MALI
French coach Giresse rejoins
Former France midfield star Alain Giresse on Tuesday signed a contract in Bamako to coach the national team again, football officials said. The 62-year-old succeeds Pole Henryk Kasperczak, who quit the job soon after a first-round exit from this year’s Africa Cup of Nations. Giresse suffered a similar fate in Equatorial Guinea, as Senegal failed to make the knockout stage despite starting the tournament among the title favorites. When first in charge of Mali, Giresse guided them to third at the 2012 Cup of Nations, which was co-hosted by Equatorial Guinea and Gabon. He then coached the Senegalese Teranga Lions, but like many handlers before him was unable to mold talented individuals into a trophy-winning side. He fell out with former Newcastle United and Chelsea striker Demba Ba, omitting him from the Cup of Nations squad. His first task will be to prepare for the 2017 Cup of Nations qualifiers. Although they have never won the Cup of Nations, the Eagles have consistently punched above their weight, finishing second once, third twice and fourth three times.
FRIENDLIES
Bolivia cancel Nigeria fixture
Bolivia have pulled out of an exhibition match in Nigeria on Thursday next week citing security concerns, the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) confirmed on Tuesday. “Armed conflict and the tense political situation in Nigeria forced our withdrawal from the game,” Bolivian Football Association president Carlos Chavez said of the match scheduled for the southeastern city of Uyo. A top Nigeria team official confirmed the withdrawal of the South Americans, while disclosing that the NFF were seeking a replacement for Bolivia. “I can tell you that the NFF have swung into action and are looking for a new opponent to replace Bolivia for the match,” said an official, who did not wish to be named. “The reason given by Bolivia to call off this game is strange and unacceptable to us.”
ASIAN CUP
Al Sadd thrash Tashkent
Veteran former Brazilian international Grafite helped Qatar giants Al Sadd take control of their Asian Champions League group with a goal in their 6-2 thrashing of Uzbekistan’s Lokomotiv Tashkent on Tuesday. Khalfan Ibrahim struck from the spot in the 27th minute and Hassan Khalid and Nadir Belhadj added two more goals in seven minutes, as the 2011 Asian champions enjoyed a comfortable 3-0 lead at half-time in front of their home fans in Doha. Ibrahim doubled his tally early in the second half before Abdulkarim Hassan and 35-year-old Grafite completed the rout, although Tashkent managed to pull two back, courtesy of a fine free-kick from Damir Kojasevic and a late goal from Zhasur Khasanov. Al Sadd, who fell seven points behind leaders Lekhwiya SC in the Qatar Stars League by drawing and losing to lesser opponents over the past two weeks, showed there was nothing wrong with their game, producing an attacking and clinical display as they leaped to the top of Group C with seven points from three matches.
PRESEASON
Liverpool to play in Malaysia
English Premier League giants Liverpool are scheduled to return to Kuala Lumpur to play the Malaysian national side in July, organizers confirmed. Liverpool previously toured Malaysia in 2011 and are set to play in the Bukit Jalil National Stadium on July 24, where more than 80,000 fans turned out four years ago.
Taiwanese world No. 1 women’s doubles star Hsieh Su-wei on Saturday overcame a first-set loss to win her opening match at the Madrid Open. Top seeds Hsieh and partner Elise Mertens of Belgium, with whom she last month won her fourth Indian Wells women’s doubles title, bounced back from a rocky first set to beat Asia Muhammad of the US and Aldila Sutjiadi of Indonesia 2-6, 6-4, 10-2. Hsieh and Mertens were next to face Heather Watson of the UK and Xu Yifan of China in the round of 16. Thirty-eight-year-old Hsieh last month reclaimed her world No. 1 spot after her Indian
EYES ON THE PRIZE: Armed with three solid men’s singles shuttlers and doubles Olympic champions, Taiwan aim to make their first Thomas Cup semi-final, Chou Tien-chen said Taiwanese badminton star Tai Tzu-ying yesterday quickly dispatched Malaysia’s Goh Jin Wei in straight sets, while her male counterpart Chou Tien-chen beat Germany’s Kai Schaefer, as Taiwan’s women’s and men’s teams won their Group B opening rounds of the TotalEnergies BWF Thomas and Uber Cup Finals in Chengdu, China. World No. 5 Tai beat Goh 21-19, 22-20 in a speedy 33 minutes, her fourth straight victory over the world No. 24 shuttler since they first faced each other in the quarter-finals of the 2018 Malaysia Open, where Tai went on to win the women’s singles title. Malaysia followed up Tai’s opening victory
Chen Yi-tung (陳奕通) secured a historic Olympic berth on Sunday by winning the senior men’s foil event at the 2024 Asia Oceania Zonal Olympic Fencing Qualifiers in United Arab Emirates. Chen defeated Samuel Elijah of Singapore 15-4 in the final in Dubai to secure the only wild card in the event, making him the first male Olympian fencer from Taiwan in 36 years and only the sixth Taiwanese fencer to ever qualify for the quadrennial event. The last appearance by a Taiwanese male fencer at the Olympics was in 1988, when Wang San-tsai (王三財) and Cheng Ming-hsiang (鄭明祥) competed in Seoul. The
Rafael Nadal on Tuesday lost in straight sets to 31st-ranked Jiri Lehecka in the fourth round at the Madrid Open, while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei advanced to the semi-finals in the women’s doubles. Nadal said that he was feeling good about his progress following his latest injury layoff. Nadal called it a “positive week” in every way and said his body held up well. “I was able to play four matches, a couple of tough matches,” Nadal said. “So very positive, winning three matches, playing four matches at the high level of tennis. I enjoyed a lot playing at home. I leave here with