SOCCER
Stars stun fans off the pitch
Imagine Lionel Messi, or even Colombia striker Teofilo “Teo” Gutierrez turning up on your doorstep to deliver the club shirt or soccer ball of your favorite team that you bought online. Well, that is what Teo and other players with Argentine champions River Plate did, taking fans totally by surprise on day one of deliveries from the club’s new “River Store” e-commerce venture inaugurated this week. River posted a video on their Web site of Teo, former Argentina midfielder Leonardo Ponzio and striker Fernando Cavenaghi making the deliveries from a van. They were given an emotional reception from the surprised fans at each stop, including embraces, followed by the chance to do some ball juggling with their heroes outside their front doors and get some of their purchases autographed.
SOCCER
Mamic convicted of slander
Controversial Dinamo Zagreb boss Zdravko Mamic was convicted of slander on Wednesday and ordered to pay 17,000 euros (US$22,000) to a lawyer representing Brazil-born Croatian striker Eduardo da Silva. A Zagreb court found Mamic, executive director of the Croatian champions and Eduardo’s former manager, guilty of verbally attacking lawyer Ivica Crnic at a hearing in March last year. At the time Mamic, against whom Eduardo had launched legal proceedings, called the player’s lawyer a “mouse, an idiot, a monster and [a] daddy’s boy.” Mamic, 55, is well-known for his outspoken behavior and for threatening journalists. In July, he was acquitted of inciting hatred with a slur against an ethnic Serb minister. Eduardo left Croatia in July and is currently playing for Brazilian club Flamengo.
TENNIS
Muguruza serves up upset
Garbine Muguruza’s perfect serve helped her to a surprise 6-2, 6-1 victory over top-seeded Ekaterina Makarova of Russia in the group-stage at the season-ending WTA Tournament of Champions on Wednesday. The WTA rising star from Spain, who replaced injured Australian Samantha Stosur, needed just 69 minutes to cruise past the Russian favorite. “She played very aggressive and didn’t give me any chances,” an exhausted Makarova said after the match. “I played very good today, indeed,” the Venezuela-born Muguruza said, adding: “I’m here to win the tournament.” In the Sredets Group, Andrea Petkovic of Germany outlasted Bulgaria’s Tsvetana Pironkova 7-5, 6-2 for her first victory of the tournament, while Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia defeated Spain’s Carla Suarez Navarro 7-5, 6-4 in the group’s second match. Australian Open finalist Cibulkova started aggressively and took a 5-0 lead in the first set. Suarez Navarro rallied to 5-5, but Cibulkova managed to close the set out before going on to secure her second straight victory at the event.
TENNIS
Hsieh crashes out in Ningbo
Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei crashed out of the second round of the singles at the Yinzhou Bank International tournament in Ningbo, China, yesterday. Hsieh fell to a 6-4, 6-4 defeat at the hands of second seed Zheng Saisai of China in 1 hour, 44 minutes. In the doubles, Taiwan’s Lee Ya-hsuan also lost her quarter-final yesterday after Lee and her partner, Tadeja Majeric of Slovenia, were beaten 6-3, 6-1 by fourth seeds Sharon Fichman of Canada and China’s Zheng in just 54 minutes. Third-seeded Taiwanese pairing Chan Chin-wei and Chuang Chia-jung are due to face Chinese duo Han Xinyun and Zhang Kai-lin in the semi-finals of the doubles today.
Taiwan’s men’s table tennis team won bronze on Saturday at this year’s International Table Tennis Federation World Team Table Tennis Championships in London, matching the country’s best-ever finish at the regular tournament. Consisting of Lin Yun-ju, Taiwan’s top-ranked player at world No. 7, Feng Yi-hsin, Kuo Guan-hong, Hong Jing-kai and Hsu Hsien-chia, the team won bronze after losing 0-3 to Japan in the semifinals. In the opening match, 24-year-old Lin played the first game against world No. 3 Tomokazu Harimoto 11-5, but ultimately lost the next three closely contested games 9-11, 10-12 and 10-12. Feng then faced world No. 8 Sora Matsushima in
Lin Yun-ju on Thursday handed Taiwan two key victories as they advanced to the semi-finals of the ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships Finals in London. The Taiwan men’s table tennis team beat Sweden 3-2 in five singles matches. The 24-year-old Lin, Taiwan’s top-ranked player at world No. 7 and nicknamed the “Silent Assassin,” opened the tie by defeating world No. 2 Truls Moregard 3-0 (11-8, 11-9, 13-11) before clinching the deciding fifth match with a 3-0 (11-8, 11-9, 11-5) win over Anton Kallberg to hand his team the overall victory. Kuo Guan-hong put Taiwan up 2-0 with a 3-2 (4-11, 11-8, 8-11,
Taiwanese fire dancer Yang Li-wei advanced to the final of Britain’s Got Talent this weekend after receiving a Golden Buzzer during her live semi-final performance. Yang, a member of Taiwan’s Coming True Fire Group, awed judges and audiences with a high-intensity fire performance featuring flaming umbrellas, fire swallowing and spinning metal structures balanced with her legs. Judge Simon Cowell praised Yang as a star, while guest judge KSI reacted with amazement before pressing the Golden Buzzer, sending her to the finals. The dance group wrote on social media that the Golden Buzzer was “the highest honor” on the talent show, adding: “Twenty-three years
As Super Rugby fast approaches its playoff season it finds itself racing toward a reckoning with many issues that threaten the southern hemisphere tournament. A group of stakeholders met in the New Zealand city of Christchurch late last month to address problems that are making the future of the 31-year-old competition increasingly tenuous. The discussion was made more urgent by the decision by the owners of Moana Pasifika to fold the Auckland-based club for financial reasons. That followed the closure of the Melbourne Rebels at the end of the 2024 season, likewise because of financial difficulties. Problems addressed included player retention as more
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