ATHLETICS
Taiwan bag three golds
Taiwan’s youth team bagged three golds, one silver and one bronze medal at the Asian U18 Athletics Championships, which began in Kuwait on Thursday. Fifteen-year-old Chiang Jing-yuan, pictured, collected Taiwan’s first gold, winning the girls’ discus. In her final throw, Chiang produced a career-best result of 45.42m to win the category. Also clinching gold were 16-year-old Hsieh Yuan-kai, who won the 110m boys’ hurdles with a time of 13.65 seconds, and 16-year-old Huang Chao-hung, who won the boys’ javelin with a stunning 80.40m throw in his fourth attempt, breaking Taiwan’s U18 national record of 80.12m. Meanwhile, 17-year-old Li Po-jui took silver with a 10.73 second-run in the boys’ 100m, while Irene Lai clinched silver in the girls’ 100m hurdles with a time of 14.24 seconds.
Photo: CNA
FOOTBALL
Brady fined for kick
Seven-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Friday was fined US$11,139 by the NFL for kicking at Atlanta defensive tackle Grady Jarrett after being sacked. The punishment came for Brady swinging his right leg up at Jarrett after being brought down on a controversial late-game play in Tampa Bay’s 21-15 victory on Sunday last week, the league said. Jarrett rose after bringing down Brady and celebrated what he thought was a crucial defensive play, stepping over prone Brady in the process. Brady kicked upward at Jarrett, prompting the league to issue him a fine.
SOCCER
Sundowns near CAF record
Mamelodi Sundowns of South Africa on Friday trounced La Passe of the Seychelles 8-1, but just missed equaling the record overall winning margin for a CAF Champions League qualifier. Sundowns won the last-32 tie 15-1 on aggregate having beaten the Indian Ocean part-timers 7-0 last weekend in the first leg. Both matches were staged in Pretoria because La Passe lack an international-standard stadium. The record 16-1 margin for a Champions League qualifier was achieved by Sundowns in the 2020 edition when they thrashed another Seychellois club, Cote d’Or, 11-1 at home and 5-0 away.
TENNIS
Swiatek reaches semis
World No. 1 Iga Swiatek on Friday cruised past Coco Gauff of the US to reach the San Diego Open semi-finals, winning 6-0, 6-3 in 65 minutes. Swiatek advanced to the semi-finals, which were to be played after press time last night, against sixth-ranked Jessica Pegula, who defeated 18th-ranked US compatriot Madison Keys 6-4, 7-5. Croatia’s Donna Vekic made the semi-finals by ousting fifth-ranked Aryna Sabalenka 6-4, 6-7 (5/7), 6-1. Vekic was to play American Danielle Collins, who beat Spain’s Paula Badosa 7-6 (7/5), 6-4.
US national team star Folarin Balogun was among the scorers as AS Monaco on Friday won 3-1 at Paris Saint-Germain, dealing a blow to the side from the French capital before they face Chelsea in a crunch UEFA Champions League round-of-16 tie. Maghnes Akliouche gave Monaco a first-half lead at the Parc des Princes, and Aleksandr Golovin doubled their advantage early in the second half of the French Ligue 1 clash. Bradley Barcola pulled one back for the reigning European champions, but Balogun struck shortly after with a fifth goal in his last five games as Monaco claimed a precious
West Ham United on Monday advanced to the FA Cup quarter-finals with a 5-3 penalty shoot-out win against Brentford, who paid the price for Dango Ouattara’s spot-kick blunder. Nuno Espirito Santo’s side twice blew the lead as Jarrod Bowen’s double was canceled out by an Igor Thiago brace to force extra-time in the 2-2 draw at the London Stadium, but in the shoot-out, Brentford winger Ouattara attempted a chipped Panenka penalty, but his woeful effort was straight at West Ham goalkeeper Alphonse Areola. It was an awful mistake by the Burkina Faso international and West Ham took full advantage. Bowen, Valentin Castellanos, Callum
Teenage star Lamine Yamal’s superbly-taken goal on Saturday earned Barcelona a 1-0 win at Athletic Bilbao in Spanish La Liga. The champions restored their four-point lead over second-placed Real Madrid, who had on Friday temporarily closed the gap by beating Celta Vigo. Atletico Madrid tightened their grip on third with an entertaining 3-2 win over Real Sociedad. Yamal, 18, curled into the top corner after 68 minutes to split the sides at Athletic’s San Mames stadium. “We’re already seeing what Lamine can do — he puts it right in the top corner, and there’s nothing the keeper can do,” Barca
Thanks to Italy beating Mexico on Wednesday, the US get another chance in the World Baseball Classic (WBC). What looked like a potentially disastrous early exit for US manager Mark DeRosa and his team turned out to be nothing more than substantial worry and significant embarrassment for about 24 hours. It remains to be seen whether the US really want to win badly enough for the reprieve to matter, as if it is just a switch they can flick, but there is little reason for their fans to be optimistic. The team’s attitude and behavior have been all over the place when
RSS