Taiwan fell to a 3-0 defeat in their Fed Cup clash with China yesterday, with the hosts now the favorites to reach the final of the Asia/Oceania Group I clash.
Taiwan’s team knew they faced a tough task against a China team that included the world No. 9, No. 17 and No. 35, while Taiwan’s highest-ranked player in the singles, Chang Kai-chen, is ranked No. 110.
World No. 35 Zheng Jie defeated Taiwan’s world No. 160 Hsieh Su-wei 6-2, 6-3 in the opening rubber of the match held at the Shenzhen Luohu Tennis Center, China.
In the following singles match, Taiwan’s Chang faced an even tougher challenge, world No. 9 Li Na, who duly delivered the hosts the victory by defeating the Taiwanese 6-2, 6-0.
In the doubles, world No. 17 Peng Shuai and her partner, Zhang Shuai, beat Taiwanese pairing Chan Yung-jan and Hsieh 7-5, 4-6, 6-2 to complete the whitewash.
China face an Uzbekistan team that was whitewashed 3-0 by Taiwan in today’s third match in Pool A and they will be expecting to win the contest and advance to tomorrow’s final against the winners of Pool B.
In Pool B, Thailand and Kazakhstan maintained their 100 percent records at the tournament yesterday.
Thailand whitewashed South Korea 3-0, while Kazakhstan trounced Indonesia by the same score. They will battle it out today for the chance to advance to World Group II playoffs in tomorrow’s final.
Inter on Sunday were given a letoff when they snatched a late 1-1 derby draw with AC Milan, while league leaders SSC Napoli were held by a late goal at AS Roma. Reigning champions Inter remain three points behind Napoli, who looked to be heading five clear as they led in Rome until Angelino volleyed in a stunning leveler in the first minute of stoppage-time. Angelino’s strike gave even more significance to Stefan de Vrij’s last-gasp equalizer at the San Siro. The defender forced home Nicola Zalewski’s knockdown just as it looked like Tijjani Reijnders’ opener would be enough for Milan. “I can
The Washington Capitals and Winnipeg Jets on Saturday did not disappoint in a thrilling midseason matchup in front of a fired-up sellout crowd of more than 18,500 fans. The top two teams in the NHL delivered with a combined nine goals, including the 877th of Alex Ovechkin’s career to put him 18 back of breaking Wayne Gretzky’s record. That tied the score, the Jets pulled it out in overtime and just about everyone involved got their money’s worth out of the 5-4 game. “We knew how we were both sitting in the standings and both having real good years,” Winnipeg coach Scott
BACK-TO-BACK: The League One club, which is owned by stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, is sparing no expense to clinch promotion to the Championship Hollywood endings are pricey, even in England’s third division. In pursuit of their third straight promotion, Wrexham AFC splashed some cash at League One rival Reading to secure the services of striker Sam Smith. The Welsh club owned by actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney confirmed the signing of the 26-year-old Smith on Friday. He is one of the top scorers in the third division. The transfer fee was not disclosed, but British media widely reported it to be about ￡2 million (US$2.48 million) — not extravagant, but a hefty price at this level and it would be about the same figure that
Santiago Castro on Tuesday had an immediate impact off the bench as he scored the goal to send Bologna into the Coppa Italia semi-finals for the first time in 26 years. Bologna won 1-0 against last year’s runners-up, Atalanta BC, and are to play either holders Juventus or Empoli in the final four. Juventus are to host Empoli in their quarter-final on Feb. 26. The last time Bologna reached the semi-finals was in 1999, when they lost 4-2 to ACF Fiorentina. There were chances for both sides in a high-tempo match in Bergamo, but it was Bologna who broke the deadlock 10 minutes from
RSS