Taiwan's lofty hopes of shooting down China in the final of the AFC Women's Championship took a terminal dive yesterday, when it was unceremoniously dumped from the competition.
Going into today's matches, Taiwan needed either Japan to lose against Vietnam, or South Korea to lose or draw against Thailand.
It was not to be.
PHOTO: LEE HUNG-MING, TAIPEI TIMES
Taiwan is out and China, North Korea, South Korea and Japan claimed the quarterfinal spots.
In the match at Taipei Municipality Stadium, Thailand refused to roll over and die against the bigger and stronger South Koreans, but just could not contain them.
Thailand got off to the worst possible start with just seven minutes on the clock, when Lee Jin-eun gave South Korea an early lead.
While the Thais manfully held out until the break, the second half was all Korea.
With the Koreans dominating the middle of the field and just a lone striker up front, Thailand posed little threat to the Korean defense.
Kwon Min-joo added a second 12 minutes after the restart before Lee-Kye-lim made it three in the 72nd minute.
Just 60 seconds later Kwon was on target again with the goal that sealed South Korea's fourth win out of four and eliminated Taiwan from the competition.
A crowd of around 1,000 saw the game and there was some partisanship on the terraces.
A posse of Thai housemaids supported their home team, while a group of three- and four-year-olds from local kindergartens inexplicably supported South Korea.
Meanwhile, the threat of terror attacks appeared to have faded somewhat, as security officers slept in the conference room.
Japan was never likely going to do Taiwan any favors and it ran out an easy 3-1 winner against Vietnam in its match at Chungshan Stadium.
The game, which was played in the early afternoon and at the same time as the South Korea-Thailand game, saw the end of Taiwan's qualification hopes.
Japan emerged with nine points in group B, the same as Taiwan in group A, but had a better goal difference.
The businesslike Japanese struck early in the game with Kanako Ito claiming the first goal on eight minutes.
At halftime it was still 1-0 and some Taiwan supporters remained hopeful of salvation for their team and a goal from Vietnam to even the game.
But, Japan's Mio Otani put the contest beyond any doubt when she struck in the 75th and 89th minutes.
Singapore 2, Guam 1
In the final matches of the group stage of the 13th AFC Women's Championship, Singapore came out on top in the battle of the "developing nations."
With both teams having lost their previous three matches -- and conceding 78 goals between them in the process -- the two coaches Noel Celo Casilao of Guam and Singapore's Mohammed Basir considered this their "final."
It was the "Lionesses" who triumphed after a competitive contest, with Guam picking up the wooden spoon.
Noor Azean Bte Adam opened for Singapore after 11 minutes, but Guam was quick to respond with a a Jane O'Connor goal to level.
Just three minutes later, however, Tina Afrida Nasmi got what turned out to be the winning goal.
Singapore had picked up its first and only victory.
India 3, Malaysia 0
Meanwhile, India also got its first win of the competition with a 3-0 victory over Malaysia.
Bengal striker Sujata Kar hit a quick-fire double with goals in the 21st and 22nd minutes before Shadokpam Shanti Devi added the third five minutes later, after which Malaysia closed out the match.
A seven-year-old horse had to be euthanized on Friday after breaking its back on the final fence of a Grand National steeplechase race that it won despite sustaining the serious injury. It follows the death of four horses at the Cheltenham Festival last month — including one after the prestigious Gold Cup. Gold Dancer was competing in the Mildmay Novices’ Chase during Ladies Day at Aintree’s Grand National Festival. The horse managed to cross the finish line approximately four lengths ahead of runner-up Regent’s Stroll. “The winner of our second race of the day, Gold Dancer, was pulled up after
Taiwanese gymnast Tang Chia-hung on Sunday topped the men’s horizontal bar event at the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) World Cup in Osijek, Croatia, scoring 15.233 to take his third title this season. Tang delivered an outstanding performance in the final, earning a difficulty score of 6.500 and an execution score of 8.633 with a 0.1 stick bonus. His closest competitor was Milad Karimi of Kazakhstan, who finished second with 14.933 points. It was Tang’s third gold medal in the FIG World Cup series this year, following his horizontal bar wins in Azerbaijan on March 8, and in Turkey on March
The Daredevils yesterday took eight catches in the final as they eked out a victory in the Taiwan Cricket Triangular Tournament against PCCT at Yingfeng Cricket Ground in Taipei’s Songshan District. PCCT’s batting lineup collapsed after they asked the Daredevils to bowl in the T20 decider of the weekend tournament that also involved the Formosa Cricket Club. PCCT were bundled out for 76 in 16.2 overs against a disciplined Daredevils attack. Ninad Malwade was the top scorer in the innings with 21, but he was among those who offered chances to the fielders. Shane Ferreira and Jason Cameron took three wickets each, with
OBJECTIVE REACHED: ’Now for us, it’s about getting healthy, making sure everybody is ready to go, and we can ramp up,’ the Atlanta Hawks’ C.J. McCollum said after the game The Atlanta Hawks on Friday secured an NBA playoff berth with a 124-102 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers as the Boston Celtics locked up the Eastern Conference second seed with a lopsided win of their own. C.J. McCollum scored a game-high 29 points for the Hawks, who came into the contest at sixth in the East and still in danger of falling into the play-in tournament that would see the seventh-through 10th-placed teams battle for the last two playoff berths in each conference. Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Jalen Johnson scored 18 points apiece, and Dyson Daniels added a triple-double of 13
RSS