■ Soccer
Australia thrash Taiwan
Australia all but secured their place in the next stage of qualifying for the Beijing Olympics with an 11-0 thrashing of Taiwan in the first leg of their play-off in Adelaide on Wednesday. It was just one goal short of the record win for an Australian Olympic team after the 12-0 result against Vanuatu in 1996. Melbourne Victory midfielder Kristian Sarkies scored four goals with Adelaide United striker Bruce Djite scoring once and setting up five others. The second leg of the play-off takes place in Taipei next Wednesday.
■ Soccer
Player knocked out in brawl
Chinese under-21 international Zheng Tao was knocked unconscious and taken to hospital following a brawl in a match against Queens Park Rangers at the English club's training ground on Wednesday, according to media reports. The violent fracas caused the referee to abandon the friendly in west London with QPR winning 2-1 in the second half. Xian Chanba defender Zheng was unconscious for five minutes after the fighting. "I've never seen anything like it in my life," a witness told the Web site of the Ealing Gazette. "There were punches, kung-fu kicks and all sorts. It was absolute mayhem."
■ Football
Kiel pleads guilty to felony
San Diego Chargers safety Terrence Kiel pleaded guilty on Wednesday to felony and misdemeanor drug charges for shipping codeine-based cough syrup to Texas, part of a plea bargain that could allow him to avoid jail time. Kiel was ordered to undergo counseling for gambling and do 100 hours of volunteer work. If he does that before his Aug. 7 sentencing and remains law-abiding, the felony conviction will be dismissed and he'll be placed on probation, San Diego County Superior Court Judge Stephanie Sontag said. Kiel still has a Feb. 20 court appearance after being cited for urinating in public last Dec. 18 in downtown San Diego.
■ Olympics
Mascots could be dangerous
Beijing police have issued a health warning over the cuddly Beijing 2008 Olympics mascots known as "Fuwa" after seizing nearly 30,000 counterfeit versions, including some made with toxic materials. The state-run Beijing News said yesterday that it was the largest haul of such fakes to date. However, the report did not specify how many of the 30,000 toys contained the toxic materials or what those ingredients were.
■ Cricket
ICC derides Hair lawsuit
The International Cricket Council (ICC) said yesterday there was no merit in Australian umpire Darrell Hair's claim of racial discrimination on the part of cricket's world governing body and the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). The sacked umpire had filed a racial discrimination lawsuit against the ICC and the PCB on Wednesday. "The ICC does not believe there is merit in this claim and will vigorously defend the matter," the council said in a statement. Hair was sacked from the ICC's elite panel of umpires after Pakistan complained about his role in a ball-tampering row in the forfeited Oval test against England last August. "The ICC has noted reports that umpire Darrell Hair has instructed his lawyers to issue an application to the London Central Employment Tribunal alleging racial discrimination by the International Cricket Council and the Pakistan Cricket Board," the statement said.
American rugby sevens star Ilona Maher is to join 15-a-side club Bristol next month in a bid to play in next year’s Women’s Rugby World Cup, the English club announced on Monday. Maher, 28, helped the US to a bronze medal at this summer’s Olympic Games in Paris and is the seven-a-side sport’s most popular player on social media. “This is a huge coup to be able to bring Ilona Maher to Bristol Bears on a short-term deal,” Bristol head coach Dave Ward said. “She is one of the biggest names in women’s sport, let alone rugby, and we believe she will
New Taipei Kings guard Jeremy Lin on Friday was named the Taiwan Professional Basketball League’s (TPBL) Player of the Month, the first domestic player to win the award, while the Hsinchu Toplus Lioneers are to welcome their third head coach in less than a year. Lin averaged 22 points, 5.4 rebounds and 6.6 assists over five games in October and last month, helping the Kings to second in the standings with a 4-2 record as of Friday. The Kings last night defeated the Lioneers 96-78 to move level with the top-of-the-table Formosa Dreamers (5-2), while in the night game, the New Taipei
LeBron James is in quite the shooting slump — especially from long distance, highlighted by his zero-for-four effort from three-point range for the Los Angeles Lakers in their 109-80 loss against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday. That return stretched the nearly-40-year-old’s skid to zero-for-19 from deep over his past four games. James’ birthday is on Dec. 30. After going four-for-16 from the floor overall with six of his team’s 20 turnovers for a season-low 10 points against the Timberwolves, James was asked to reflect on the Lakers reaching the quarter mark of their 2024-2025 schedule under rookie coach J.J. Redick at 12-9. “I
TSG (Taiwan Steel Group) Tainan won the Taiwan Football Premier League (TFPL) title for a fifth straight season on Sunday, while the Kaohsiung Attackers a week earlier emerged as champions for the first time in the women’s league. In the final round of the TFPL, TSG rested most of their important players for the home match at Yonghua Stadium in Tainan. They had 46 points prior to the game and were already guaranteed to finish in first place. Their opponent, Hang Yuan FC, were led by midfielder Chen Po-ying, who scored two goals, first with a curving shot just inside
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