TENNIS
Taiwan’s Wu advances
Taiwan’s Wu Fang-fsien and Rosalie van der Hoek of the Netherlands on Wednesday advanced at the Monterrey Open in Mexico. The Taiwanese-Dutch duo overcame Belgium’s Ysaline Bonaventure and Lucia Bronzetti of Italy, winning 7-5, 6-3 to set up a quarter-final match against Romania’s Elena-Gabriela Ruse and Anna Bondar of Hungary.
SOCCER
Arsenal extend lead
Arsenal on Wednesday extended their lead in the Premier League to five points by beating Everton 4-0, with Gabriel Martinelli scoring two of the goals in one of his team’s biggest wins of the season. Bukayo Saka put Arsenal in front with a rising shot into the roof of the net from a tight angle in the 40th minute before a Gabriel Martinelli brace and a goal from Martin Odegaard completed the scoring. Elsewhere, Liverpool beat Wolverhampton Wanderers 2-0.
SOCCER
Man Utd reach quarters
Manchester United moved a step closer to a second trophy this season by advancing to the quarter-finals of the FA Cup with a 3-1 win over West Ham United. In other games, Burnley beat Fleetwood Town 1-0 in a contest between two second-division sides, while there were two upsets, with fourth-division Grimsby Town beating top-flight Southampton 2-1 and Tottenham Hotspur eliminated in a 1-0 loss to second-tier Sheffield United.
SOCCER
Indonesian game postponed
A rematch of an Indonesian soccer game that ended in one of the sport’s worst stadium stampedes has been postponed due to the risk of further crowd trouble, police said yesterday. The October 2022 derby match in Malang, East Java, between Arema and Persebaya Surabaya saw 135 spectators killed, many crushed as they fled for exits after police fired tear gas into the crowd. Although their next league meeting was due to be played behind closed doors on Sunday, Dirmanto, a spokesman for the East Java police, said it was deemed high risk as the clubs “have a history of rivalry.” Yahya Alkatiri, manager of home side Persebaya, said that the game was due to be held in nearby Gresik, but police permission to host it was denied. “This was a match fraught with risks,” Yahya said, adding that scuffles could happen outside the stadium.
SOCCER
Yves Jean-Bart returns
Former Haitian Football Association president Yves Jean-Bart, whose lifetime ban from the sport over sexual abuse allegations was overturned, on Wednesday said that he is reclaiming his position. Jean-Bart has denied allegations by the FIFA ethics committee, which issued a lifetime ban after finding him guilty in 2020 of sexually abusing female players. The Court of Arbitration for Sport overturned the ban, ruling there were inconsistencies and inaccuracies in statements of alleged victims. The court also said that information provided by groups such as Human Rights Watch and world players union FIFPRO were not “sufficiently evidentiary.” Jean-Bart also said that he would file a lawsuit over alleged defamation against a journalist who first reported the accusations against him in the Guardian. “He is going on the offensive. Let it be known,” Jean-Bart’s attorney Stanley Gaston said.
TROUNCED: Taiwan beat Palestine in six innnings on day three of the Asia Baseball Championship, while it took just five innings for Japan to defeat Thailand Taiwan yesterday beat Palestine 19-0 at the Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium on the third day of the Asian Baseball Championship. The Group A game was over in six innings after a 6:03pm start. Taiwan went on the offensive from the first inning, scoring three runs, but the real damage was done in the third inning, when they scored seven. The Palestine players are all studying or working in the US. In another duel between two unevenly matched teams, Japan thrashed Thailand 16-0 in their late Group B game at the Taipei Dome. They won in five innings thanks to the mercy rule, which states
CUP READY: Although Taiwan lost, they qualified, along with Japan and South Korea, for next year’s U-23 World Baseball Cup, which is to be held in China for the first time Japan yesterday edged Taiwan 1-0 to win the Asian Baseball Championship at Taipei Dome, despite star pitcher Hsu Jo-hsi giving up just four hits in six innings. Unlike their showdown in the 2019 tournament when Taiwan pipped Japan 5-4, this time the teams battled for every hit, with the Wei Chuan Dragons’ Hsu striking out eight batters, giving up just one run off four hits. That was all world No. 1 Japan needed for the title, and after outlasting Taiwan for a 1-0 victory in 10 innings in the Super Round on Friday, they finished the tournament unbeaten. Yesterday’s first two innings flew
NATIONS LEAGUE: England crushed Scotland 6-0, but their Olympic hopes were ruined when the Netherlands beat them on goal difference with a 4-0 win against Belgium Germany and the Netherlands on Tuesday booked their places at the UEFA Women’s Nations League finals , where they are also to fight for spots at next year’s Paris Games, but there was heartbreak for England whose hopes of competing in the Olympics were dashed, despite beating Scotland 6-0. Germany drew 0-0 in Wales, but secured their passage thanks to Iceland’s 1-0 win over Denmark. The Netherlands needed a 95th-minute goal from Damaris Egurrola to see them to a 4-0 win over Belgium which meant they edged England on goal difference in Group A1 after the FIFA Women’s World Cup runners-up hammered
Now that Shohei Ohtani has his money — a record US$700 million, 10-year contact with the Los Angeles Dodgers — some fans in Japan are waiting for one more thing to complete the deal. “I want Ohtani to play in the World Series,” said Isshin Watanabe, a baseball fan speaking yesterday near Tokyo’s famous Ginza shopping area. “That’s my hope,” he added. Baseball fans across Tokyo yesterday lined to buy special editions of the Yomiuri Shimbun, announcing Ohtani’s move across town from the Los Angeles Angels to the Dodgers. This is perhaps the largest contract in sports history, topping highs believed to be set
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