■ BRAZIL
Palmeiras stay on top
World Cup veteran striker Denilson scored and set up another goal to help Palmeiras defeat 10-man Atletico Mineiro 3-1 and stay atop the Brazilian league on Saturday. Palmeiras remained tied on points with second-place Gremio, but lead the 20-team standings because they have more victories. The teams have 53 points each, four more than Cruzeiro, Flamengo and Sao Paulo, who also celebrated wins. Gremio stayed close with the 2-1 victory against Botafogo at the Olimpico Stadium in Porto Alegre, a result that snapped the team’s four-match winless streak. Midfielder Douglas Costa and defender Rever each scored. Third-place Cruzeiro stayed near the lead with a 1-0 victory over Sport at the Mineirao Stadium in Belo Horizonte on Thursday, while fourth-place Flamengo earned a 2-0 victory against Nautico in Recife on Saturday. Defending champions Sao Paulo remained in contention for their third straight title by beating Ipatinga 3-1 at the Ipatingao Stadium. At the bottom of the standings, Vasco dropped to last place after a disappointing 4-2 home loss to Figueirense. The four-time national champions have lost seven in a row and are in serious danger of relegation.
■ RUSSIA
Kazan reinforce their lead
Kazan reinforced their lead of the Russian Premier League with an easy 3-0 win at home to Nalchik on Saturday. Kazan now have 51 point from 24 matches, eight points ahead of second-placed Dynamo Moscow. City rivals CSKA are third with 41 points, but with a game in hand. Kazan got off to a flying start and took a 1-0 lead in the opening minute through forward Alexander Bukharov. The hosts were in complete control and in the 15th minute striker Savo Milosevic made it 2-0, the Serbian veteran adding a game-killing second goal eight minutes into the second half. Dynamo Moscow, who were third ahead of this weekend’s round of matches, battled back from a goal down to clinch a 2-1 home win over Moscow region-based side Ramenskoye, thus moving up to second.
■ NETHERLANDS
PSV move to top of table
Danko Lazovic scored two goals on Saturday to help defending champions PSV Eindhoven beat De Graafschap 3-0 and move into first place in the Dutch league. Lazovic scored with a diving header in the 15th minute and then added another just after halftime. Ibrahim Afellay scored PSV’s third goal with a powerful shot in the 79th minute after a through ball from Danny Koevermans. Both Lazovic and Afellay were missing for PSV’s 3-1 Champions League loss to Liverpool, Lazovic through illness and Afellay with an injured toe. Also on Saturday, Vitesse Arnhem fell short of their first victory of the season, conceding an equalizer in the final minute of a 2-2 draw with Willem II. Heracles Almelo beat Roda JC 2-0. On Friday, AZ Alkmaar recorded their third straight league victory with a 6-0 rout of struggling Sparta Rotterdam.
■ GREECE
Draw sends PAOK top
PAOK played to a 0-0 draw at Ergotelis on Saturday, moving into first place in the Greek league for at least a day. The Thessaloniki club has 11 points from five games, one more than Olympiakos. Most of PAOK’s match was played in the midfield with only a couple of chances missed by both teams. Also on Saturday, Aris Thessaloniki beat crosstown Iraklis 1-0 and Larissa defeated visiting OFI Crete 4-3.
■ RUGBY LEAGUE
Anderson signs off with loss
Daniel Anderson will head home to Australia admitting his St Helens team had been totally outplayed in the 24-16 Super League Grand Final defeat to Leeds in Manchester, England. The Australian coach brought down the curtain on a three-and-a-half-year spell with Saints that has seen him lift nine trophies, but despite being favorites going into the game, his side were unable to send him off with a 10th as the Rhinos retained the title. Danny McGuire’s two tries in the second half proved the difference as Leeds claimed their third title in five seasons. Saints opened the scoring with a James Graham try but the Rhinos led 12-6 at the break thanks to touchdowns from Lee Smith and Ryan Hall. Matt Gidley went over to draw the sides level at the start of the second half. But McGuire ensured Ade Gardner’s 31st touchdown of the season for Saints was to no avail.
■ SAILING
Spanish syndicate triumphs
Spanish syndicate Telefonica Blue won both races on Saturday to open the Volvo Ocean Race. Telefonica Blue prevailed to beat sister ship Telefonica Black by 1 minute, 46 seconds in the day’s opening regatta. The Spanish team won the second race by 1:03 ahead of Puma. Telefonica Black was third after Delta Lloyd and Team Russia collided at the start.
