CUP OF NATIONS
Senegal defeat Zimbabwe
Senegal on Thursday put a string of disastrous Africa Cup of Nations campaigns behind them by beating Zimbabwe 2-0 and becoming the first qualifiers for this year’s quarter-finals. The Group B match was all but over as a contest after only 13 minutes in Franceville after Liverpool star Sadio Mane and Henri Saivet scored. Since finishing fourth in 2006, Senegal have suffered a horrific run in the premier African soccer competition, failing to get past the group stage three times and not even qualifying twice. Now they are guaranteed to top Group B — whatever the result of their final fixture against Algeria on Monday. Tunisia recovered impressively from a first-match beating by Senegal to defeat Algeria 2-1 and become favorites to finish runners-up and also secure a last-eight place. A draw with Zimbabwe in Gabon’s capital, Libreville, in a fixture scheduled to start at the same time as Senegal against Algeria, would clinch second spot.
COPA DEL REY
Barca end Sociedad drought
Copa del Rey holders Barcelona on Thursday beat Real Sociedad 1-0 in their quarter-final first-leg match to end a nine-and-a-half-year barren spell at the Basque side, while Atletico Madrid crushed Sociedad Deportiva Eibar. Brazil forward Neymar won and scored a penalty in the 21st minute after being tripped by Aritz Elustondo to decide the game, but spurned two clear chances after the break that would have given Barca a more comfortable lead in the tie. Earlier, Atletico Madrid put one foot in the semi-finals as they eased to a 3-0 win over Eibar thanks to goals from Antoine Griezmann, Angel Correa and Kevin Gameiro. Griezmann headed Atletico in front in the 28th minute, after Stefan Savic had an earlier effort ruled out for offside and Argentine winger Correa doubled their advantage on the hour by sweeping the ball home after a run by Yannick Carrasco. Substitute Gameiro stretched Atletico’s lead by heading in from close range in the 67th after replacing Correa to give Eibar little chance of turning the tie around in the second-leg match at their Ipurua Municipal Stadium on Thursday next week.
COPPA ITALIA
Roma crush Sampdoria 4-0
Radja Nainggolan on Thursday scored a brace, the first a magnificent volley, to lead AS Roma to a 4-0 win over UC Sampdoria in their Coppa Italia last-16 tie. The Belgian struck six minutes before halftime when Sampdoria defender Matias Silvestre miskicked an attempted clearance straight at Nainggolan, who scored with a dipping shot from outside the penalty area. Both sides hit the woodwork before then, with Luis Muriel striking the foot of the post for Sampdoria in the third minute and Leandro Paredes volleying against the underside of the crossbar for Roma. Stephan El Shaarawy set up Edin Dzeko for Roma’s second two minutes into the second half and scored the third himself with a neat lob over Christian Puggioni in the 61st minute. Nainggolan headed in El Shaarawy’s cross in the 90th minute for the fourth to increase the pressure on Sampdoria’s beleaguered coach Marco Giampaolo. Roma’s quarter-final opponents are to be Cesena, the only second-tier team in the last eight after their 2-1 win at US Sassuolo on Wednesday.
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