SOCCER
Lippi resigns as China coach
China are searching for a third coach this year after the Chinese Football Association (CFA) accepted Marcello Lippi’s resignation following a damaging loss to Syria in FIFA World Cup qualifying. A clearly infuriated Lippi, a 71-year-old Italian World Cup winner, made a brief but angry appearance in front of the media after the 2-1 defeat in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on Thursday. “My pay is very high and I take all the blame. I am quitting as China coach,” Xinhua news agency quoted him as saying. “We could beat weaker opponents like Maldives and Guam, but when we encountered stronger teams like the Philippines and Syria, we could not play our own football.” Lippi then abruptly left the news conference, walking out before translators had even finished interpreting what he was saying. Hours later, the association said in a statement that it accepted Lippi’s resignation. “We are really sorry that the unsatisfactory results disappoint all Chinese fans,” the CFA said. “The CFA will seriously reflect, rebuild the team, and try our best in the following World Cup qualifiers.” Syria’s victory left them comfortably atop Group A in qualifying for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. China are five points behind in second, only above the Philippines on goal difference, putting their World Cup hopes in peril.
GOLF
Flawless Oosthuizen leads
South Africa’s Louis Oosthuizen on Thursday defied pain from a kidney stone to shoot a record-equaling nine-under-par 63 in the first round of the Nedbank Golf Challenge at the Gary Player Country Club. Oosthuizen opened a three-shot lead over Belgium’s Thomas Detry with a flawless round, which included nine birdies. Guido Migliozzi of Italy was third on 67, with three other players, including defending champion Lee Westwood and veteran Ernie Els, on 68. Oosthuizen, the 2010 Open champion, on Wednesday withdrew from the pro-am because of the kidney stone and spent time in a hospital in Rustenburg, 50km from the resort in Sun City, South Africa. “At 3am this morning I didn’t think I was going to tee it up,” Oosthuizen said. “I was very uncomfortable, but at 6, 7 o’clock it started getting better.” Oosthuizen said that “it wasn’t that bad” while he was on the course, although he added that he walked slowly between shots to minimize his discomfort.
GOLF
No play at rain-hit Mayakoba
Heavy rain and thunderstorms on Thursday forced PGA Tour officials to scrap play in the first round of the Mayakoba Golf Classic. After several delays to a scheduled early morning start, tournament officials abandoned attempts to get the first round under way at El Camaleon Golf Club in Playa del Carmen, south of Cancun, Mexico. Heavy downpours drenching the course had left many areas of the layout unplayable, tour officials said. “The bottom line is we just don’t have a golf course that’s playable,” PGA Tour rules official Slugger White said. “We’ve got situations out there where we could lose balls in areas that we have no virtual certainty where it was.” With more poor weather forecast for yesterday, White warned of the possibility of a Monday finish for the tournament. The washout is the first time since 2013 that the opening round of a PGA Tour event has been suspended without any play being possible.
SSC Napoli’s Italian Serie A title hopes suffered a late setback on Sunday when they were held to a 2-2 draw at home against Genoa, setting up a thrilling season finale with closest rivals Inter just one point behind. The hosts remain top with 78 points, holding a slim lead over Inter, who won 2-0 at Torino earlier on Sunday, with two rounds remaining. To make matters worse for Napoli, midfielder Stanislav Lobotka, struggling with an ankle injury, was forced off just minutes after the match began. Scott McTominay delivered a perfect pass into the box where Romelu Lukaku got
Harry Kane opened the scoring ahead of lifting his first career silverware as Bayern Munich beat Borussia Moenchengladbach 2-0, with veteran Thomas Mueller playing his last home game for the club. Bayern officially won the title on May 4 when defending champions Bayer Leverkusen were held to a 2-2 draw at Freiburg, but were presented with the Bundesliga shield in front of their home fans at full-time. Dripping wet after being showered with beer by teammates, Kane said the title win was “an incredible feeling,” and hoped it would be “the first of many.” “It’s been lot of hard work, a lot of
INTER AWAIT: Superb saves by PSG ’keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma inspired the victory, as Arsenal were punished for misses, including one by Bukayo Saka Arsenal on Wednesday fell short on the big stage again as their painful UEFA Champions League semi-final exit against Paris Saint-Germain left Mikel Arteta to rue his club’s failure to provide him with enough attacking options. Arteta’s side were unable to reach the Champions League final for the first time in 19 years as PSG clinched a tense 2-1 win at Parc des Princes. Trailing 1-0 from last week’s first leg in London, the Gunners made a blistering start to the second leg, but could not convert their chances as Gianluigi Donnarumma’s superb saves inspired PSG’s 3-1 aggregate victory. Arsenal were punished for
Taiwanese e-sports veteran Lin “ET” Chia-hung yesterday successfully defended his King of Fighters XV title at this year’s Evolution Championship Series: Japan (EVO Japan), securing his second consecutive championship. Lin claimed victory with a 3-1 win over Japanese pro gamer “mok” in the grand final, repeating his earlier 3-1 win against the same opponent in the winners’ final. The 40-year-old earned a ￥1 million (US$6,897) cash prize at the two-day tournament, which drew 294 competitors. Mok, Lin’s toughest rival in the bracket, took home ￥400,000 as runner-up. Lin remains undefeated in match sets against mok in King of Fighters XV, holding a 10-0 record,
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