■ Skiing
Bjorgen, Eigenmann win
Marit Bjorgen of Norway and Christoph Eigenmann of Switzerland won the first races on Sunday at the new Tour de Ski in Munich, Germany. The overall time winner at the six-race cross-country event will get 400 World Cup points. Eigenmann finished the 1.2km freestyle race in 2 minutes, 04.9 seconds to edge out Canada's Devon Kershaw by 1.4 seconds. Roddy Darragon of France was 2.6 back in third. Bjorgen won the women's 0.8km freestyle race in 1:35.1. Italy's Arianna Follis was second and Canada's Chandra Crawford third, both finishing 1.1 seconds behind. The event was held in Munich's 70,000-seat Olympic Stadium.
■ Biathlon
Ole Bjorndalen wins again
Ole Einar Bjorndalen won the biathlon World Team Challenge for the fourth straight year on Sunday in front of 52,000 spectators in Gelsenkirchen, Germany. Bjorndalen teamed up with fellow Norwegian Linda Grubben to capture the mixed-pair event in Gelsenkirchen's domed soccer stadium. The event isn't on the World Cup schedule, but offers competitors the year's biggest crowds. "We look forward to this event the whole year -- there is nothing like biathlon in Gelsenkirchen," Bjorndalen said. Bjorndalen and Grubben, who split 24,000 euros (US$31,000) in prize money, finished 18 rounds of 1,264m in 31 minutes, 17.2 seconds with two missed targets. Florence Bavarel and Robert-Julien Robert of France were second, followed by Germany's Martina Glagow and Michael Greis.
■ Soccer
Andres Oper nets a brace
Roda JC forward Andres Oper scored twice on Sunday to hold third-place AZ Alkmaar to a 2-2 draw in the Dutch league. Oper scored in the 23rd and 67th minutes before being sent off in the 79th for a second yellow card. Five minutes later, Barry Opdam, who had scored for AZ in the 65th, set up Danny Koevermans for the equalizer. Vitesse Arnhem rallied on a second-half goal by substitute Fred Benson to draw 2-2 with Heracles Almelo. Arnhem was in ninth place on 26 points, 27 fewer than leader PSV Eindhoven, which beat ADO The Hague 2-1 on Saturday on goals from Patrick Kluivert and Jefferson Farfan. Second-place Ajax also played Saturday and was held to a 2-2 draw at NEC Nijmegen, with Kenneth Perez and Gabri scoring for the Amsterdam team. Also on Saturday, it was: SC Heerenveen 0, FC Utrecht 0; Sparta Rotterdam 3, FC Twente 0 and RKC Waalwijk 0, FC Groningen 2. PSV has 53 points, 11 more than Ajax and 12 more than AZ. Feyenoord climbed past FC Twente into fourth on Friday with 39 points after beating Excelsior 3-1. The Eredivisie now has a 20-day winter break.
The New Taipei Kings claimed the inaugural Taiwan Professional Basketball League (TPBL) championship on Sunday, defeating the Kaohsiung FamilyMart Aquas 108-89 in the final. Playing at home, the Kings pulled ahead with Jeremy Lin’s (林書豪) clutch three-pointers, securing their victory over the Aquas in the TPBL final. The Kings came out strong in the first quarter, dominating to build a 35-18 lead. By halftime, they had stretched their advantage to 61-38. In the third quarter, the Aquas narrowed the deficit to 12 points, but Lin stepped up, sinking several tough three- pointers to extend the lead. In the final quarter, the Kings pushed the
Spain are the favorites to win the UEFA Women’s Euro 2025, but star player Aitana Bonmati’s illness ahead of the tournament raises another question mark around a side which, despite their obvious quality, are not unstoppable. Having claimed the last two Ballon d’Or awards, Barcelona midfielder Bonmati is the game’s biggest star at present, so her absence in the final days before the start of Euro 2025 is a major setback. The 27-year-old came down with a fever in training last week, and was subsequently hospitalized and diagnosed with viral meningitis. Bonmati was discharged on Sunday and joined up with
SEMI-FINAL SWEEP: Taiwanese are to take up all four berths in the men’s doubles semi-finals, while three Taiwanese women’s doubles pairings secured spots Taiwan’s badminton ace Chou Tien-chen stayed hot as he secured a semi-final berth in the men’s singles at the US Open at Council Bluffs, Iowa, on Friday. Chou entered the Super 300 tournament as the top seed and breezed past Victor Lai of Canada 21-19, 21-8 in 37 minutes, advancing to the semi-finals for the second straight tournament. Earlier this month, the 35-year-old veteran finished runner-up at the Indonesia Open, becoming the oldest male shuttler to reach a Super 1000-level final. He was set to face Ayush Shetty of India last night after press time for a spot in the final. Meanwhile, 22-year-old Taiwanese
PROMISING TALENT: Real Madrid coach Xabi Alonso was pleased with youngster Gonzalo’s performance and compared him to former ‘Los Blancos’ great Raul Spanish giants Real Madrid on Tuesday beat Juventus 1-0 to set up a FIFA Club World Cup quarter-final clash against Borussia Dortmund, who edged Mexican side Monterrey. Serhou Guirassy struck twice for the German outfit as they scraped past Sergio Ramos’ side 2-1 in a tight last-16 clash in Atlanta, Georgia, and denied the former Real Madrid skipper a matchup against his former team. Youngster Gonzalo Garcia headed home his third goal of the tournament to help Madrid edge Italian side Juventus at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami earlier. It was an impressive display from Xabi Alonso’s Madrid side,
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