TENNIS
Taiwanese makes final
Taiwan’s Liang En-shuo and Eudice Chong of Hong Kong yesterday ousted Taiwanese duo Cho I-hsuan and Cho Yi-tsen in the women’s doubles semi-finals at the Philippine Open. The Taiwanese-Hong Kong pair won 6-3, 6-3 at the US$115,000 hard-court tournament at the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex in Manila to earn a place in today’s final against US duo Quinn Gleason and Sabrina Santamaria, who defeated Taiwan’s Li Yu-yun and Sara Saito of Japan 6-2, 6-3. The Cho sisters earlier yesterday defeated Ma Yexin of China and Thailand’s Mananchaya Sawangkaew 6-3, 6-4 in their quarter-final.
Photo: AFP
SOCCER
Senegal coach banned
Senegal coach Pape Thiaw on Wednesday was banned for five games and fined US$100,000, while Senegal and Morocco players also received suspensions following a walk-off during a chaotic Africa Cup of Nations final. The sanctions by the Confederation of African Football included fines totaling US$615,000 for the Senegalese soccer federation and US$315,000 for the Morocco federation for unsporting and improper conduct by their players, coaching staff and supporters, among other offenses. The African showpiece match on Friday last week was marred by Senegal players walking off, led by Thiaw, in protest against a late penalty awarded to hosts Morocco. The game restarted after a delay, Morocco missed the penalty, and Senegal won the African title 1-0 after extra-time.
Photo: AP
SOCCER
Chinese body bans 73
The Chinese Football Association (CFA) yesterday issued lifetime bans to 73 people, including former national team head coach Li Tie, and punished 13 top professional clubs for match-fixing and corruption. A CFA statement did not specify when the most recently announced match-fixing took place or how it worked. The punishments were made after a “systematic review” and were needed “to enforce industry discipline, purify the football environment and maintain fair competition,” the CFA wrote on social media. Li, a former Everton player who led the national team from 2019 to 2021, is already serving a 20-year prison sentence for bribery, after being sentenced in December 2024. He is now banned from all soccer activities for life, alongside 72 others, the CFA said.
FORMULA 1
Williams ready for Bahrain
Williams would be ready to test in Bahrain next month after taking the “incredibly painful” decision to miss this week’s shakedown in Barcelona, team boss James Vowles said on Wednesday. The former champions are the only absentees from the five days of running at the Circuit de Catalunya that started on Monday. “I’m pleased to say that we’ve passed all necessary tests and we’re ready to run in Bahrain, and we’ll carry out a promotional filming day ahead of it,” Vowles said in a video call. “We’re also carrying out a VTT [virtual test track] as a physical car testing rig ... we’ve been running that pretty much in tandem to Barcelona.”
Luka Doncic on Monday produced a 46-point masterpiece as the Los Angeles Lakers snapped the Chicago Bulls’ four-game winning streak with a 129-118 victory on the road. Doncic rattled in eight three-pointers on 15-of-25 shooting from the field, finishing with seven rebounds and 11 assists to lead an impressive Lakers effort at the United Center. LeBron James chipped in with 24 points, five rebounds and three assists, while Rui Hachimura delivered an eye-catching cameo off the bench with 23 points from nine-of-11 shooting. The win was another encouraging result for the Lakers after a 116-110 defeat of the Dallas Mavericks on Saturday. “We did
The Milwaukee Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo on Friday said that he will probably be out for an extended period after hurting his right calf again after a similar injury caused him to miss eight games earlier this season. Antetokounmpo had his right calf wrapped in the first half of their 102-100 loss to the Denver Nuggets. He did not appear comfortable the rest of the night and left for good with 34 seconds remaining. “At the end, I could not move no more, so I had to stop playing,” Antetokounmpo said. The two-time NBA Most Valuable Player said he expected to undergo an MRI
Toronto Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews is confident in the US men’s ice hockey team and its chances of capturing a gold medal at next month’s Milan Cortina Winter Olympics. The 28-year-old center is among the NHL stars who return to the Olympics for the first time since Sochi, Russia, in 2014 as part of a men’s lineup seeking the first US gold since 1980’s Lake Placid “Miracle on Ice” triumph. “We feel like we’re up there and we should be competing for gold,” Matthews said after practice on Monday in comments on the NHL Web site. “It’s obviously the first Olympics
Juventus on Sunday dealt a huge blow to SSC Napoli’s Serie A title defense with a 3-0 win in Turin which left the reigning champions nine points behind league leaders Inter, who are pulling away from the chasing pack. Jonathan David, Kenan Yildiz and Filip Kostic netted in Turin as Juve, a revitalized team under Luciano Spalletti, moved into fourth with a statement win. Juve are fifth and one point behind both Napoli and AS Roma, who lifted themselves into third with a 1-1 draw with second-placed AC Milan in Rome. “We played really well and had fun ... today we were great,”
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