TENNIS
Hsieh advances to quarters
Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and partner Barbora Strycova of the Czech Republic on Monday beat Japan’s Miyu Kato and Indonesia’s Aldila Sutjiadi 6-3, 6-3 at the Madrid Open to advance to the quarter-finals. They are today to play Taylor Townsend of the US and Leylah Fernandez of Canada, who beat Georgia’s Oksana Kalashnikova and Russia’s Yana Sizikova 6-3, 7-5. In women’s singles, world No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka made light work of 16-year-old Mirra Andreeva with a 6-3, 6-1 win to reach the quarter-finals. “Of course I’m happy with the win. I wish I would have played at Madrid when I was 16,” Sabalenka said.
SOCCER
Wolfsburg beat Arsenal
VfL Wolfsburg are to play Barcelona in the UEFA Women’s Champions League final after Pauline Bremer’s last-gasp winner sealed a dramatic victory against Arsenal on Monday. The Germans won 3-2 in the semi-final second leg at the Emirates Stadium, as Bremer’s goal in the closing seconds of extra-time sealed a 5-4 aggregate success. Stina Blackstenius put Arsenal ahead, with Jill Roord and Alexandra Popp netting for Wolfsburg before Jennifer Beattie leveled for the Gunners, setting the stage for Bremer’s decisive goal. “Credit to Arsenal, they’ve been through a lot as a team, but they made it super hard,” Roord said. “At the end they could have won, we could have won. We were the lucky ones.”
BOXING
IBA lashes out at ‘hyenas’
International Boxing Association (IBA) president Umar Kremlev on Monday blasted the national federations who broke away from the body to form a new world boxing federation, describing the officials as “black sheep” and “hyenas” who do not belong in sports. A group including the US and Britain announced a new federation — World Boxing — last month in a breakaway aimed at securing the troubled sport’s Olympic future while seeking recognition from the International Olympic Committee. With representatives from Germany, Britain, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the Philippines, Sweden and the US, World Boxing has an interim executive board and said there would be no bar on any national federation being a member of both bodies. Russian Kremlev said the IBA is the only international association that governs the sport. “We say that there’s always a black sheep in our family, there are always people who go their own ways... Someone tried to register an international association from their garage, why should we even consider them,” he told a news conference.
SOCCER
Fan with chainsaw caught
A soccer fan wielding a chainsaw was arrested during riots at a CAF Champions League match in Tunis, a source at the Tunisian Ministry of the Interior said on Monday. The return leg of the quarter-final between Tunisia’s Esperance and Algeria’s JS Kabylie at the Rades Stadium on Saturday was interrupted by violence, which caused a 40-minute delay to the second half. Esperance fans clashed with security forces and lit fireworks on the terraces. Local reports said that a warehouse at the stadium was looted and some equipment, including a chainsaw, was stolen. “We can confirm the arrest of a fan holding the chainsaw,” said the ministry source, who requested anonymity.
Manchester City have reached do-or-die territory in the UEFA Champions League earlier than expected ahead of what Pep Guardiola has described as a “final” against Club Brugge today. City have disproved the suggestion a new format to Europe’s top club competition would remove any jeopardy for the top clubs as Guardiola stares down the barrel of failing to make the Champions League knockout stages for the first time in his career. The English champions have endured a torrid season both in their English Premier League title defense and on the continent. A run of one win in 13 games, which included Champions League
BACK-TO-BACK: The League One club, which is owned by stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, is sparing no expense to clinch promotion to the Championship Hollywood endings are pricey, even in England’s third division. In pursuit of their third straight promotion, Wrexham AFC splashed some cash at League One rival Reading to secure the services of striker Sam Smith. The Welsh club owned by actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney confirmed the signing of the 26-year-old Smith on Friday. He is one of the top scorers in the third division. The transfer fee was not disclosed, but British media widely reported it to be about ￡2 million (US$2.48 million) — not extravagant, but a hefty price at this level and it would be about the same figure that
Less than a week after splashing out a world-record fee for Naomi Girma, Chelsea has spent big again to bring England midfielder Keira Walsh back to the English Women’s Super League. Walsh left European champions Barcelona after more than two years to join Chelsea for a reported ￡400,000 (US$496,000) on Friday. Walsh was the world’s most expensive player for two years after moving to Barcelona from Manchester City for a reported ￡400,000 in 2022. That status now belongs to Girma, the US defender who cost Chelsea a reported ￡900,000 to sign from the San Diego Wave. Still, it means 27-year-old Walsh — a technically
Ousmane Dembele on Wednesday scored a hat-trick as Paris Saint-Germain romped to a 4-1 win at VfB Stuttgart and qualified for the UEFA Champions League knockout stages. PSG were at risk of elimination after a disappointing league stage, with three losses and a draw, but were utterly dominant against an outclassed Stuttgart side as they confirmed their place in the playoffs. With six minutes gone, Bradley Barcola headed PSG in front after Desire Doue stood a cross up at the back post following a corner. Stuttgart probed for an equalizer, but PSG hit on the counterattack, Dembele tapping a Barcola pass into an
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