AFC CUP
Group J postponed
Group stage matches for clubs in the east zone have been postponed until next month due to challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) said yesterday. The Group J matches were initially scheduled to be held in Hong Kong from May 14 to 20, but been rescheduled until June 23 to 29. “The Asian Football Confederation has agreed to the proposal by the Hong Kong Football Association to reschedule the AFC Cup East Zone Group J matches,” the AFC said in a statement. “The decision was confirmed, taking into consideration the ongoing challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and to allow more time to ensure the optimal delivery of the matches.” Group J features Taiwan’s Tainan TSG (Taiwan Steel Group), Mongolia’s Athletic 220, and Hong Kong’s Eastern Long Lions and Lee Man. Last year’s AFC Cup was canceled due to the pandemic when quarantine regulations in many nations made international travel almost impossible.
NETHERLANDS
Ajax claim 35th title
Ajax claimed their 35th Eredivisie title on Sunday with a 4-0 victory over Emmen that gave the Amsterdam giants the crown with three games to spare. Jurrien Timber, Sebastien Haller, Davy Klaassen and Devyne Rensch scored for Ajax in a game played in front of empty stands at the Johan Cruyff Arena due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The win gives Erik ten Hag’s side an unassailable 14-point advantage over second-placed PSV Eindhoven, who could only draw 2-2 against SC Heerenveen. Ajax on Friday last week announced that they had extended coach Ten Hag’s contract until 2023, ending rumors that he was headed to Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga or Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League. “I am happy in Amsterdam and the management have assured me that the current squad will be retained and even strengthened in certain positions,” said Ten Hag, who has coached Ajax since 2017. Despite calls from the authorities to avoid gatherings, thousands of fans gathered outside the stadium. Ajax completed the double two weeks after beating SBV Vitesse 2-1 in the KNVB Cup final.
CZECH REPUBLIC
Slavia Prague retain title
Slavia Prague on Sunday clinched their third straight league title after securing an unassailable lead at the top of the table with four games to go. Slavia were assured of the championship when their archrivals Sparta Prague were held to a draw in their game on Sunday. Unbeaten in 42 consecutive league games, Slavia won their seventh title since the Czech championship was founded following the Czech Republic’s split with Slovakia in 1993.
RUSSIA
Zenit claim seventh title
Zenit Saint Petersburg on Sunday claimed a third straight Russian Premier League title after a 6-1 rout of Lokomotiv Moscow. With two games left to play, the club have a nine-point lead over Lokomotiv. Iran forward Sardar Azmoun scored a quick-fire hat-trick, while captain Artem Dzyuba scored a brace and Malcom was also on the score sheet. Francois Kamano scored Lokomotiv’s consolation. Zenit have now won the title seven times, three fewer than the record of 10 held by Spartak Moscow since the championship started in 1992.
INJURY TURMOIL: Despite stunning French Open champions Paolini and Errani to advance, Chan was forced to pull out after her partner’s tearful women’s singles defeat Last year’s mixed doubles champions Hsieh Su-wei of Taiwan and Poland’s Jan Zielinski on Monday crashed out of the quarter-finals at Wimbledon, leaving the Taiwanese star focused on pursuing a fifth women’s doubles title in London, while a partner injury forced compatriot Chan Hao-ching to give up on her doubles campaign. Hsieh and Zielinksi, who last year also won the Australia Open title, narrowly lost their opening set 7-6 (9/7), before Britain’s Joe Salisbury and Brazil’s Luisa Stefani stunned the former champions 6-3 at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club. The Taiwanese-Polish duo had been dominant in the first two
‘SU-PENKO’: Hsieh and Ostapenko face a rematch against their Australian Open final opponents, the same duo Hsieh played in last year’s Wimbledon semi-finals Taiwanese women’s doubles star Hsieh Su-wei and Latvian partner Jelena Ostapenko on Wednesday survived a near upset to the unseeded duo of Sorana Cirstea of Romania and Russia’s Anna Kalinskaya, setting up a semi-final showdown against last year’s winners. Despite losing a hard-fought opening set 7-6 (7/4) on a tiebreak, the fourth seeds turned up the heat, losing just five games in the final two sets to handily put down Cirstea and Kalinskaya 6-3, 6-2. Nicknamed “Su-Penko,” the pair are next to face top seeds Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic and Taylor Townsend of the US in a reversal of last
The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has overturned French Olympic fencer Ysaora Thibus’ four-year suspension for doping, ruling that her positive test for a banned substance was caused by kissing her then-boyfriend, American fencer Race Imboden. Thibus, a silver medalist in team foil at the Tokyo Games, had tested positive for ostarine, a prohibited muscle-building substance, during a competition in Paris in January last year. However, CAS concluded there was no intentional wrongdoing, finding it scientifically plausible that repeated kissing over several days with Olympic medalist Imboden — who was taking ostarine at the time — led to accidental contamination. The court
Switzerland’s Riola Xhemaili on Thursday scored a last-gasp goal to salvage a dramatic 1-1 draw with Finland that sent the joyous hosts through to the quarter-finals at Euro 2025, and heartbroken Finland home. Switzerland, who needed only a draw to advance based on goal-difference, finished second in Group A behind Norway to go through to the knockout round for the first time and are to face the winners of Group B, which would be world champions Spain as things stand. “I think we set ourselves a goal on the pitch, to write history, to go into the knockout stages, which we’ve never
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