■ SOCCER
Portsmouth book UEFA spot
Nico Kranjcar scored the only goal as Portsmouth won 1-0 at West Ham United to cement their hopes of sealing a spot in European soccer. The Croatian turned and shot from the edge of the box on the hour mark to keep them in sixth place, four points clear of Aston Villa and in line for a place in the UEFA Cup. West Ham created very little of note, with an attempt by Dean Ashton their only chance to talk about as David James fumbled his long-range effort. West Ham remain in 10th place, out of trouble but too far behind to win a European place.
■CRICKER
Proteas eager for hat-trick
A buoyant South Africa will be keen to capitalize on India’s form and fitness worries ahead of tomorrow’s third and final Test in Kanpur, India, to complete a hat-trick in the sub-continent.
The visitors lead 1-0 in the series following their crushing win by an innings and 90 runs in the second Test in Ahmedabad last Saturday after the opening match ended in a draw in Chennai. South Africa need only a draw to make it three-in-a-row in the sub-continent, having clinched Test series in Pakistan last year and in Bangladesh this year. Adaptability is the key to South Africa’s success in recent months in South Asia, where home spinners usually make merry on low, slow pitches. Graeme Smith’s South Africans look better prepared than most of the visiting teams as they have not allowed the home spinners to dictate terms with their determined batting. India’s spin duo of Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh, proven match-winners at home, looked below their best in the last two Tests while pacemen failed to match their South African counterparts.
■HOCKEY
Canada into women’s final
Sarah Vaillancourt scored a pair of goals in the second period yesterday as Canada defeated Finland 4-2 in Harbin, China, to advance to the final of the World Women’s Hockey Championship. Vaillancourt scored a powerplay goal 11:23 into the second period and added another 37 seconds later to give the Canadians a 3-1 lead. Canada, the US and Finland are playing in the round-robin playoffs. The teams with the two best records meet again for the gold medal on Saturday. Katie Weatherston made it 4-1 for Canada late in the second. Jayna Hefford scored in the first period for the Canadians. Finland upset the US 1-0 on Tuesday. The US needs a win today against Canada if they are going to play for gold again on Saturday. Finland, with two points in the group, can still earn a spot in the final. As long as the US earns no more than one point against Canada today, Finland and Canada will meet in the gold-medal game. Should the US win in regulation or overtime, they would be the second team in the final.
■ GYMNASTICS
Hypolito beats dengue fever
Gymnastics world champion Diego Hypolito was released from hospital in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Tuesday, a day after being diagnosed with dengue fever. “My recovery process will continue from home,” Hypolito told reporters. “I’m optimistic. A mosquito will not get in the way of my preparation for the Olympics Games in Beijing.” Hypolito had been hospitalized at the Copa D’Or Hospital in Rio de Janeiro since last Thursday with symptoms of the mosquito-borne disease, which causes high a fever, severe headaches and joint pain. The 21-year-old Hypolito contracted dengue fever while recovering from right knee arthroscopic surgery on March 25.
China yesterday celebrated one of its best Olympic performances, while some supporters declared China the true winners, if medals won by Hong Kong and self-ruled Taiwan were included. “We are number one out of sovereign countries,” read one comment with more than 1,300 likes on Sina Weibo. Many similar posts included images of an adjusted medal table with medals won by Hong Kong and Taiwan added to the Chinese total. Since Taiwan’s Olympic debut in 1956, its athletes have competed as “Formosa,” “Taiwan,” “the Republic of China,” and since 1984 as “Chinese Taipei.” Hong Kong competes separately from China. Team China racked up 40 gold
Taiwan on Friday beat Australia 11-0 at the Little League World Series in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania. Taiwan are represented at the tournament by Taoyuan’s Gueishan Elementary School, who won the Asia-Pacific regional tournament to earn the trip to the US. Australia are represented by the Hills Red team from Sydney. Taiwan advanced to a game tomorrow against Santa Clara, representing Cuba, who won 4-1 against the Czech Republic’s Brno, the Europe-Africa regional qualifiers. Australian starter Sayre Howick had a tough time controlling his pitches at Volunteer Stadium, one of which allowed Taiwan to open their account. They scored six in the inning and
Marloon Herrera was crying — happy tears. With Cuba trailing in the fifth inning of its Little League World Series (LLWS) opener on Thursday, Herrera lined a two-run double to give his team the lead. When the Czech Republic, representing Europe-Africa, made a pitching change, he ran over to give his third base coach a hug. Cuba went on to win 4-1. It was the first game at this year’s tournament for both sides, but it was also the beginning of Cuba’s second appearance in the series ever — and it was emotional. “You breathe baseball in Cuba,” manager Everaldo Machado said on
World Boxing, an international amateur boxing organization formed last year after a breakdown in relations between the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the International Boxing Association (IBA), has announced the admission of Taiwan, along with four other nations, into its growing list of members. In a statement released on its Web site on Friday, the Swiss- based organization said that in addition to Taiwan, admitted as Chinese Taipei, Bhutan, Ecuador, Fiji and Pakistan have also become members. The new members all have well-rounded national and international boxing programs as well as transparency in the leadership and management of their national boxing programs,