■ SOCCER
Chasetown stun Port Vale
English minor league club Chasetown stunned League One Port Vale 1-0 on Tuesday to reach the third round of the FA Cup for the first time. The tiny Midlands club from the Southern League -- five divisions below their opponents -- held Vale to a 1-1 away draw in their initial second-round meeting then took their scalp in the home replay when Danny Smith struck a minute from time. Chasetown, who were in the Midlands Alliance last year, will now host Cardiff City in the third round.
■ CYCLING
Tour dates announced
Next year's Tour de Taiwan, the nation's most prestigious cycling event, will be held between March 9 and March 16, celebrating the 20th anniversary of the event, the Chinese Taipei Cycling Association said at a press conference on Tuesday. The race will have eight stages and cover a distance of 861.2km, setting off from Kaohsiung and finishing in Taipei. In between, the route covers the western counties of Pingtung, Changhua, Taichung, Hsinchu and will finish at the Nangang Exhibition Hall in Taipei.
■ MOTOR RACING
Schumi takes control
Michael Schumacher can add the unofficial title of Germany's fastest taxi driver to his other achievements after taking over behind the wheel to get his family to the airport on time. The retired Formula One champion drove the cab back to the airport himself after a trip out to the village of Gehuelz, near Coburg in southern Germany, left the family short of time to make their flight home, the Muenchner Abendzeitung newspaper reported. "It was crazy having Schumi driving, with me in the passenger seat," the taxi driver was quoted as saying.
■ SOCCER
Kahn suspended by Bayern
Bayern Munich goalkeeper and captain Oliver Kahn has been suspended for one game and fined by coach Ottmar Hitzfeld on "disciplinary grounds." Neither the club nor the goalkeeper gave the reason for his suspension. "I am not so surprised," Kahn said. "I understand it. Discipline has to be the highest requirement." He was also fined 25,000 euros (US$36,500). Bayern president Franz Beckenbauer hinted that the reason for Kahn's punishment was his early departure from the team's Christmas party. "It's a time that brings the team together," Beckenbauer said on German television. "He's the captain and he can't just get up and leave early."
■ CRICKET
IOC recognition welcomed
Cricket's world chief yesterday welcomed the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) move to grant recognition to his sport, saying it would help to boost cricket's profile. "This is great news," International Cricket Council president Ray Mali said in a statement after cricket was given the status of a "recognized sport" by the IOC. "The Olympic Movement is instantly recognizable around the world and for cricket to be a part of that again has to be a good thing," he said. The IOC said on Monday that cricket was accorded this status for two years, usually granted to sports that are not part of the Olympic program but conform to its ideals of youth promotion and anti-doping policies. Cricket could receive permanent status in 2009 and then would be eligible to be part of the Olympics, as it was in the 1900 Paris Games. In the Paris Games, Britain -- represented by the Devon and Somerset Wanderers -- beat a French team mainly made up of British embassy staff.
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
TO NO AVAIL: The Denver Nuggets’ Serbian center Nikola Jokic surpassed his 53-point performance in the 2023 Western Conference semi-finals against Phoenix The Washington Wizards withstood a 56-point explosion from Denver star Nikola Jokic to beat the Nuggets 122-113 on Saturday and snap their 16-game NBA losing streak. Jokic, who won his third NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) award last season, posted a career scoring high — surpassing a 53-point performance in game four of the 2023 Western Conference semi-finals against Phoenix and a 50-point regular-season best against Sacramento in 2021. The Serbian big man added 16 rebounds and eight assists, but it was all to no avail as Washington, buoyed by 39 points from Jordan Poole, won for the first time
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