Bayern Munich began their defense of the DFB Pokal with a comfortable 4-1 first-round win away to third-tier side SC Preussen Muenster on Sunday.
Pep Guardiola’s starting line-up was deprived of the injured Bastian Schweinsteiger and there was no Franck Ribery, but it did feature five members of the Germany side who won the World Cup five weeks ago.
The man who scored the winning goal against Argentina at the Maracana, Mario Goetze, opened the scoring for Bayern with a header from a Robert Lewandowski cross, before Thomas Mueller doubled their lead.
Photo: AFP
David Alaba and Claudio Pizarro added further efforts in the second half, but Lewandowski, chasing his first goal for the club since his move from Borussia Dormtund, had a late penalty saved.
Four days after losing Spanish international Javi Martinez to a serious knee injury in their SuperCup defeat to Borussia Dortmund, Guardiola handed a start in defense to Holger Badstuber, who has been out injured for the past 20 months.
Meanwhile, TSG 1899 Hoffenheim won 9-0 away to fifth-tier amateurs USC Paloma in Hamburg, with Sven Schipplock scoring five of the goals.
However, Werder Bremen required extra-time before winning 3-2 away to fifth-tier opposition FV Illertissen.
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
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
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
Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and partner Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia yesterday advanced to the women’s doubles final at the Australian Open after defeating New Zealand’s Erin Routliffe and Gabriela Dabrowski of Canada 7-6 (7/3), 3-6, 6-3 in their semi-final. Hsieh has won nine Grand Slam doubles titles and has a shot at a 10th tomorrow, when the Latvian-Taiwanese duo are to play Taylor Townsend of the US and Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic in the championship match at the A$96.5 million (US$61 million) outdoor hard court tournament at Melbourne Park. Townsend and Siniakova eliminated Russian pair Diana Shnaider and Mirra Andreeva 6-7
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