AFRICA
Favorites reach semi-finals
Favorites the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo) and Ivory Coast needed extra-time goals to beat Rwanda and Cameroon to reach the semi-finals of the African Nations Championship on Saturday. DR Congo beat hosts Rwanda 2-1 in the first quarter-final at a soldout Amahoro National Stadium in Kigali. Doxa Gikanji put the Leopards into an 11th-minute lead when he hit a wonderful lob over the Rwanda goalkeeper. Jean Claude Iranzi was lucky to escape with only a caution for a reckless challenge on DR Congo forward Jonathan Bolingi and it was Iranzi who set up Rwanda’s equalizer on 56 minutes. Iranzi played in Ernest Sugira and the AS Kigali striker fired past DR Congo goalkeeper Ley Matampi for his third goal of the tournament. DR Congo then took control in extra-time and after two missed opportunities, Botuli Bompunga headed home the winner in the 113th minute to break the hearts of the host nation. In Butare, reigning Africa Cup of Nations champions Ivory Coast overcame Cameroon 3-0. After a goalless 90 minutes, second-half substitute Koffi Boua broke the deadlock five minutes into extra-time. Two other goals from Atcho Djobo (102) and Serge N’Guessan (112) were enough to send the Elephants into the last four, where they meet either Tunisia or Mali.
ASIA
Japan stun South Korea
Japan won the AFC Under-23 Championship with a thrilling victory in Doha on Saturday, overturning a two-goal deficit to stun South Korea 3-2. The winner came in the 81st minute from substitute Takuma Asano. Asano had started the comeback, scoring Japan’s first in the 67th minute after they trailed 2-0 early on in the second half. Within a minute of Asano’s first, Japan were level after Shinya Yajima struck. It was heartbreaking for South Korea, who had taken the lead in the 23rd minute thanks to a deflected shot from Kwon Chang-hoon. Then a brilliant turn and finish by Jin Seong-uk in the 47th minute doubled their advantage, but the match proved far from over. Both sides qualified for the Rio de Janeiro Olympics later this year after getting through to the final of the two-week long championship held in Qatar. Iraq finished third and were the other team to qualify for the Games. Hosts Qatar agonizingly finished in fourth position, just outside the Olympic qualification places.
ENGLAND
Bamford loaned to Canaries
Chelsea striker Patrick Bamford joined Norwich City on loan for the rest of the season on Saturday, the fifth time he has been sent out on a temporary deal from Stamford Bridge. The 22-year-old spent the first half of the season on loan at Crystal Palace, but it ended in controversy when he said his spell there had been “terrible,” a comment he later retracted with an apology. The former England Under-21 forward has yet to make a first-team appearance for Chelsea, but he has played more than 100 games on loan at MK Dons, Derby County, Middlesbrough and Palace.
ENGLAND
Black Cats sign Khazri
Sunderland have signed Tunisian midfielder Wahbi Khazri from Girondins de Bordeaux on a four-and-a-half-year contract, the relegation-threatened Premier League club announced on Saturday. The Tunisia international, 24, arrived for an undisclosed fee that British press reports said was about ￡9 million (US$12.8 million). Born on the French island of Corsica, Khazri began his career with SC Bastia and joined Bordeaux in 2014. He played more than 50 games for Bordeaux, scoring 14 goals.
Former world No. 2 Paula Badosa has withdrawn from this week’s Wuhan Open, organizers said on Tuesday, amid a racism row over an online photograph. Tournament organizers said the Spaniard had pulled out of the WTA 1000 tournament, citing a gastrointestinal illness, hours before her first-round match against Australian Ajla Tomljanovic. News outlets including Britain’s the Telegraph earlier reported that Badosa had posted a photo on Instagram in which she appeared to imitate a Chinese face by placing chopsticks on the corners of her eyes. The photo was taken last week in a restaurant in Beijing, where she reached the semi-finals of the
Shin Oebori coaches the Fukagawa Hawks youth baseball team in Tokyo, and he is very aware how Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani touches his players. “With Ohtani, the kids think everything is possible,” Oebori said, wrapping up practice yesterday on an all-dirt field set alongside a local Buddhist temple, below an elevated highway, and in the shadow of tall apartment blocks in central Tokyo. “Nothing is impossible with him. A dream is not a dream,” Oebori said, stepping out of the fenced practice field that keeps balls from landing on the temple grounds. None of the players hitting sponge-soft baseball has reached
Italian defender Marco Curto has been banned for 10 matches for racially abusing South Korean forward Hwang Hee-chan while playing for Como 1907 against Wolverhampton Wanderers in a pre-season friendly in July. Curto, who is on loan from Como to Serie B club Cesena, would serve half of the punishment immediately with the other half suspended for two years. “The player Marco Curto was found responsible for discriminatory behavior and sanctioned with a 10-match suspension,” a FIFA spokesperson said. “The player is ordered to render community services and undergo training and education with an organization approved by FIFA.” Wolves said the club would
CRICKET Azhar’s 59 leads Stallions Aashir Azhar’s blazing half-century guided the Taipei Stallions to victory over Taipei Super 11 in the Taiwan Premier League’s Group A at the Yingfeng Cricket Ground in Taipei yesterday. The Stallions were 102-3 and into the 12th over of 20 when Azhar came to the crease. He hit seven sixes and two fours in the 25 deliveries he faced to push his side to 171-5. Gokul Kumar was the star with the ball for Super 11, taking 3-17. In the reply, Deepak Vishnu outscored Azhar with 77 from 50 balls, but nobody else got past 20 as
RSS