SOCCER
Kaohsiung to host games
The Long Term Cup kicks off at the National Stadium in Kaohsiung today at 4:30pm when Hong Kong take on the Philippines, before hosts Taiwan face Macau in the second match at 7pm. Entrance is free to those taking along five till receipts, which will be donated to the Eden Foundation. The CTFA will also be giving away 500 national team shirts starting at 6pm. The four-team tournament continues on Sunday, when Macau play Hong Kong at 4:30pm and Taiwan face the Philippines at 7pm, and on Tuesday, when the Philippines face Macau at 4:30pm and the hosts wrap up the tournament against Hong Kong at 7pm.
SOCCER
Anzhi fires coach Gadzhi
Russian premier league team Anzhi Makhachkala have fired their coach Gadzhi Gadzhiyev after a string of disappointing results. A brief statement from the team yesterday did not state the reason for the dismissal of Gadzhiyev, who took the helm last year. Anzhi attracted worldwide attention last month when they signed Cameroon striker Samuel Eto’o from Inter for a reported sum of nearly US$29 million per season, which would make him the world’s best-paid player. However, Anzhi’s performance since Eto’o joined the team has been poor, with just one win from their last six matches.
CRICKET
Samuels cleared to bowl
The West Indies were given a boost yesterday ahead of their Bangladesh tour when all-rounder Marlon Samuels was cleared to bowl by the sport’s world governing body. The off-spinner, a key member of the West Indies Test, one-day and Twenty20 squads for the tour, had been suspended from bowling after being reported for a suspect action in 2008. The International Cricket Council (ICC) said an independent test had found Samuels’ action to be legal following significant remedial work and that he could resume bowling. The independent analysis was performed by Bruce Elliott, a member of the ICC’s panel of human movement specialists, at the University of Western Australia, Perth, this month. However, the spinner’s action will continue to be scrutinized by match officials to ensure it remains legal, the ICC statement added. Samuels, currently in Dubai with the West Indies team for a one-week camp ahead of the Bangladesh tour, said he was pleased to know he could resume bowling in international cricket.
SOCCER
S Korean club apologizes
A South Korean K-League club has apologized to the people of Japan after its fans displayed a banner that made light of the country’s earthquake and tsunami disaster. “We extend our sincere apology to Japanese people and football fans,” Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors said in a statement on its Web site. A paper banner reading “Let’s celebrate Japan’s big earthquake” in Japanese was hung from the stands occupied by Jeonbuk supporters during Tuesday’s Asian Champions League quarter-final second leg against Japan’s Cerezo Osaka. The banner was removed about 20 minutes into the game in the southwestern city of Jeonju after Cerezo lodged a complaint with the organizers. The Japanese club sent a letter of complaint to the Asian Football Confederation. Jeonbuk beat Cerezo 6-1 to reach the semi-finals. “We believe it was done by an indiscreet spectator, not by our supporters,” Jeonbuk spokesman Son Ji-hoon said, adding that his club plans to refer the case to prosecutors.
“I don’t remember the moment, but ever since I was a kid, that’s the first thing I loved,” two-time NBA All-Star Isaiah Thomas said of his lifelong romance with basketball. However, that journey unfolded against the limitations of his size in a game where height often dictates opportunity — a reality he confronted throughout his career. At 175cm, Thomas is less than 2cm taller than the average Taiwanese adult male, while NBA players during his career stood at about 200cm on average. Compared with the NBA’s average career length of less than five years, Thomas’ 13-season career stands out as
Hans Niemann declares he would become a “stone cold killer” in a Netflix documentary released on Tuesday about his feud with five-time classical world champion Magnus Carlsen, a pledge that injects new edge into the lingering fallout from the cheating scandal that shook elite chess. “I’m gonna be a stone cold killer the rest of my life,” the US’ Niemann says in the film. “I’m going to become the best player in the world, and no one is going to believe that now, but this clip will play over and over again in 10 years — just wait.” “I just
Dakar and Rabat have longstanding ties, but relations have been strained since the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) final, which Senegal won in mid-January before being stripped of the title, which was transferred to Morocco. Now, the AFCON trophy is something of a thorn in the two countries’ sides. On Rue Mohamed V, the street where Moroccan vendors are based in the Senegalese capital, a police van is parked. “The police have been on high alert since the Confederation of African Football [CAF] decided to award the title to Morocco, but there have been no incidents,” a local resident said.
Top seeded Jessica Pegula on Friday once again fought back from a set down to reach the WTA Charleston Open semi-finals with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 win against Russia’s Diana Shnaider. Defending champion Pegula has lost the first set in all three of her matches at the tournament so far, but again dug deep to maintain her hopes of retaining the title. The world No. 5 from the US took 2 hours, 10 minutes to defeat 19th-ranked Shnaider, relying on a formidable service game that included eight aces. Shnaider battled well in the first two sets and broke early for a 2-0 lead
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