■SOCCER
Barcelona lose King’s Cup
Holders Barcelona crashed out of the King’s Cup on Wednesday when they won a thrilling last-16, second-leg match at Sevilla 1-0 but were eliminated on the away goals rule after the tie ended 2-2 on aggregate. The Andalusians beat Barca 2-1 at the Nou Camp in the first leg and Pep Guardiola’s side can no longer match last year’s feat of winning an unprecedented six titles. After a closely fought first half on a sodden Sanchez Pizjuan pitch, a superb strike from midfielder Xavi in the 64th minute gave Barca hope and Lionel Messi fired a shot against a post in the 69th. Guardiola brought on forwards Bojan Krkic and Pedro with five minutes of regular time remaining and Barca pressed for the goal that would send them through, but Sevilla held firm.
■SOCCER
Milan advance, Juve recover
Mathieu Flamini scored the winner nine minutes from time as a second-string AC Milan team beat third-division Novara 2-1 at the San Siro on Wednesday to reach the Coppa Italia quarter-finals. The rossoneri were joined by Juventus and Catania after they recorded victories over Napoli and Genoa respectively. Milan coach Leonardo made 11 changes to the team that won 3-0 at Juventus on Sunday with Ronaldinho, loan signing David Beckham, Andrea Pirlo and Alessandro Nesta not even included on the bench. Juventus bounced back from their weekend humbling as an Alessandro Del Piero brace, one from the spot, helped them to a 3-0 victory in Turin. Diego scored the first as a full-strength and attacking Juve blew away Napoli’s 14-match unbeaten run under coach Walter Mazzarri, although he did rest many first team regulars in a competition few teams take seriously in Italy. Catania recorded an impressive 2-1 win away to Genoa to reach the last eight. Inter Milan and AS Roma had previously also qualified for the quarters, with the final three qualifiers to be decided yesterday.
■SOCCER
PSG out of League Cup
A comical own goal from Paris Saint-Germain defender Mamadou Sakho handed second-division Guingamp a 1-0 victory and a place in the quarter-finals of the French League Cup on Wednesday. The promising 19-year-old defender horribly sliced an attempted clearance over his own goalkeeper Apoula Edel and into the net in the 80th minute after Brazilian forward Gilmar had seen his attempted lob parried. Second-division Metz were unable to repeat their 3-1 victory over Lyon at the same stage of last season’s competition as they were well beaten 3-0 at the Stade Gerland. Marseille needed a last-minute goal from Mamadou Niang to secure a 3-2 win at Saint-Etienne. Holders Bordeaux’s tie at Le Mans was postponed for the second time in two days after local authorities deemed the home side’s snowbound pitch unplayable.
■GOLF
Porter leads qualifying
Australian Ewan Porter shot a four-under-par 68 to take a one-stroke lead after yesterday’s first round of an Australasian qualifying tournament for this year’s British Open. Three players from the 44-man field contesting this 36-hole event at Kingston Heath in the Melbourne suburbs will qualify for the 139th Open Championship at St Andrews from July 15 to 18. Peter Senior and Aaron Townsend were another shot back with 69s, followed by fellow Australians Kurt Barnes and Kim Felton with 70s. Michael Wright shot 71 and seven golfers were tied with 72s.
More than 180 years of horse racing came to an end in Singapore on Saturday, as the Singapore Turf Club hosted its final race day before its track is handed back to the Singaporean government to provide land for new homes. Under an overcast sky, the air-conditioned VIP boxes were full of enthusiasts, socialites and expats, while the grounds and betting halls below hosted mostly older-generation punters. The sun broke through for the last race, the last-ever Grand Singapore Gold Cup. The winner, South African jockey Muzi Yeni, echoed a feeling of loss shared by many on the day. “I’d
Former world No. 2 Paula Badosa has withdrawn from this week’s Wuhan Open, organizers said on Tuesday, amid a racism row over an online photograph. Tournament organizers said the Spaniard had pulled out of the WTA 1000 tournament, citing a gastrointestinal illness, hours before her first-round match against Australian Ajla Tomljanovic. News outlets including Britain’s the Telegraph earlier reported that Badosa had posted a photo on Instagram in which she appeared to imitate a Chinese face by placing chopsticks on the corners of her eyes. The photo was taken last week in a restaurant in Beijing, where she reached the semi-finals of the
PREDICTION: Last week, when Yu’s father made a wrong turn to the former champions’ parking lot, he said that his son could park there after this year With back-to-back birdies on the 18th hole, Kevin Yu fulfilled his driving range-owning dad’s prediction that he would win the Sanderson Farms Championship and become Taiwan’s third golfer to claim a US PGA Tour title. The Taoyuan-born 26-year-old, who represented Taiwan in the Olympic golf at Paris, saw off Californian Beau Hossler in a playoff at the Country Club of Jackson, Mississippi, on Sunday. Having drained a 15-foot putt to claw his way into the playoff, Yu rolled in from five feet on the first extra hole, ensuring he joined Chen Tze-chung (LA Open in 1987) and Pan Cheng-tsung (RBC
LeBron James and eldest son Bronny James claimed a piece of NBA history on Sunday after making their long-awaited first appearance alongside each other for the Los Angeles Lakers. The duo appeared together at the start of the second quarter in the Lakers’ 118-114 preseason defeat to the Phoenix Suns in Palm Desert, east of Los Angeles. While LeBron James impressed with 19 points in just 16 minutes and 20 seconds on court before sitting out the second half, Bronny found the going harder with zero points in just over 13 minutes on court. The younger James attempted just one
RSS