■ Soccer
Platini confirms candidacy
Former France captain Michel Platini has confirmed his candidacy for the presidency of European soccer's governing body. French soccer federation chief Jean-Pierre Escalettes officially announced Platini's candidacy in a letter on Monday to UEFA secretary-general Lars-Christer Olsson. The elections will be held in January next year. Platini, 51, will challenge incumbent Lennart Johansson, the 76-year-old Swede who has headed UEFA since 1990. Platini is a member of the UEFA and FIFA executive committees.
■ Soccer
Arnold missing stars
Socceroos coach Graham Arnold said on Tuesday he will be forced to field an under-strength Socceroos side in Asian Cup qualifiers next month because his overseas stars cannot escape club commitments. Australia takes on Kuwait in Sydney on Aug. 16 and Lebanon in Adelaide on Aug. 31 in its bid to qualify for the finals of the Asian Cup in July next year. But Arnold said the European-based players who took Australia to the second round of the World Cup finals will likely be unavailable, as the games coincide with the early rounds of competitions such as the English Premier League. As a result, Arnold said the bulk of his team for the qualifying matches in Adelaide on August 16 and 31 would come from Australia's domestic A-League competition. "As far as the next two Asian Cup qualifiers go against Kuwait and Lebanon, it looks like the players will have to come from the A-League," Arnold told Sydney's Daily Telegraph newspaper.
■ Discus
Sadova banned for doping
Olympic discus champion Natalya Sadova of Russia has been banned for two years for a doping offense, the world governing athletics body IAAF announced late on Monday. Sadova, 34, tested positive for the steroid methandienone at a May 28 meet in Hengelo, Netherlands. The 2004 gold medalist did not dispute the positive test, but blamed contaminated food supplements for the result. She is banned until July 7, 2008. It was Sadova's second positive doping test. She was stripped of her 2001 world title after testing positive for caffeine at the Edmonton event.
■ Ice Hockey
Gainey stays with Canadiens
The Montreal Canadiens signed general manager Bob Gainey to a three-year contract extension on Monday. Gainey, who won five Stanley Cups as a player with the Canadiens, took over as general manager in 2003. He took over as coach in January after sacking Claude Julien and guided the struggling team to the playoffs where they lost the Eastern Conference quarterfinals to the Carolina Hurricanes, who went on to win the Stanley Cup. "We are very happy that Bob Gainey has extended his association with the Montreal Canadiens, leading to the franchise's Centennial Year in 2009-2010," Canadiens President Pierre Boivin said on the team's Web site.
Hong Kong-based cricket team Hung See this weekend found success in their matches in Taiwan, even if none of the results went their way. Hung See played the Chairman’s XI on Saturday morning, the Daredevils that afternoon and PCCT yesterday, with all three home teams winning. The team for Chinese players at the Happy Valley-based Craigengower Cricket Club sends teams on tour to “spread the game of cricket.” This weekend was Hung See’s second trip to Taiwan after visiting Tainan in 2016. “The club has been traveling to all parts of the world since 1982 and the annual tradition continues [with the Taiwan
Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei yesterday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while Coco Gauff’s dreams of a first women’s singles title in Melbourne were crushed in the quarter-finals by Paula Badosa. World No. 2 Alexander Zverev was ruffled by a stray feather in his men’s singles quarter-final, but he refocused to beat 12th seed Tommy Paul and reach the semi-finals. Third seeds Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia defeated Elena-Gabriela Ruse of Romania and Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine 6-2, 5-7, 7-5 in 2 hours, 20 minutes to advance the semi-finals. Hsieh and Ostapenko converted eight of 14 break
The San Francisco Giants signed 18-year-old Taiwanese pitcher Yang Nien-hsi (陽念希) to a contract worth a total of US$500,000 (NT $16.39 million). At a press event in Taipei on Wednesday, Jan. 22, the Giants’ Pacific Rim Area scout Evan Hsueh (薛奕煌) presented Yang with a Giants jersey to celebrate the signing. The deal consisted of a contract worth US$450,000 plus a US$50,000 scholarship bonus. Yang, who stands at 188 centimeters tall and weighs 85 kilograms, is of Indigenous Amis descent. With his fastest pitch clocking in at 150 kilometers per hour, Yang had been on Hsueh’s radar since playing in the HuaNan Cup
HARD TO SAY GOODBYE: After Coco Gauff dispatched Belinda Bencic in the fourth round, she wrote ‘RIP TikTok USA’ and drew a broken heart on a television camera lens Defending champion Hsieh Su-wei of Taiwan yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while compatriot Chan Hao-ching on Saturday dominated her opponents in the second round, as world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka swept into the quarter-finals. Third seeds Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia toppled Hungary’s Timea Babos and Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US 6-4, 6-3, hitting 24 winners and converting three of seven break points in 1 hour, 18 minutes at 1573 Arena. Although rivals at last year’s Australian Open — where Hsieh and Belgium’s Elise Mertens beat Ostapenko and Ukraine’s Lyudmyla Kichenok 6-1, 7-5
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