TENNIS
Taiwan’s Chan makes final
Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Giuliana Olmos of Mexico yesterday reached the final at the China Open. Chan and Olmos defeated Poland’s Magda Linette and Peyton Stearns of the US 7-5, 6-4 at the National Tennis Center in Beijing to book a place in today’s championship match against the Czech Republic’s Marie Bouzkova and Sara Tormo of Spain, who beat Brazilian pair Luisa Stefani and Ingrid Martins 6-2, 6-2 in the other semi-final.
SOCCER
Nantes defeat Strasbourg
Two second-half goals on Friday helped Nantes earn a 2-1 win against RC Strasbourg Alsace in their Ligue 1 match. Both teams played cautiously during the opening 45 minutes. Nantes scored a goal in the 51st minute when Marcus Coco beat Matz Sels from close range. Samuel Moutoussamy then made it 2-0 from a rebound seven minutes later. Substitute Moise Sahi Dion pulled a goal back for Strasbourg in stoppage-time. Nantes moved to eighth place in the standings, one point above Strasbourg ahead of the rest of the weekend’s games.
SOCCER
Sancet scores for Bilbao
Oihan Sancet on Friday celebrated his first call-up to Spain’s national team by scoring in Athletic Bilbao’s 3-0 win over last-placed UD Almeria in La Liga. Gorka Guruzeta and Dani Garcia also scored for Athletic as they ended their brief winless run and moved into the top four in the standings with the victory at San Mames Stadium. The 23-year-old Sancet earlier on Friday was included in the squad by Spain coach Luis de la Fuente for their European Championship qualifiers. The midfielder sealed Athletic’s victory in the 81st minute after Guruzeta scored in the 10th minute and Garcia in the 63rd. The win moved Athletic two points behind third-placed Girona and one point ahead of fifth-place Atletico Madrid, who had two games in hand ahead of their game among the rest of the weekend’s games. Almeria, who had only one shot on target, are the only team without a win after nine rounds.
ROWING
Naked Australian rescued
A naked Australian adventurer was rescued on Friday by a cruise ship near Vanuatu after capsizing while attempting to row solo across the Pacific Ocean. Tom Robinson clung to the hull of his heavily modified rowing boat for almost 13 hours before he was plucked out of the water, a statement on the expedition’s Web site said. The 24-year-old was seeking to become the youngest person to row across the Pacific Ocean — a journey of about 8,000 nautical miles (14,800km) starting in Peru and ending in Australia. Robinson’s team said in the statement that the situation “was caused by an unexpectedly large wave that came through the main hatch and flooded the cabin.” After activating his emergency distress beacon, Robinson was spotted by a plane dispatched from the French Pacific territory of New Caledonia. A cruise ship that was diverted to rescue Robinson found him clinging naked to the overturned hull of his homemade boat, his team said, adding that he “sounded well after a precarious night.” Robinson set off from Peru in July last year and was aiming to make landfall on Australia’s eastern coast by December after stops in Tahiti, the Cook Islands and Vanuatu.
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
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
The Washington Capitals and Winnipeg Jets on Saturday did not disappoint in a thrilling midseason matchup in front of a fired-up sellout crowd of more than 18,500 fans. The top two teams in the NHL delivered with a combined nine goals, including the 877th of Alex Ovechkin’s career to put him 18 back of breaking Wayne Gretzky’s record. That tied the score, the Jets pulled it out in overtime and just about everyone involved got their money’s worth out of the 5-4 game. “We knew how we were both sitting in the standings and both having real good years,” Winnipeg coach Scott
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
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