologna lie five points above the drop zone in 16th.
BUNDESLIGA
Bayern go 18 points clear
Bayern Munich rested half a dozen stars, but still romped to a 6-1 win at home against 10-man Werder Bremen on Saturday to go 18 points clear at the top of the Bundesliga. Bayern boss Jupp Heynckes celebrated his 1,000th Bundesliga game as a player and coach. They extended their unbeaten run to 20 matches since their last defeat at home to Bayer 04 Leverkusen at the end of October last year. Schalke 04 chalked up a 2-1 victory at home to strugglers Fortuna Duesseldorf. South Korean striker Ji Dong-won scored his first goal for Augsburg in his team’s 2-1 win at home to TSG 1899 Hoffenheim. Hanover 96 got a 5-1 win over guests Hamburg SV. VfL Wolfsburg earned a 1-1 draw at FSV Mainz 05. Nuremberg earned a 1-1 draw at VfB Stuttgart to stay 14th and just above the relegation zone.
PREMIER LEAGUE
Van Persie injured in pit
Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson eased concerns about Robin van Persie after the striker was forced off with a hip injury during his side’s 2-0 win at Queens Park Rangers (QPR) on Saturday. The Dutchman, United’s top scorer, hurt himself in the build-up to Rafael da Silva’s 23rd-minute opener at Loftus Road after falling into a photographers’ pit behind the QPR goal. He played on until the 41st minute before being replaced by Danny Welbeck, but Ferguson said his participation in the second leg of United’s Champions League last-16 tie with Real Madrid on March 5 was not in jeopardy. “He collided into a camera in a dug-out, collided into the base of that and it gave him a sore hip,” Ferguson told Sky Sports. “It’s a hip injury, so it might be tender and sore for a few days, but hopefully he’ll be all right, particularly for the Real Madrid game.”
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
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