■ CRICKET
Cakacaka heroics in vain
Hong Kong and Afghanistan both enjoyed winning starts to their World Cricket League Division Four matches on Saturday as they took steps closer to the 2011 World Cup. Afghanistan clinched an 80-run victory over Fiji after struggling to 132 all out with Iniasi Cakacaka (4 for 26) doing much of the damage. However, Fiji were undone by some excellent bowling led by Hamid Hassan (4 for 25) and could only muster 52. “We always thought that would be enough runs,” Hassan said. “As bowlers, you can’t change the score so we just tried our best with the ball. And it paid off.” Hong Kong beat Italy by 46 runs in a match reduced to 41 overs per side. They scored 210-5 with Zain Abbas (70), Ilyas Gul (48) and Butt Hussain (44) all making runs. Hong Kong then restricted Italy to 163 for 9. Hosts Tanzania beat Jersey by 34 runs in the other match. The top two teams will ensure spots in Division Three next year with the leading two nations there progressing to the final World Cup Qualifier in April.
■ RUGBY UNION
All Black joins Reds
All Black Daniel Braid became the first foreign international player to join an Australian Super 14 rugby team when he signed for the Queensland Reds yesterday. The Reds moved to recruit the Auckland forward after the Australian Rugby Union (ARU) last month relaxed its restrictions on Australian provinces fielding imported players. Braid made his New Zealand debut in 2002 but has had limited opportunities in a position dominated by champion flanker and All Black captain Richie McCaw. Braid was recalled to the All Blacks this year for the Sydney Test against the Wallabies when McCaw was ruled out with an ankle injury, but again made way for McCaw when he regained fitness. Queensland Rugby Union performance rugby manager Ben Whitaker said signing a player of Braid’s experience and ability was a coup for the Reds. The ARU now allows each of the four Australian provinces to sign one “marquee” foreign player, an international who can never qualify for Australian selection because he has already represented another country at Test, A-team or Sevens level.
Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and partner Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia yesterday advanced to the women’s doubles final at the Australian Open after defeating New Zealand’s Erin Routliffe and Gabriela Dabrowski of Canada 7-6 (7/3), 3-6, 6-3 in their semi-final. Hsieh has won nine Grand Slam doubles titles and has a shot at a 10th tomorrow, when the Latvian-Taiwanese duo are to play Taylor Townsend of the US and Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic in the championship match at the A$96.5 million (US$61 million) outdoor hard court tournament at Melbourne Park. Townsend and Siniakova eliminated Russian pair Diana Shnaider and Mirra Andreeva 6-7
The San Francisco Giants signed 18-year-old Taiwanese pitcher Yang Nien-hsi (陽念希) to a contract worth a total of US$500,000 (NT $16.39 million). At a press event in Taipei on Wednesday, Jan. 22, the Giants’ Pacific Rim Area scout Evan Hsueh (薛奕煌) presented Yang with a Giants jersey to celebrate the signing. The deal consisted of a contract worth US$450,000 plus a US$50,000 scholarship bonus. Yang, who stands at 188 centimeters tall and weighs 85 kilograms, is of Indigenous Amis descent. With his fastest pitch clocking in at 150 kilometers per hour, Yang had been on Hsueh’s radar since playing in the HuaNan Cup
Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei yesterday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while Coco Gauff’s dreams of a first women’s singles title in Melbourne were crushed in the quarter-finals by Paula Badosa. World No. 2 Alexander Zverev was ruffled by a stray feather in his men’s singles quarter-final, but he refocused to beat 12th seed Tommy Paul and reach the semi-finals. Third seeds Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia defeated Elena-Gabriela Ruse of Romania and Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine 6-2, 5-7, 7-5 in 2 hours, 20 minutes to advance the semi-finals. Hsieh and Ostapenko converted eight of 14 break
Things are somewhat out of control at the Australian Open this year, and that has only a little to do with the results on the courts. Yes, there were some upsets, including Madison Keys eliminating No. 2 Iga Swiatek in the women’s singles semi-finals on Thursday. It also was the first time since 1990 that three teenagers beat top-10 men’s seeds at a Grand Slam tennis tournament. The loser of one of those matches, Daniil Medvedev, got fined US$76,000 for behaving badly. Last year’s women’s singles runner-up exited in the first round. However, the real fuss is happening elsewhere. The rowdy fans, for one
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