Latvia upset Sweden in their world ice hockey championship Group C showdown at Berne on Monday, clinching a tight 3-2 win in a penalty shootout.
The Swedes started confidently but their fans had to wait for the opening goal until the 16th minute, when Linus Omark swept in a rebound for his sixth goal and the lead in the event’s scorers contest.
But Latvia’s rear guard Krisjanis Redlihs leveled midway into the second on powerplay, while forward Lauris Darzins put the Latvians in front 45seconds before the second break.
The Swedes, however, leveled just 44 seconds into the third thanks to a slap shot by blueliner Magnus Johansson.
After a goalless overtime Latvia proved a little bit more accurate in a penalty shootout, with their striker Aleksandrs Nizivijs sending the winning shot into the net.
In the other Group C match, the US experienced few problems against Austria recording a 6-1 win that put them top of their table.
The Americans clinched the initiative from the starting face-off and created a handful of chances but managed to score only once at 15:11, when Dustin Brown beat Austria’s goalie Jurgen Penker with an unopposed backhand shot.
In the second the Americans continued peppering Penker with shots and in the 32nd minute Drew Stafford made it 2-0 sweeping the puck into an unguarded net.
Markus Peintner reduced the arrears, sending the puck into the unguarded net after an error by US keeper Robert Esche.
But in the third period, Patrick O’Sullivan, Jason Blake, Lee Stempniak and Matt Niskanen all scored for the US, dashing Austria’s hopes of pulling off a shock.
Meanwhile, Finland battled back from a goal down against Denmark in their Group D showdown at Zurich-Kloten arena for a 5-1 win, the Finns’ eighth win over the Danes in as many meetings.
Danish forward Julian Jakobsen opened the score halfway into the first period but Antti Mietinen leveled with 2:20 left in the first.
Tuomas Pihlman put Finland into the lead, while Mietinen netted his second of the match to make it 3-1 before the second interval. Forward Niko Kapanen scored twice in the third period both times on powerplays.
Earlier, the Czech Republic outscored Norway 5-2 to record their 12th win over the Scandinavians in their 14th world championships’ meeting.
Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen yesterday exited at the BWF World Tour Finals in China, losing in the semi-finals to China’s world No. 1 Shi Yuqi. Shi, who was named the BWF Men’s Singles Player of the Year, had a 9-4 record against Chou going into the match. He extended that record to 9-5 with a 21-14, 21-18 victory. Chou advanced to the men’s singles semi-finals on Friday by upsetting top-seeded Anders Antonsen of Denmark in a must-win match at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Center Gymnasium. The 16-21, 21-18, 21-15 victory saw Chou secure his second semi-finals appearance at the tournament, despite his relatively older
‘REMARKABLE’: Gaelic football is a traditional Irish sport that blends the skills of soccer and rugby, and hurling is an ancient sport played with a wooden stick and ‘sliotar’ The Taiwan Celts Gaelic Football Club marked a milestone achievement at the Asian Gaelic Games in Bangkok on Nov. 23 and 24, with two sides advancing to the knockout stages and competing at hurling for the first time. The event brought together 68 teams from 16 clubs across Asia, with more than 800 players in men’s and women’s tournaments. Gaelic football is a traditional Irish team sport that blends the skills of soccer, rugby union and basketball. Hurling is an ancient Irish sport played with a wooden stick, called a hurley, and a small ball, or sliotar. The Taiwan Celts’ women’s team reached
LIVERPOOL WIN: The 50th Champions League goal by Mohamed Salah helped the leaders of the Premier League to keep their perfect record intact Real Madrid’s big stars on Tuesday turned on the style to revive the Spanish giant’s faltering UEFA Champions League title defense. Galacticos Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Junior and Jude Bellingham all scored in a thrilling 3-2 win against Serie A leaders Atalanta BC. However, Madrid still had to ride their luck as Mateo Retegui fired over from in front of goal in stoppage-time when handed a golden chance to level the game. It was only Madrid’s third win in the competition’s revamped league phase and leaves the 15-time champions in the unseeded playoff positions in 18th place. “It’s a very important win. Not everyone wins
Indian teenager Gukesh Dommaraju became the youngest chess world champion on Thursday after beating the defending champion Ding Liren of China in the final match of their series in Singapore. Dommaraju, 18, secured 7.5 points against 6.5 of his Chinese rival in the contest, surpassing the achievement of Russia’s Garry Kasparov, who won the title at the age of 22. The Indian teen prodigy has long been considered a rising star in the chess world after he became a chess grandmaster at 12. He had entered the match as the youngest-ever challenger to the world crown after winning the Candidates tournament earlier
RSS