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.
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but
Taiwanese gymnast Lee Chih-kai failed to secure an Olympic berth in the pommel horse following a second-place finish at the last qualifier in Doha on Friday, a performance that Lee and his coach called “unconvincing.” The Tokyo Olympics silver medalist finished runner-up in the final after scoring 6.6 for degree of difficulty and 8.800 for execution for a combined score of 15.400. That was just 0.100 short of Jordan’s Ahmad Abu Al Soud, who had qualified for the event in Paris before the Apparatus World Cup series in Qatar’s capital. After missing the final rounds in the first two of four qualifier