CHINA SUPER LEAGUE
Tianjin saved at 11th hour
Debt-riddled Chinese Super League club Tianjin Tianhai were saved yesterday at the 11th hour after a new investor stepped in. A string of lower-league Chinese soccer teams have folded in the past few weeks, and Tianjin were set to become the biggest casualty of what the media have called a “bleak winter.” Tianjin — who were available for free, but are reportedly saddled with vast debt — said in a statement that Beijing-based property developer Vantone Holdings had come to the rescue.
CHINA SUPER LEAGUE
Wuhan side to return home
Wuhan Zall, the soccer team from the epicenter of the coronavirus, are to leave their training camp in the south of Spain to return to China, with their coach saying that they are more at risk in Europe than in their home city. “The problem right now is here, in China it has been practically eradicated,” Wuhan Zall coach Jose Gonzalez told Spain’s EFE news agency on Thursday. The team traveled to Cadiz in the region of Andalusia for a pre-season tour on Jan. 29 and remained there as the spread of the virus became more severe and the start of the Chinese Super League was postponed.
DAVIS CUP
Spain draw Russia, Ecuador
Defending champions Spain are to play Russia and Ecuador in the Davis Cup in November, after the draw was made in London on Thursday. Spain won the first edition of the reformed tournament in Madrid four months ago, when Rafael Nadal powered them to victory with a 2-0 win in the final against Canada. It is to be the second Davis Cup finals in Madrid after last year’s change of format, which spread the tournament of four three-day ties across 10 months. Twelve teams are to compete in the finals at the Caja Magica from Nov. 23 to 29.
ALL ENGLAND OPEN
Lin Dan advances in thriller
Six-time badminton champion Lin Dan on Thursday staved off two match points as he won his first-round match at the All England Open. In what could be the 36-year-old Chinese star’s last All England, the double Olympic gold medalist and five-time world champion defeated Thailand’s Kunlavut Vitidsarn, a player half his age, 13-21, 22-20, 21-10 in just over one hour in Birmingham. Lin next faces a familiar foe in Chen Long, the reigning Olympic champion and himself a two-time All England winner, who beat India’s Kidambi Srikanth 21-15, 21-16 in the first round.
ATHLETICS
Javelin champion dies at 97
Dana Zatopkova, the 1952 Olympic javelin champion and wife of four-time Olympic champion Emil Zatopek, died yesterday at the age of 97, the Czech Olympic Committee said. “Czech sport has lost one of its greatest personalities,” the committee said in a statement. Besides the gold from the Helsinki Olympics, Zatopkova won the Olympic silver in Rome in 1960. In 1958, she set the world record of 55.73m at the age of 35. She became the European champion in 1954 and 1958. Zatopkova, who was born on Sept. 19, 1922, shared the same birthday with her husband, Emil Zatopek, the 1948 Olympic running champion over 10,000m, who went on to win the 5000m and 10000m races and the marathon at the Helsinki games in 1952. Emil Zatopek died in 2000.
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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