ENGLAND
Cole quits internationals
Chelsea leftback Ashley Cole announced on Sunday he was retiring from international soccer after being told he had been left out of England manager Roy Hodgson’s squad for the World Cup. “I got the call from Roy and agree England team should be about the young players,” the 33-year-old Cole told his Twitter followers. “We have a great manager and team, and I wish them only success. I will be supporting them like a true fan. Thanks to everyone for everything,” the 107-time capped Cole added ahead of Hodgson’s official squad announcement yesterday. Cole’s words indicated his failure to hold down a regular first-team spot at Chelsea this season, where he has been displaced by Spain’s Cesar Azpilicueta, had cost him his England career. His omission means that Everton’s Leighton Baines is set to be confirmed as England’s first-choice leftback, with Southampton teenager Luke Shaw providing cover for the 29-year-old.
ENGLAND
Rams grab playoff final spot
Derby County swept into the Championship playoff final as their 4-1 win over Brighton and Hove Albion in their semi-final second leg sealed a 6-2 aggregate victory on Sunday. Steve McClaren’s team had taken a significant step on the road to Wembley with their 2-1 win in the first leg at the Amex Stadium on Thursday last week and the Rams, bidding to return to the Premier League after a six-year absence, finished the job in ruthless fashion in front of their supporters at the iPro Stadium. Will Hughes opened the scoring in the first half, before strikes from Chris Martin, George Thorne and Jeff Hendrick after the interval capped an eye-catching display from hosts. In the final on May 24, Derby face either Queens Park Rangers or Wigan Athletic, who were due to play the second leg of their semi-final at Loftus Road in London yesterday after a goalless first leg. Kazenga LuaLua got one back for Brighton in the final moments, but they were left with a familiar feeling of frustration after losing in the semi-finals for the second consecutive year.
GERMANY
SC Paderborn 07 promoted
Modest SC Paderborn 07 were promoted to the top tier of the German Bundesliga for the first time on Sunday, as SpVgg Greuther Fuerth were forced to settle for a playoff place. Paderborn, from North Rhine-Westphalia in western Germany, won 2-1 at home to VfR Aalen on the final day of the season to clinch second place behind champions Cologne, an excellent second half to the campaign seeing them finish two points clear of Fuerth. Fuerth beat SV 1916 Sandhausen 2-0, but now face a two-legged playoff against Hamburg SV. The first leg of their tie will be played on Thursday in Hamburg, with the return leg on Sunday.
RUSSIA
Anzhi drop to second tier
Anzhi Makhachkala were relegated from the Russian Premier League on Sunday, continuing the fall from grace of the one-time big-spenders who previously boasted the likes of Roberto Carlos and Samuel Eto’o among their ranks. Anzhi’s 1-0 loss to Krasnodar saw the team from the volatile Dagestan region lose their top-flight status after a miserable season in which they picked up just three wins from 29 matches. “We needed to win today, but we could not. We had a lot of chances. We now have the task of trying to get back into the Premier League next season,” Anzhi coach Gadzhi Gadzhiev said. A year ago Anzhi were on the verge of a third-placed finish in the league and dreaming of European competition.
Taiwanese badminton superstar Lee Yang broke down in tears after publicly retiring from the sport on Sunday. The two-time Olympic gold medalist held a retirement ceremony at the Taipei Arena after the final matches of the Taipei Open. Accompanied by friends, family and former badminton partners, Lee burst into tears while watching a video celebrating key moments in his professional sporting career that also featured messages from international players such as Malaysia’s Teo Ee Yi, Hong Kong’s Tang Chun-man, and Indonesia’s Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan. “I hope that in the future when the world thinks about me, they will
Former Formosa Dreamers player Ilkan Karaman was killed in a traffic accident in Datca, Turkey, Turkish media reported yesterday. He was 34. The former Turkish national team player was reportedly hit by a car, the driver of which was allegedly drunk, while he was standing on a sidewalk, Turkish newspaper Sozcu reported. Karaman and his friends were on their way to the beach town of Dalaman to go scuba diving when they stopped at a gas station to buy gasoline, it reported. Karaman was hit by the car while waiting on a sidewalk as his friends were buying gasoline, it
ANKLE PROBLEM: Taiwan’s Ye Hong-wei and Lee Chia-hsin had a disappointing end to their tournament after an injury forced them out of their mixed doubles semi-final Taiwanese badminton ace Tai Tzu-ying on Friday was knocked out in the women’s singles quarter-finals at her last Taipei Open. The world No. 3 lost 21-18, 16-21, 22-24 to Putri Kusuma Wardani of Indonesia in a match that stretched 68 minutes at the Taipei Arena. Despite her higher ranking, Tai said she was not too sad about the loss, given her struggle with a lingering knee injury. “Wins and losses are just part of the game. Actually, I think I’m going to lose every single match considering my condition now,” said the five-time champion of the Super 300 event, who has announced plans
When details from a scientific experiment that could have helped clear Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva landed at the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the leader of the organization’s reaction was unequivocal: “We have to stop that urgently,” he wrote. No mention of the test ever became public and Valieva’s defense at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) went on without it. What effect the information could have had on Valieva’s case is unclear, but without it, the skater, then 15 years old, was eventually disqualified from the 2022 Winter Olympics after testing positive for a banned heart medication that would later
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