■ARGENTINA
Win sends Boca clear
Boca Juniors won 2-1 at San Martin-Tucuman to go two points clear at the top of the championship on Sunday as their rivals slipped up. Boca, who began the weekend one point behind San Lorenzo and Tigre, took full advantage after the two teams lost 3-1 to Lanus and Estudiantes respectively. Lucas Viatri put Boca ahead in the 36th minute when he tapped in an easy chance after Alvaro Gonzalez pulled the ball back from the byline. Raul Saavedra equalized for Tucuman with a long-range shot in the 59th minute but Boca regained the lead three minutes later when Luciano Figueroa volleyed in from Juan Roman Riquelme’s free kick. Juan Sebastian Veron gave Estudiantes an eighth-minute lead from a free kick against Tigre. Veron also set up the second for Ivan Moreno y Fabianesi on the half hour before Leandro Benitez added a third in the 90th minute. Carlos Luna headed one back in stoppage-time for Tigre. With three matches to play, Boca lead with 32 points followed by San Lorenzo and Tigre on 30 and Lanus on 28. Titleholders River Plate dropped back to the bottom after losing 2-1 at home to Argentinos Juniors.
■BRAZIL
Sao Paulo survive hostility
Sao Paulo survived a hostile reception at Vasco da Gama to win 2-1 on Sunday and move closer to their third successive championship title. Vasco fans attempted to stone the Sao Paulo bus as it arrive at their Sao Januario stadium and there was also a row between officials when the visitors were initially banned from warming up on the pitch. Media also said the visitors found their dressing-room door locked when they arrived and had to force it open. “We just want to give Sao Paulo the same treatment that everyone receives in all the stadiums,” Vasco president Roberto Dinamite said. Midfielder Jorge Wagner gave Sao Paulo the lead in the 21st minute when he found the top corner with a free kick from the edge of the area. Madson rifled in a long-range shot to equalize nine minutes later but Sao Paulo regained the lead at the start of the second half when Hugo scored following a corner. The defeat left Vasco rooted in the relegation zone with two matches to play. Sao Paulo increased their lead at the top to five points over Gremio and need only one more win to clinch the title.
■PORTUGAL
Benfica stay unbeaten
Benfica maintained their unbeaten league start on Sunday with two first-half goals for a 2-0 victory over Academica to keep hold of second spot in the league. Rubem Amorim opened for the Eagles in the 31st minute before Oscar Cardozo netted his fifth of the season through a 47th-minute penalty as Benfica stretched their winning streak to four games. Benfica improved to 21 points to stay one point behind leader Leixoes, who ensured they stayed top of the table after nine rounds with a 2-1 victory over Rio Ave on Friday.
■UNITED STATES
Crew win MLS Cup final
Argentina’s Guillermo Barros Schelotto set up all three Columbus goals as the Crew downed the New York Red Bulls 3-1 to win the MLS Cup Final on Sunday. Alejandro Moreno scored in the first half for Columbus and, after New York leveled early in the second, Chad Marshall and Frankie Hejduk added goals for the Crew. “It’s a very emotional moment for me, winning this game here in LA in front of family and friends. And, to be quite honest, the town that I was fired in,” Columbus coach Sigi Schmid said. Schmid won the MLS Cup in 2002 as coach of the Los Angeles Galaxy, who fired him in 2004.
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
‘TOUGH TO BREATHE’: Tunisian three-time Grand Slam finalist Ons Jabeur suffered an asthma attack in her 7-5, 6-3 victory over Colombia’s Camila Osorio Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei yesterday cruised into the second round of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while Iga Swiatek romped into a third-round women’s singles showdown with Emma Raducanu and Taylor Fritz was just as emphatic in his pursuit of a maiden Grand Slam title. Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia, the third seeds, defeated Slovakia’s Tereza Mihalikova and Olivia Nicholls of Britain 7-5, 6-2 in 90 minutes in Melbourne. Ostapenko and Hsieh — who won the women’s doubles and mixed doubles at the Australian Open last year — hit 25 winners and converted five of nine break points to set
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
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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