■TCHOUKBALL
Teams visit diplomats
Two teams from a senior high school in Taipei County visited Taiwanese diplomats in Rome on Wednesday after taking first and second place at last weekend’s Beach Tchoukball International Festival in Rimini, Italy. Huang Chin-cheng, president of the International Tchoukball Federation based in Kaohsiung County, led the two teams as they called on Taiwanese representative to Italy Yih Jung-tzung and Taiwan’s ambassador to the Holy See, Larry Wang. During the meeting, Yih said sports were an effective form of diplomacy and praised the players as the country’s “goodwill ambassadors.” Wang gave the teams commemorative pins that are used as a symbol of friendship between Taiwan and the Vatican, and talked with the players about diplomatic relations between the two countries. Huang said Taiwan’s wins at the competition — in which more than 100 teams competed — demonstrated the country’s leading edge in the sport.
■SOCCER
Lyon win, grab third place
Olympique Lyonnais took a big step toward Champions League qualification for next season by beating Monaco 3-0 on Wednesday. Goals either side of halftime from Miralem Pjanic and Bafetimbi Gomis, and a late strike by Lisandro Lopez secured a comfortable victory for Claude Puel’s side over the beaten French Cup finalists. Lyon are now third in the table, a point behind second-placed Lille and a point above Auxerre. With the top three qualifying for the Champions League, Lyon can make sure of a place in Europe’s top club competition with victory at home to already-relegated Le Mans tomorrow.
■SOCCER
Pohang knock out Kashima
Reigning champions Pohang Steelers beat Kashima Antlers 1-0 on Wednesday, joining three other South Korean clubs in the Asian Champions League quarter-finals. Mota’s deflected right-foot shot in the 29th minute was enough for Pohang to dispose of the last Japanese team in contention. Eninho scored once in each half, twice giving Jeonbuk Motors the lead at Adelaide United, but the visitors needed a late extra-time goal from Lee Dong-guk to win 3-2. That allowed Jeonbuk to join Pohang in the next round along with other South Korean clubs Seongnam Ilhwa and Suwon Bluewings. Also going through were Zobahan, who beat Mes Kerman 1-0, and Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal, 3-0 winners over Uzbekistan’s Bunyodkor.
■SOCCER
Teens to train at Barca
China will select 40 teenagers to train at Spanish club Barcelona next month in a major Chinese Football Association (CFA) initiative to develop elite players in Europe. The players, all under 15, will be chosen by Barca scouts at a two-month camp in Hebei Province and then will stay with more than a dozen youth clubs affiliated to the European champions over the next three years. The project is a part of the CFA’s ambition to train up to 500 teenagers overseas.
■ICE HOCKEY
US slump to third loss
Hosts Germany needed two goals from brothers Marcel and Nicolai Goc to seal their qualification to the world championship second round with a 3-1 win over Denmark in Cologne on Wednesday. The US slumped to their third straight group defeat, 3-2 against Finland, to fight for their place in the top division. The losing run by the US left Germany and Finland to progress from Group D along with Denmark. Switzerland beat Canada 4-1 to finish top of Group B, with Canada also advancing in second spot.
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
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