TENNIS
Li Na has baby girl
Retired Chinese tennis star Li Na, who is credited with introducing the game to the country’s masses, yesterday announced that she and her husband have a newborn daughter. “Jiang Shan and I would like to introduce our Alisa to my lovely ‘Na fans,’” the 33-year-old wrote in an early morning posting on Sina Weibo. “We are happy and we love her very much.” Li did not specify when the baby was born. A picture of a red baby footprint was attached under the message. The announcement attracted more than 15,000 comments and was reposted more than 21,000 times in less than five hours, with Web users expressing their congratulations and best wishes. Li, who won nine titles in her career — including the Australian Open and French Open — unexpectedly retired in September last year. She announced her pregnancy in January in front of 15,000 cheering fans at the Australian Open, where she was a guest of honor, saying she has long wanted a child and to be a stay-at-home mum.
SOCCER
Portugal make U20 playoffs
Portugal swept imperiously into the knockout rounds of the Under-20 World Cup in Wellington, New Zealand, with a 4-0 win over Qatar yesterday, while Mexico revived their campaign after a woeful opening match by defeating Uruguay 2-1. Two Mexico players were sent off in their first-up, 2-0 loss to Mali, but they demonstrated greater discipline against Uruguay, rallying after conceding a late equalizer to seal the win with a goal in the third minute of stoppage time. Portugal beat Senegal 3-0 in their opening match and guaranteed their place in the round of 16 with an impressive win over the Asian Confederation champion. Qatar’s second straight loss ruled them out of contention for the next round, and raised further questions about FIFA’s decision to award the 2022 World Cup to a nation that has little soccer pedigree.
ATHLETICS
Rudisha out of Birmingham
Kenya’s Olympic 800m champion and world record holder David Rudisha has pulled out of Sunday’s Diamond League meet in Birmingham due to fresh injury fears. The middle distance star wobbled out of a race in Ostrava, Czech Republic, late last month, holding his leg in pain. “I just can’t risk a race that soon. I am making good progress these last days, but it will be just a few days too soon,” he was quoted as saying the Standard newspaper. Rudisha, 26, is currently undergoing treatment in Europe. His coach said the injury “was just muscle spasm, which looked quite severe on television, but as we have established, it was not too serious.” Rudisha has struggled to return to form after battling a nagging knee injury which forced him to miss the 2013 world championships in Moscow.
SOCCER
Cruzeiro hire Luxemburgo
Cruzeiro have hired Vanderlei Luxemburgo to replace Marcelo Oliveira, the coach who led the team to the Brazilian league titles for the past two seasons. Tuesday’s announcement came two days after a 2-1 loss at Figueirense in the fourth round of the Brazilian league left the Belo Horizonte club in second-to-last place in the 20-team standings with only one point. Last week, Cruzeiro were eliminated by Argentina’s River Plate in the quarter-finals of the Copa Libertadores after a 3-0 home loss. It will be Luxemburgo’s second stint with Cruzeiro. He coached the team for the first time from 2002 to 2004, winning three titles in 2003. The former Brazil and Real Madrid coach was at Cruzeiro’s helm for 107 matches, winning 68, losing 17 and drawing 22.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
Japanese players are moving to English soccer in record numbers and more look set to follow with clubs attracted by their quality, strong work ethic and value for money. Kaoru Mitoma is the standout talent of five Japanese players in the English Premier League, with eight more in the Championship and two in League One. Liverpool midfielder Wataru Endo, the captain of Japan, believes his compatriots are “being held in higher esteem” by English clubs compared with the past. “The staff at Liverpool ask me about lots of Japanese players, not necessarily with a view to a transfer, but just saying this or
Taiwan yesterday survived Bosnia and Herzegovina to win their Davis Cup World Group I tie at the Taipei Tennis Center. The tight series started on Saturday with world No. 123 Jason Tseng losing 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 to Mirza Basic in the opening singles matchup. However, teammate Tony Wu kept the tie even, dominating world No. 86 Damir Dzumhur 6-2, 6-1. Yesterday, 24-year-old Ray Ho and partner 25-year-old Hsu Yu-hsiou kept up the momentum, making short work of Basic and Nerman Fatic, winning 6-3, 6-4. Tseng then suffered another defeat, losing 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 to Dzumhur in a brutal match that lasted more than two