■SOCCER
No go Agogo for World Cup
Ghana striker Junior Agogo will miss the World Cup after undergoing knee surgery. Ghana’s Football Association says the 30-year-old Agogo, who plays for Apollon Limassol in Cyprus, will be out of action for six months. The forward, who has also played for Chicago Fire and Colorado Rapids in the MLS, and Bristol Rovers and Nottingham Forest in England, starred at the 2008 African Cup in Ghana. He scored the winner in the quarter-finals against Nigeria and three goals in the tournament as the hosts finished third.
■SOCCER
Blackpool clinch spot
Blackpool clinched a place in the Championship play-offs, while Sheffield Wednesday were relegated to League One after being held to a 2-2 draw by Crystal Palace on a dramatic final day in English soccer’s second tier. Blackpool went into their last fixture knowing victory would guarantee a top-six finish and, although they drew 1-1 at home to Bristol City, they finished sixth anyway as seventh placed Swansea could only draw 0-0 against Doncaster. Blackpool are now just three games away from securing promotion to the top flight for the first time in 40 years. They will take on Nottingham Forest over two legs, with the winner meeting Cardiff or Leicester at Wembley on May 22.
■MOTOGP
Lorenzo leads Spanish 1-2
Jorge Lorenzo led a Spanish 1-2 at the world championship race in Jerez on Sunday ahead of compatriot Dani Pedrosa with Italy’s world champion Valentino Rossi finishing third. The victory sees Lorenzo overtake Rossi at the top of the world championship standings to the delight of the home crowd. “It’s the greatest victory of my career,” said Lorenzo, who picked up his sixth win in his third year in motorcycling’s elite category. Rossi said he had “struggled” throughout with the shoulder injury he recently suffered in a motocross accident, and with a choice of tires that left him simply trying to finish as high up as possible.
■SKATING
Chinese stars visit Taiwan
Triple gold medalist Wang Meng and other members of the Chinese skating teams that won five gold medals at the this year’s Winter Olympic Games arrived in Taipei yesterday for two shows. The delegation, featuring five top short track speed skaters and 19 figure skaters, will give two performances at the Taipei Arena ice rink tomorrow and on Thursday. The Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee’s secretary-general said the visit provides a rare opportunity for local audiences to see Olympic gold medal winners perform in person. Wang won short track speed skating gold in the women’s 500m, 1,000m and 3,000m relay races at the Winter Games in Vancouver in February and is China’s most decorated Winter Olympian. The figure skaters include Pang Qing and Tong Jian, who took silver in the pairs competition in Vancouver.
■CRICKET
Murali out of World Cup
Muttiah Muralitharan has been ruled out of the remainder of the Twenty20 World Cup after injuring his groin in Sri Lanka’s two-wicket loss to New Zealand. Team physiotherapist Tommy Simsek said Muralitharan had strained his right adductor muscle and would need up to three weeks rest, the Sri Lankan cricket board announced yesterday on its Web site. Muralitharan’s injury is a major setback for Sri Lanka’s chances. Muralitharan has more international wickets than any cricketer, with 792 in 132 Tests and 512 in 334 limited-overs internationals.
The next generation of running talent takes center stage at today’s Berlin Marathon, in the absence of stars including Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge and Ethiopian world record holder Tigist Assefa. With most of the major marathon stars skipping the event in the wake of the Paris Olympics just more than a month ago, the field is wide open in the men’s and women’s races. Since 2015, Kipchoge has won five times in Berlin, Kenenisa Bekele has won twice and Guye Adola once — with all three missing today. Kenyan Kibiwott Kandie and Ethiopian Tadese Takele are among the favourites for the men, while
Taiwan’s Tony Wu yesterday beat Mackenzie McDonald of the US to win the Nonthaburi Challenger IV in Thailand, his first challenger victory since 2022. The 26-year-old world No. 315, who won both his qualifiers to advance to the main draw, has been on a hot streak this month, winning his past nine matches, including two that ensured Taiwan’s victory in their Davis Cup World Group I tie. Wu took just more than two hours to top world No. 172 McDonald 6-3, 7-6 (7/4) to win his second challenger tournament since the Tallahassee Tennis Challenger in 2022. Wu’s Tallahassee win followed two years of
Zhang Shuai yesterday said that she nearly quit after losing 24 matches in a row — now the world No. 595 is into the quarter-finals of her home China Open. The 35-year-old is to face Spain’s Paula Badosa as the lowest-ranked player to reach this stage in the history of the tournament after Badosa reeled off 11 of the last 12 games in a 6-4, 6-0 victory over US Open finalist Jessica Pegula. Zhang went into Beijing on a barren run lasting more than 600 days and her string of singles defeats was the second-longest on the WTA Tour Open era, which
Taiwanese martial artists bagged one gold, four silver and three bronze medals at the World Junior Wushu Championships in Brunei, the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Brunei Darussalam said yesterday. Liu Yu-tzu won the gold medal in the girl’s taijiquan A group and also picked up a silver medal in the girl’s taijijian A group. Hu Hsin-ling, Yu Min-hsun and Chen Chao-hsiang each won a silver medal in the girl’s jianshu B, boy’s nangun B and boy’s taijijian A groups respectively. Hu also won a bronze medal in the girl’s qiangshu B group, while Yu and Lin Shih-hung picked up bronze medals
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