SOCCER
Lazio take Serie A lead
Juventus lost their grip on first place in Serie A to SS Lazio on Saturday and the eight-time defending champions have to wait more than a week — possibly even longer — to try and get it back because five games scheduled for this weekend — including Juventus’ match against third-place Inter — were postponed in an attempt to contain the spread of the COVID-19 outbreak in Italy. The fixtures were due to be played without fans, but the decision to call them off was made on Saturday by the league as part of “urgent measures for the containment and management” of the disease. However, with the coronavirus outbreak worst in northern Italy, Lazio were permitted to play their match against Bologna in Rome and won 2-0 with its fans in attendance. Elsewhere, SSC Napoli beat Torino 2-1.
SOCCER
Valencia end winless streak
Valencia ended their five-game winless streak by beating Real Betis Balompie 2-1 in La Liga on Saturday in the first match since the club canceled its players’ media availability because of COVID-19. Valencia on Friday prevented players and coaches from speaking in news conferences before or after games, because a journalist who covers the club was found to have the virus. Players also could not talk to reporters in mixed zones after the matches. Elsewhere, Sociedad Deportiva Eibar won 3-0 over Levante UD, CD Leganes drew 1-1 with Deportivo Alaves, while Granada and RC Celta de Vigo drew 0-0.
SOCCER
PSG maintain 13-point lead
Kylian Mbappe scored two goals and created another as Paris Saint-Germain kept their 13-point lead at the top of Ligue 1 intact with a 4-0 win over Dijon FCO on Saturday. In other games, Montpellier HSC beat RC Strasbourg Alsace 3-0, Metz beat Amiens 1-0, Angers beat Stade Brestios 29 1-0, Stade Rennais defeated Toulouse 2-0 and AS Monaco drew 1-1 with Stade de Reims.
TENNIS
Djokovic wins in Dubai
Novak Djokovic was scarcely troubled as he beat Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-3, 6-4 on Saturday to win the Dubai Championships for the fifth time. Djokovic dropped his serve once, but converted all three break points against the 21-year-old Greek to move 3-2 ahead in their career meetings. “I’m trying to embrace the moment and appreciate where I am,” Djokovic said. “This has been one of the best starts of all the seasons I had in my career. I feel great on the court. I’ve been playing great tennis on the hard courts. That is my most successful and preferred surface.”
GOLF
Kennedy wins NZ Open
Brad Kennedy carded a remarkable eight-under-par final-round 63 to come from behind to win the New Zealand Open by two strokes yesterday. Kennedy, who won the tournament in 2011, started the day two shots behind fellow Australian Lucas Herbert, but stormed to victory at the Millbrook Resort course in Queenstown, finishing on 21-under 264. “To do this again after nine years is just unbelievable,” Kennedy said. “I actually posted a number in my head last night, 21 was the number, and I didn’t think I’d reach it, but I just knew that this course was out there to be had.
Yu Yao-hsing on Tuesday nabbed Taiwan’s only goal in the final round of qualifiers for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup, as they fell 3-1 to Sri Lanka at Taipei Municipal Stadium. Early goals from Sri Lanka in the first half left Taiwan struggling to get on the board, and Christopher Tiao’s own goal at 53 minutes sealed the team’s fate in the third round of qualifiers. While acknowledging that the defeat, Taiwan’s sixth in Group D, was disappointing, head coach Matt Ross said he saw reasons to stay positive about the team’s development. “There were lots of positive signs in terms of the
INDIGESTION: Italy failed to qualify for the World Cup for a third consecutive time after a 4-1 defeat to Bosnia on penalties in a loss Gattuso said was ‘difficult to digest’ Coach Graham Arnold on Tuesday challenged his players to “shock the world” after Iraq became the 48th and final team to qualify for the FIFA World Cup with a nerve-shredding 2-1 win over Bolivia in an intercontinental playoff in Mexico, as Bosnia and Herzegovina, Turkey, the Czech Republic, Sweden and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) also secured their places at the finals. Iraq, whose preparations were disrupted by the war in the Middle East, sealed their first appearance at the finals in 40 years and are to play in Group I against France, Senegal and Norway. Goals from Ali al-Hamadi
Teng Kai-wei, the only Taiwanese player on an opening-day roster in this year’s Major League Baseball (MLB) season, took his first win of the year with the Houston Astros in his season debut. Teng entered in relief in the top of the fifth inning against the Los Angeles Angels on Saturday, with the Astros trailing 5-0. He pitched 2-1/3 scoreless innings with two strikeouts, as Houston scored 11 runs during his outing to snatch an 11-9 comeback victory. The win is the Astros’ first of the season and the third of Teng’s MLB career. “It’s my first time pitching for the Astros, so
“I don’t remember the moment, but ever since I was a kid, that’s the first thing I loved,” two-time NBA All-Star Isaiah Thomas said of his lifelong romance with basketball. However, that journey unfolded against the limitations of his size in a game where height often dictates opportunity — a reality he confronted throughout his career. At 175cm, Thomas is less than 2cm taller than the average Taiwanese adult male, while NBA players during his career stood at about 200cm on average. Compared with the NBA’s average career length of less than five years, Thomas’ 13-season career stands out as
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