The Philippines yesterday opened an international soccer tournament at the Taipei Municipal Stadium with a 3-1 win against Laos, while Taiwan held a practice session in the morning after their scheduled opponents East Timor had their travel plans disrupted by a volcanic eruption in Indonesia.
Phil Younghusband, Angel Guirado and Kintaro Miyagi scored to put the Philippines three goals ahead, before Sengvilay Chanthasili got a late consolation for Laos.
Taiwanese soccer officials had to reschedule the program for the competition after receiving the news that East Timor would not arrive in time for Thursday’s pre-tournament news conference.
“The travel arrangements for East Timor have been delayed due to closure of airports after the eruption of Mount Agung in Bali. The team will arrive a few days late, as they transferred flights at an airport in Indonesia,” the Chinese Taipei Football Association (CTFA) said in a statement.
The new schedule for the CTFA International Cup sees Laos take on East Timor at 4pm tomorrow at the Taipei Municipal Stadium, before Taiwan host the Philippines at 7pm.
Taiwan’s match against East Timor is now to take place at 7pm on Monday.
The tournament is to finish on Tuesday when the Philippines take on East Timor at 4pm, before the hosts face Laos at 7pm.
The latest addition to the Taiwan squad is Swedish-Taiwanese teenager Karl Josefsson, who has attracted much fan attention alongside English-Taiwanese player Will Donkin, who plays for English Premier League side Crystal Palace, as both youngsters are expected to see plenty of action in the coming days.
At the pre-tournament news conference, Taiwan manager Gary White said the tournament would give him an opportunity to assess the new players to see whether they could perform in international matches against good opponents.
White admitted that there are still some shortcomings with his squad, saying he would focus on improving the defense as well as the attack.
While all the matches have been scheduled for the Taipei Municipal Stadium, some commentators have suggested that some matches are moved to the artificial pitch at Fu Jen Catholic University, as wet weather could cause problems with the grass pitch at the stadium and it might not cope with hosting matches on three consecutive days.
BOOT TO FACE: Wilfried Singo said that his actions were not intentional, ‘but I was able to see afterwards that’ the ’keeper had a significant face injury Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday came from behind to extend their unbeaten start to the Ligue 1 season with a 4-2 win away against AS Monaco, but lost goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma to a gruesome facial injury. The bloodied Italy international was left requiring 10 staples after sustaining lacerations to the right side of his face when he was caught by the studs of Monaco defender Wilfried Singo. “I don’t know if the referee was badly positioned, but VAR [video assistant referee] needed to intervene, you have to protect the players,” PSG captain Marquinhos said. “To not give a red in a situation like
India’s chess star Gukesh Dommaraju returned to a hero’s welcome in his home city yesterday after becoming the youngest world champion aged only 18. Hundreds of fans crowded the arrivals area of Chennai International Airport, cheering alongside banks of television cameras as Gukesh made his way out of the airport after victory in taking the World Chess Championship title. “It means a lot to bring back the trophy to India,” Gukesh told reporters, with garlands of flowers draped around his neck, brandishing the glittering trophy in his hand. “I can see the support and what it means to India, I
Zach LaVine on Thursday scored a season-high 36 points to lead the Chicago Bulls to a 117-108 upset victory against defending NBA champions the Boston Celtics, while LeBron James once again made history. LaVine went 11-of-19 from the floor and made six three-pointers while adding six rebounds and four assists for the Bulls, who improved to 13-15 for the season. “We’re a good team,” LaVine said. “We’re competitive and we’re a resilient group.” Ayo Dosunmu contributed 17 points for the Bulls, while Nikola Vucevic had 16 points and 14 rebounds for Chicago. The Bulls outscored Boston 35-22 in the fourth quarter to rally past
Brimin Kipkorir of Kenya and Amid Fozya Jemal of Ethiopia won the men’s and the women’s categories, respectively, in the annual Taipei Marathon yesterday, which drew about 28,000 participants. Kipkorir finished the 42.2km run in 2 hours, 11 minutes and 41 seconds, which was about 2.5 minutes off the event’s record of 2:09:18 set by his countryman Paul Lonyongata in 2020. Meanwhile, Jemal — who also won the New Taipei Wan Jin Shi Marathon in March — finished with a first-place time of 2:32:47, about seven minutes behind the race’s women’s record of 2:25:55. For winning the race, Kipkorir and
RSS