Ukraine and Russia won their semi-finals in the Deaflympics men’s soccer tournament at Yingfeng Sports Field in Taipei yesterday to set up a showdown for the Games’ last gold medal at the Taipei Municipal Stadium at 2pm on Tuesday.
In the morning semi-final, Ukraine defeated France 4-0, with all the goals coming in the second half.
Myroslav Tanchyk scored a brace for the East Europeans, while Volodymyr Riy and Dmytro Nevenchenko added the others.
PHOTO: LIN CHENG-KUN, TAIPEI TIMES
In the afternoon semi, Russia downed 10-man Germany 4-2, thanks to goals from Pavel Istrashkin, top scorer Nikolay Afanasyev and a brace from Arkadiy Kochiev.
Germany captain Daniel Jagla netted, but was also sent off as his team failed to emulate their female counterparts who reached tomorrow’s women’s final the previous morning, and will have to sit out the bronze medal match with France tomorrow morning.
Germany’s other goal was scored by Jens Bangert.
PHOTO: LIN CHENG-KUN, TAIPEI TIMES
In the 5th/8th-place playoffs, Argentina beat a US team that was down to eight men by the end of the game 2-0, with second-half goals from Jorge Chazarreta and Ricardo Mestre Picon. The US had skipper Michael Lawson and Kenneth Noll sent off after receiving two yellow cards, while Justin Hefflefinger got a straight red.
In the later match, 10-man Iran rallied from 2-1 down at halftime to defeat 10-man Ireland.
Aliakbar Ahmadvand scored two and substitute Hamid Ghasemi the other for Iran, who had Mohammad Pargar sent off. Joseph Watson and Daniel Johnson got Ireland’s goals, while substitute Andrew Wynne got his marching orders.
PHOTO: WANG YI-SUNG, TAIPEI TIMES
In the 9th/12th-place playoffs, Great Britain thrashed Denmark 5-1, with goals from Steven Gardiner (2), Benjamin Lampert, James Clarke and Christopher Beech. Nassor Salim netted for the Danes.
In the later match, Spain beat Japan 2-0, with first-half goals from Iker Rodriguez and Christian Gutierrez.
In the 13th/15th-place playoff, South Korea defeated Kazakhstan by 3-2 to leave them in 15th and last place.
Tomorrow, Great Britain face Russia in the bronze medal match, starting at 9:30am at Yingfeng Sports Field.
Brazil has four teams, more than any other country, in the expanded Club World Cup that kicked off yesterday in the US, but for SE Palmeiras, the competition holds a special meaning: winning it would provide some redemption. Under coach Abel Ferreira since 2020, Palmeiras lifted two Copa Libertadores titles, plus Brazilian league, cup and state championships. Even before Ferreira, it boasted another South American crown and 11 league titles. The only major trophy missing is a world champions’ title. Other Brazilian clubs like Fluminense FC and Botafogo FR, also in the tournament, have never won it either, but the problem for Palmeiras
Badminton world No. 3 Anders Antonsen clinched his first Indonesia Open title yesterday after beating Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen, while South Korea’s An Se-young won her second championship in Jakarta. The 28-year-old Dane sank world No. 7 Chou at the Indonesian capital’s Istora Senayan arena, winning 22-20, 21-14 in a 60-minute match to secure the prestigious Super 1000 event. Antonsen came out on top in a tightly contested first game before cruising to victory in the second. In a more closely fought women’s singles final, South Korean ace and world No. 1 An fought back from one game down to beat China’s
‘STILL’: In front of a packed New Jersey arena attended by Donald Trump and Mike Tyson, UFC 316 delivered high drama as Merab Dvalishvili retained his title Georgia’s Merab Dvalishvili scored a second-round submission win over Sean O’Malley to retain his bantamweight title at Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) 316 on Saturday, with Kayla Harrison also winning by submission in the co-main event, tapping out Juliana Pena to claim the women’s bantamweight crown. In front of a packed crowd at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, which included US President Donald Trump and retired heavyweight great Mike Tyson, Dvalishvili, a 34-year-old from the country of Georgia, won the belt in a convincing, although not aesthetically pleasing, unanimous decision. Dvalishvili (19-4) sat on top of the cage and shouted
Manchester City on Monday completed the signing of left-back Rayan Ait-Nouri from Wolverhampton Wanderers for a reported £31 million (US$41.8 million). The 24-year-old Algeria international has signed a five-year contract and will be available for the FIFA Club World Cup, which begins later this week. Ait-Nouri is expected to be just one of a trio of new City faces for that tournament with deals close to completion for AC Milan midfielder Tijjani Reijnders and Olympique Lyonnais playmaker Rayan Cherki. After missing out on a major trophy in the recently completed season for the first time since 2016-2017, City are hoping