Dan Parks kicked Glasgow to an upset 9-6 win over Biarritz in an error-strewn European Cup clash on Sunday, while pre-tournament favorites Stade Francais eked out a 12-6 win over the doughty Cardiff Blues.
Parks, the Australian-born Scotland outside-half, booted three first-half penalties to two either side of half-time from Julien Dupuy to ensure Glasgow's second win in their European campaign.
The Scottish province then mounted a staunch rearguard defense against a fierce late Biarritz onslaught to leapfrog the French club into second spot in Pool 4, with Saracens topping the group.
Glasgow coach Sean Lineen hailed his team's stubborn defensive display and insisted they would not be going to France for the return next weekend on a damage limitation mission.
In squall-like conditions in Paris, Stade Francais spent almost the whole of the second half camped in their own 22m area fending off drive after drive by a Xavier Rush-inspired Cardiff pack.
Stade's victory was the sole success on Sunday for French clubs, with Perpignan suffering a 24-16 away loss to London Irish.
The exiles fought back from a 9-8 half-time deficit to beat the Catalans.
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