■ NETHERLANDS
NAC Breda top the table
PSV Eindhoven scored four first-half goals on Saturday to beat Heracles Almelo 4-0 in the Dutch league, while NAC Breda drew 1-1 with NEC Nijmegen to go top. PSV’s big win lifted the defending champions to fifth in the league. Francisco Rodriguez opened the scoring in the 15th minute, Ibrahim Afellay made it 2-0 with his seventh goal of the season, before Danko Lazovic and Balazs Dzsudzsak completed the rout. In Breda, NEC took the lead against rivals NAC when Lasse Schoene fired in a left-foot shot from the edge of the area in the 27th minute. NAC earned the point that took them top when Edwin de Graaf headed in a second-half equalizer. In Enschede, Steve McClaren’s FC Twente humiliated Heerenveen 6-0. Defender Ruud Knol scored an injury-time equalizer to give Sparta Rotterdam a 3-3 draw with De Graafschap Doetinchem.
■ ENGLAND
Pardew leaves the Addicks
Charlton manager Alan Pardew left the struggling Championship club by mutual consent after his side’s 5-2 thrashing by Sheffield United on Saturday. Pardew paid the price for a woeful run of eight games without a win that left Charlton languishing in the relegation zone just 18 months after they dropped out of the Premier League. Speaking after the match, but before news of his sacking was confirmed, Pardew said: “My record coming to this club has been good, but it’s been difficult here. When I arrived they were on the slide and I haven’t been able to stop that. We’re in a sticky situation and I have to accept whatever decision is made.”
■ PORTUGAL
Sporting move up to third
A first-half goal from Liedson da Silva gave Sporting a 1-0 victory at Naval to temporarily move them into third place in the Portuguese league on Saturday. The Brazilian striker headed Derlei Fernandes’ pass home in the 15th minute at the Jose Bento Pessoa Stadium for only their second win in six games. Leixoes ensured they stayed top of the table after nine rounds on Friday with a 2-1 victory over Rio Ave.
■ TUNISIA
CS Sfaxien win Cup final
CS Sfaxien become the first club to win the African Confederation Cup twice after forcing a 2-2 draw at Etoile Sahel in the second-leg of the all-Tunisia final. The first-leg two weeks ago ended goalless and the Red Devils of Etoile were expected to use home advantage and add to eight African Football Confederation trophies won in 13 years. But Sfaxien got off to a dream start with Ghana-born striker Agyemang Opoku scoring after just two minutes. It took Etoile until 12 minutes into the second half to level through another West African striker, Nigerian Emeka Opara. However, Sfaxien regained the lead on 74 minutes via Abdelkrim Nafti, only for Aymen Abdennour to trigger a thrilling climax with an equalizer soon after.
■ SOUTH AFRICA
Miss World assists at draw
Brazil, Italy, Egypt and the US were drawn together on Saturday in much the tougher of the FIFA Confederations Cup first round groups. The other group includes hosts South Africa, Spain, Iraq and New Zealand in a draw conducted by FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke with assistance from the reigning Miss World and seven contestants for this year’s event. Highlights of the first phase include World Cup holders Italy against South American champions Brazil in Pretoria on June 21 and South Africa against European champions Spain a day earlier.
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
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
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
Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and partner Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia yesterday advanced to the women’s doubles final at the Australian Open after defeating New Zealand’s Erin Routliffe and Gabriela Dabrowski of Canada 7-6 (7/3), 3-6, 6-3 in their semi-final. Hsieh has won nine Grand Slam doubles titles and has a shot at a 10th tomorrow, when the Latvian-Taiwanese duo are to play Taylor Townsend of the US and Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic in the championship match at the A$96.5 million (US$61 million) outdoor hard court tournament at Melbourne Park. Townsend and Siniakova eliminated Russian pair Diana Shnaider and Mirra Andreeva 6-7
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