■SOCCER
Mouscron kicked out
Belgian club Excelsior Mouscron were kicked out of the first division on Monday after declaring they would fail to play for a third time this season, the Belgian soccer association said. Mouscron, who are under administration because of debt, have not put out a team for their last two scheduled matches and told the league and association that they would be unable to field a side tomorrow. The club’s expulsion from the league means that all their results are void. The clubs in the top four spots, eligible for European competition, remained in place, although Anderlecht’s lead over Club Bruges at the top of the table was cut to three from five points. Champions Standard Liege gained a place to sixth. The big losers were Lokeren, who lost six points and so replaced Roeselare at the bottom of the remaining 15 sides. However, no club will face automatic relegation now with the 15th-placed side taking part in a playoff with division two teams. Mouscron, who will drop to Belgium’s third division if they continue, said in a short statement that its 120 staff would be receiving their notices and the players would now be free agents.
■DARTS
‘Barney’ nails nine-darter
Raymond van Barneveld produced a nine-dart finish for the second year in a row at the Professional Darts Corporation world championship on Monday. The aim of darts is to get from 501 to zero, finishing on a double, with the fewest number of throws and nine darts is the minimum number needed to achieve this feat. Dutch former champion “Barney” produced darts’ answer to snooker’s 147 break and cricket’s six sixes in an over on his way to a 4-0 second round win over Brendan Dolan at London’s Alexandra Palace. He reeled off a perfect opening leg at the start of the third set, hitting two 180s followed by a treble 20, treble 19 and double 12 to earn himself a £25,000 (US$40,000) bonus prize.
■SKIING
Vonn injury not serious
Olympic favorite Lindsey Vonn had her left lower arm put in a splint following a crash on the opening run of a World Cup giant slalom in Austria on Monday but was able to compete in a slalom race yesterday. Vonn suffered no broken bones in the fall, said Doctor Eduard Sporer from Lienz district hospital. “It’s not a classic broken wrist,” said Sporer, who added that the skier had a bruised bone with swelling in the nearby area. The overall World Cup leader barely used her left pole yesterday but still managed to charge several gates with her hand and wrist protected by the usual guard slalom racers use.
■CRICKET
Test set for tight finish
Pakistan were 170 for 3 needing another 252 runs to beat Australia at the end of the fourth day of the first Test in Melbourne yesterday. Earlier the hosts had declared their second innings on 225 for 8 after 17-year-old Pakistani paceman Mohammad Aamer had picked up his first five wicket haul in a Test match, finishing with 5 for 79. Shane Watson top-scored for the Aussies by posting his first Test century, 120 not out. Pakistan suffered an early setback in their run chase when Doug Bollinger trapped Imran Farhat lbw for 12 but Salman Butt and Faisal Iqbal put on 62 for the second wicket before Butt was lbw to Mitchell Johnson for 33. Iqbal was next out, bowled by offspinner Nathan Hauritz for 48. At stumps Mohammad Yousuf was unbeaten on 45 while Umar Akmal was on 27 not out.
Taiwan kept their hopes of advancing to next year’s World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome on Saturday, backed by solid pitching. Taiwan last night played against Nicaragua. As of press time, Nicaragua was leading 6-0. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan on Saturday kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen struck out one and allowed no hits, except for a hit-by-pitch over
Taiwan kept its hopes of advancing to the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome last night, backed by solid pitching. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. The win was crucial for Taiwan, as a loss would have eliminated the team from contention for the next WBC. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen (沙子宸) struck out one and allowed no hits, except for
Team Taiwan are set to face Spain in a win-or-go-home match tonight for the final berth at the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC), despite losing to Nicaragua 6-0 in the WBC qualifier at the Taipei Dome on Sunday. The home team’s loss on Sunday means Nicaragua finish first in the qualifier round in Taipei with a perfect 3-0 record and advances to next year’s finals. After crushing South Africa 9-1 earlier on Sunday, Spain took second place in the four-team qualifier with a 2-1 record. With a 1-2 record, Taiwan finished third while South Africa placed at the bottom with
Team Taiwan avoided missing the World Baseball Classic (WBC) for the first time by defeating Spain 6-3 in a do-or-die game in Taipei last night. After narrowly escaping a mercy-rule loss to Spain in the WBC Qualifiers opener on Friday last week, the home team — winner of last year's WBSC Premier12 title three months ago — got their revenge against the 2023 European champions at Taipei Dome. "It felt quite different from when we won the Premier12," Taiwan captain Chen Chieh-hsien (陳傑憲) said after the game, recalling the ups and downs the team has experienced over the past few days. Unlike in
RSS