Jodie Taylor scored a hat-trick as England demolished newcomers Scotland 6-0 at the Women’s Euros on Wednesday, while Spain cruised past Portugal in their opening Group D match in the Netherlands.
In Utrecht, Arsenal striker Taylor struck an 11th-minute opener, capitalizing on a run by Lucy Bronze, before firing home again in the 27th minute following a goalmouth scramble.
Ellen White made it 3-0 five minutes later from a rebound after Jill Scott’s long-range blast hit the crossbar and Taylor completed her hat-trick on the 53th minute.
Photo: AFP
Jordan Nobbs scored a fifth goal three minutes from the end with a volley and substitute Toni Duggan rounded off the rout with a header in stoppage-time as England recorded the biggest margin of victory in tournament history.
Scotland had a decent chance, but were outclassed in their first appearance at a major competition.
In Doetinchem, first-half goals from Vicky Losada and Amanda Sampedro handed Spain a convincing 2-0 win against Euro debutants Portugal.
Barcelona midfielder Losada opened the score on 23 minutes after a long pass from Andrea Pereira, slamming the ball past the helpless goalkeeper Patricia Morais.
Atletico’s Sampedro made it 2-0 three minutes before halftime, heading in a cross from Mariona Caldentey.
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
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