SWIMMING
Mack Horton retires
Australian champion swimmer Mack Horton, a fierce anti-doping campaigner, yesterday called time on his career just months ahead of the Paris Olympics. The 27-year-old, who famously refused to stand on the podium alongside China’s Sun Yang at the 2019 world championships, said the passion had left him. “I dearly wanted to swim in Paris, but the hunger wasn’t there,” he said in a statement. Horton won gold in the 400m freestyle at the 2016 Rio Olympics ahead of Sun, but is best remembered for the 400m silver he won at the 2019 worlds in South Korea. He refused to shake the Chinese athlete’s hand or even stand on the podium alongside him, reigniting a row from Rio, where he labeled Sun a “drug cheat.” Three-time Olympic champion Sun was subsequently slapped with an eight-year ban after refusing to give samples during a surprise doping test.
CRICKET
Pakistan beat NZ, lose Test
Pakistan captain Shaheen Shah Afridi yesterday said it was “very important” his team avoided a whitewash series loss to New Zealand after winning the fifth and final T20 international by 42 runs. The Black Caps capitulated for 92 in the face of some quality Pakistan spin bowling, having been favored to chase down the tourists’ 134-8. Pakistan lost the five-match series 4-1, but Shaheen was pleased his first stint as captain had ended on a winning note, after being outplayed through the first four games. “Today’s game was very important for us. We needed that as a unit to step forward,” Shaheen said. “In the first four games, there were a lot of collapses, as a fielding unit, as a batting unit, but I think today we played as a team and we needed that win.”
ICE HOCKEY
Oilers extend streak to 13
Sam Gagner on Saturday broke a tie with a fluke goal early in the third period and the Edmonton Oilers beat the Calgary Flames 3-1 to break the Montreal Canadiens’ record for the longest winning streak by a Canadian team at 13. Stuart Skinner made 26 saves to help Edmonton break the tie with the 1967-’68 Canadiens for the record. The Pittsburgh Penguins set the NHL mark of 17 in 1992-’93.
SOCCER
United appoint Berrada CEO
Manchester United have appointed Omar Berrada as their new chief executive officer, the club said in a statement on Saturday. Berrada’s start date would be confirmed in due course, while Patrick Stewart would continue as interim CEO. “The Club is determined to put football and performance on the pitch back at the heart of everything we do. Omar’s appointment represents the first step on this journey,” the club said. Berrada, regarded as one of the most experienced executives in European soccer, currently holds the position of director of soccer operations at City Football Group, where he oversees 11 clubs across five continents. He previously held senior positions at Barcelona. United, who currently sit seventh in the Premier League table, bolstered their squad in the summer transfer window, with new signings including Rasmus Hojlund from Atalanta, Mason Mount from Chelsea and Andre Onana from Inter.
Hong Kong-based cricket team Hung See this weekend found success in their matches in Taiwan, even if none of the results went their way. Hung See played the Chairman’s XI on Saturday morning, the Daredevils that afternoon and PCCT yesterday, with all three home teams winning. The team for Chinese players at the Happy Valley-based Craigengower Cricket Club sends teams on tour to “spread the game of cricket.” This weekend was Hung See’s second trip to Taiwan after visiting Tainan in 2016. “The club has been traveling to all parts of the world since 1982 and the annual tradition continues [with the Taiwan
Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei yesterday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while Coco Gauff’s dreams of a first women’s singles title in Melbourne were crushed in the quarter-finals by Paula Badosa. World No. 2 Alexander Zverev was ruffled by a stray feather in his men’s singles quarter-final, but he refocused to beat 12th seed Tommy Paul and reach the semi-finals. Third seeds Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia defeated Elena-Gabriela Ruse of Romania and Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine 6-2, 5-7, 7-5 in 2 hours, 20 minutes to advance the semi-finals. Hsieh and Ostapenko converted eight of 14 break
The San Francisco Giants signed 18-year-old Taiwanese pitcher Yang Nien-hsi (陽念希) to a contract worth a total of US$500,000 (NT $16.39 million). At a press event in Taipei on Wednesday, Jan. 22, the Giants’ Pacific Rim Area scout Evan Hsueh (薛奕煌) presented Yang with a Giants jersey to celebrate the signing. The deal consisted of a contract worth US$450,000 plus a US$50,000 scholarship bonus. Yang, who stands at 188 centimeters tall and weighs 85 kilograms, is of Indigenous Amis descent. With his fastest pitch clocking in at 150 kilometers per hour, Yang had been on Hsueh’s radar since playing in the HuaNan Cup
HARD TO SAY GOODBYE: After Coco Gauff dispatched Belinda Bencic in the fourth round, she wrote ‘RIP TikTok USA’ and drew a broken heart on a television camera lens Defending champion Hsieh Su-wei of Taiwan yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while compatriot Chan Hao-ching on Saturday dominated her opponents in the second round, as world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka swept into the quarter-finals. Third seeds Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia toppled Hungary’s Timea Babos and Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US 6-4, 6-3, hitting 24 winners and converting three of seven break points in 1 hour, 18 minutes at 1573 Arena. Although rivals at last year’s Australian Open — where Hsieh and Belgium’s Elise Mertens beat Ostapenko and Ukraine’s Lyudmyla Kichenok 6-1, 7-5
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