■ENGLAND
Cameron backs England bid
New British Prime Minister David Cameron on Friday threw his weight behind England’s bid to host the World Cup in 2018. Cameron, who took office following close-fought elections, said he had spoken to FIFA president Sepp Blatter on Thursday, on the eve of England’s bid presentation in Zurich. Cameron “stressed the new government was absolutely behind England’s 2018 bid. He reminded Mr Blatter that football was the national sport and people in England were extremely passionate about football,” his office said. Blatter confirmed he received a call from Cameron on Thursday, saying the prime minister “not only expressed his determination to be behind the bid, but also to be behind the World Cup 2010.”
■ITALY
Mourinho makes fan’s day
Inter coach Jose Mourinho made one lucky fan’s day by saving him a night camped out in the rain by giving him a ticket to the Champions League final against Bayern Munich in Madrid next Saturday. Hundreds of Inter fans had set up camp since Thursday morning to make sure they could snap up one of 5,000 Champions League final tickets scheduled to go on sale in Milan yesterday. Paolo Sacco, a 23-year-old from Milan who was first in the queue, struck gold when Mourinho gave him a ticket worth 225 euros and saved him a second night out in the open. Mourinho insisted, however, that his gift to the fan was not a financial one. “This is my applause to all the fans. However, the lad must demonstrate that he has given the money he’s saved to charity.”
■ENGLAND
Preston in financial trouble
Preston North End, who were English soccer’s first league champions in 1889, on Friday became the latest club to be plunged into financial trouble. The second-tier Championship side were hit with a winding up petition from tax authorities, a day after borrowing £550,000 (US$813,000) from leisure tycoon Trevor Hemmings’ investment vehicle, Guild Ventures, to “meet the cost of players’ wages due this month.” Despite the cash injection, which took Hemmings’ investment in the Deepdale club to £13.82 million including interest, the winding up petition was issued on Friday.
■TALY
Leonardo leaves AC Milan
AC Milan are likely to continue with their frugal spending policies despite the gamble in appointing rookie coach Leonardo failing to pay off. The Brazilian was leaving by mutual consent following yesterday’s final game of the season against Juventus after an average campaign where the Rossoneri finished third in Serie A and went out at the round-of-16 stage of the Champions League. He had never coached before and his appointment to replace Chelsea-bound Carlo Ancelotti in May last year was another indication of cost cutting by owner Silvio Berlusconi.
■CHINA
N Korea recruiting fans
Few North Koreans will be able to cheer on their team at the World Cup in South Africa, so the country is recruiting Chinese fans. Xinhua news agency reported that the Beijing office of the North Korean Sports Committee is giving out 1,000 tickets to the tournament. Xinhua says the fans will attend North Korea’s games against Brazil and Portugal. The Chinese fans who will support North Korea include a number of celebrities who have led similar groups to cheer for Chinese teams in the past.
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
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
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
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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