CRICKET
Azhar’s 59 leads Stallions
Aashir Azhar’s blazing half-century guided the Taipei Stallions to victory over Taipei Super 11 in the Taiwan Premier League’s Group A at the Yingfeng Cricket Ground in Taipei yesterday. The Stallions were 102-3 and into the 12th over of 20 when Azhar came to the crease. He hit seven sixes and two fours in the 25 deliveries he faced to push his side to 171-5. Gokul Kumar was the star with the ball for Super 11, taking 3-17. In the reply, Deepak Vishnu outscored Azhar with 77 from 50 balls, but nobody else got past 20 as they slumped to a 22-run loss. In the second match, the Taipei Indians posted a meager 64 all out in 16.2 overs against PCCT with Mushtaq Mohammad taking three wickets, but the tiny total looked a long way off when PCCT limped to 19-4 in seven overs. The scoring rate did not increase much, but the flow of wickets ended as PCCT secured a four-wicket win after 18.2 overs. Games today are scheduled between the Raging Bulls and TCA in the morning, and the Stallions against PCCT in the afternoon.
Photo courtesy of Taipei Super 11
SOCCER
Peru defeat Uruguay
Peru on Friday won their first match in South American World Cup qualifying at the expense of coach Marcelo Bielsa’s Uruguay. The 1-0 home win gave the hosts a boost in the 10-team round-robin competition after a long losing streak. Miguel Araujo scored the only goal of the match with a header in the 88th minute to move Peru out of last place in the South American standings. Third-place Uruguay have 15 points after nine matches, four fewer than leaders Argentina and one behind second-placed Colombia. The first six teams in the table will secure a berth in the next FIFA World Cup in 2026 in North America. Peru have six points, one more than last-placed Chile. Uruguay wasted several opportunities in the first half, with Federico Valverde, Darwin Nunez and Maximiliano Araujo stopped by Peru goalkeeper Pedro Gallese. The hosts took control of the match in the second half. “I honestly feel responsible, due to the players we had in the midfield and in the offense, for such a small proportion of goal chances we created in the second half,” Bielsa said.
RUGBY UNION
Elsom warrant issued
An international arrest warrant has been issued for former Australia captain Rocky Elsom over his conduct as president of French club Narbonne in 2015 and 2016, French media reported. The 41-year-old was found guilty of forgery, use of forgery and misuse of corporate assets by a Narbonne court on Friday, Agence France-Presse, French sports daily L’Equipe and other media reported on Friday. A powerful blindside flanker, Elsom played 75 Tests for Australia and captained the Wallabies from 2009 until just before the 2011 Rugby World Cup. He also enjoyed a successful spell with Irish province Leinster and told Britain’s Times newspaper in an interview last weekend that he was teaching in a Dublin school.
North Korea’s FIFA Under-17 Women’s World Cup-winning team on Saturday received a heroes’ welcome back in the capital, Pyongyang, with hundreds of people on the streets to celebrate their success. They had defeated Spain on penalties after a 1-1 draw in the U17 World Cup final in the Dominican Republic on Nov. 3. It was the second global title in two months for secretive North Korea — largely closed off to the outside world; they also lifted the FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup in September. Officials and players’ families gathered at Pyongyang International Airport to wave flowers and North Korea flags as the
Taiwan’s top table tennis player Lin Yun-ju made his debut in the US professional table tennis scene by taking on a new role as a team’s co-owner. On Wednesday, Major League Table Tennis (MLTT), founded in September last year, announced on its official Web site that Lin had become part of the ownership group of the Princeton Revolution, one of the league’s eight teams. MLTT chief executive officer Flint Lane described Lin’s investment as “another great milestone for table tennis in America,” saying that the league’s “commitment to growth and innovation is drawing attention from the best in the sport, and we’re
Coco Gauff of the US on Friday defeated top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka 7-6 (7/4), 6-3 to set up a showdown with Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen in the final of the WTA Finals, while in the doubles, Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching was eliminated. Gauff generated six break points to Belarusian Sabalenka’s four and built on early momentum in the opening set’s tiebreak that she carried through to the second set. She is the youngest player at 20 to make the final at the WTA Finals since Denmark’s Caroline Wozniacki in 2010. Zheng earlier defeated Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic 6-3, 7-5 to book
For King Faisal, a 20-year-old winger from Ghana, the invitation to move to Brazil to play soccer “was a dream.” “I believed when I came here, it would help me change the life of my family and many other people,” he said in Sao Paulo. For the past year and a half, he has been playing on the under-20s squad for Sao Paulo FC, one of South America’s most prominent clubs. He and a small number of other Africans are tearing across pitches in a country known as the biggest producer and exporter of soccer stars in the world, from Pele to Neymar. For