SOCCER
Qatar fire Uruguayan coach
The Qatar Football Association on Thursday sacked Uruguayan coach Jose Daniel Carreno, 17 months after naming him to prepare the 2022 World Cup hosts for the 2018 tournament in Russia. The decision followed back-to-back losses in the qualifiers to Iran and Uzbekistan. There was no immediate word on who would replace Carreno, but fellow Uruguayan Jorge Fossati is considered the front-runner. Fossati coached the national team in 2007 and 2008 and is currently manager of top flight Qatar Stars League champions Al-Rayyan. Another candidate is Algerian Djamel Belmadi, who coached the national team in 2014 and last year, when Qatar won the Gulf championship. The new coach will face the challenge of preparing for a tough qualifier against South Korea on Oct. 6.
GOLF
Johnson keeps on rolling
Dustin Johnson hit out of a bunker for birdie on his first hole and kept right on rolling to a four-under 66 for a three-way tie of the lead at the Tour Championship on Thursday. Hideki Matsuyama had six birdies and Kevin Chappell played bogey-free to join Johnson at 66 on a tough day for scoring at East Lake. Johnson only has to win the Tour Championship to capture the US$10 million FedEx Cup bonus. Jason Day, who withdrew from the final round of the BMW Championship two weeks ago with back pain, was among those at 67. Jordan Spieth was three-over after two holes and shot 68, courtesy of six birdie putts between 18 and 30 feet. Rory McIlroy and Paul Casey were also at 68.
FORMULA ONE
Ricciardo tips Rosberg
Australian Daniel Ricciardo has spoken of the awkward pre-podium silences between Mercedes teammates Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg, while tipping the latter for the season’s Formula One title. The smiling Red Bull driver finished second in Singapore last weekend, with Rosberg winning and triple champion Hamilton third. The result sent Rosberg back on top in the championship, the German now eight points clear of Hamilton with six rounds remaining. “When Lewis made up that deficit to Nico and came back it was like OK, nobody’s going to touch Lewis,” he told Sky Sports television during a trip to Australia ahead of next week’s Malaysian race. “Nico’s come back... I’m going to throw a spanner in the works and say Rosberg,” he added when asked to pick one of the pair for the title.
FOOTBALL
Hazing prompts football ban
Hazing inflicted by older players on younger ones at a conditioning camp has led to the cancelation of an Oregon high school’s football season, investigations by authorities, and calls for soul-searching and healing. Meanwhile, three varsity high-school football players in California have been charged in a separate incident. Studies show more than half of college students in sports teams, clubs and organizations have experienced hazing — the practice of rituals, challenges and other activities involving harassment, abuse or humiliation used as a way of initiating a person into a group. Many were hazed in high school. Breaking the cycle is difficult, but the town of Philomath is tackling the issue head on. School district officials say they are focusing on students’ mental health and looking for ways to prevent hazing incidents in the future.
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
‘TOUGH TO BREATHE’: Tunisian three-time Grand Slam finalist Ons Jabeur suffered an asthma attack in her 7-5, 6-3 victory over Colombia’s Camila Osorio Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei yesterday cruised into the second round of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while Iga Swiatek romped into a third-round women’s singles showdown with Emma Raducanu and Taylor Fritz was just as emphatic in his pursuit of a maiden Grand Slam title. Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia, the third seeds, defeated Slovakia’s Tereza Mihalikova and Olivia Nicholls of Britain 7-5, 6-2 in 90 minutes in Melbourne. Ostapenko and Hsieh — who won the women’s doubles and mixed doubles at the Australian Open last year — hit 25 winners and converted five of nine break points to set
HARD TO SAY GOODBYE: After Coco Gauff dispatched Belinda Bencic in the fourth round, she wrote ‘RIP TikTok USA’ and drew a broken heart on a television camera lens Defending champion Hsieh Su-wei of Taiwan yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while compatriot Chan Hao-ching on Saturday dominated her opponents in the second round, as world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka swept into the quarter-finals. Third seeds Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia toppled Hungary’s Timea Babos and Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US 6-4, 6-3, hitting 24 winners and converting three of seven break points in 1 hour, 18 minutes at 1573 Arena. Although rivals at last year’s Australian Open — where Hsieh and Belgium’s Elise Mertens beat Ostapenko and Ukraine’s Lyudmyla Kichenok 6-1, 7-5
Dubbed a “motorway for cyclists” where avid amateurs can chase Tadej Pogacar up mountains teeming with the highest concentration of professional cyclists per square kilometer in the world, Spain’s Costa Blanca has forged a new reputation for itself in the past few years. Long known as the ideal summer destination for those in search of sun, sea and sand, the stretch of coast between Valencia and Alicante now has a winter vocation too. During the season break in December and January, the region experiences an invasion of cyclists. Star names such as three-time Tour de France winner Pogacar, Remco Evenepoel and Julian Alaphilippe
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