SOCCER
Ex-China official pleads guilty
Former head of the Chinese Football Association Chen Xuyuan yesterday pleaded guilty to bribery, Beijing’s state media said, as an anti-corruption drive sweeps up once-major players in the sport. Chen — who as boss of the association once promised to turn a page on the corruption scandals that have plagued the sport — was placed under investigation in February last year for “serious violations of discipline and the law.” The prosecution accused him of taking more than 81 million yuan (US$11.3 million) in bribes in exchange for helping with “project contracting, investment and operation,” among other matters. Chen pleaded guilty and “expressed remorse,” state-run Xinhua news agency said.
SOCCER
Egypt exits Africa Cup
The injured Mohamed Salah would not get the chance to return to the Africa Cup of Nations after his Egypt side were knocked out of the competition on Sunday in a dramatic penalty shoot-out against the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo), while Guinea progressed to the last eight. Record-seven time champions Egypt lost 8-7 on penalties against the Congolese after their last-16 tie ended 1-1 at the end of extra time. The DR Congo on Friday are to play their quarter-final in Abidjan against Guinea, who beat Equatorial Guinea 1-0 earlier with a dramatic winner by Mohamed Bayo in the eighth minute of injury-time.
ICE HOCKEY
Player turns himself in
Former NHL player Alex Formenton on Sunday turned himself in to police in connection with an investigation into an alleged sexual assault by several members of Canada’s 2018 world junior team. Formenton’s legal team confirmed that police in London, Ontario, have charged Formenton and several other players. Lawyer Daniel Brown did not say what charge or charges Formenton was facing. Five players from Canada’s 2018 gold medal-winning world junior team have taken a leave of absence over the past week from their current clubs amid a report that five members of that team had been asked to surrender to London police to face sexual assault charges. That included Formenton, a former Ottawa Senators player who is now in Europe. NHL players Michael McLeod and Cal Foote of the New Jersey Devils, Carter Hart of the Philadelphia Flyers and Dillon Dube of the Calgary Flames also went on leave in the past few days.
SOCCER
Ten Hag to ‘deal’ with player
Erik ten Hag said he would deal with Marcus Rashford’s absence after the Manchester United star missed Sunday’s 4-2 victory at Newport in the FA Cup. Ten Hag said Rashford was absent from the fourth-round clash in south Wales after saying he was ill on Friday. However, reports over the weekend suggested that the England forward had spent Thursday evening at a Belfast nightclub before missing training with United the next day. “He reported ill,” United boss Ten Hag said after the team blew a two-goal lead before surviving their trip to fourth tier Newport. “The rest is an internal matter. I deal with it, we will deal with it.” Rashford was also dropped for a Premier League match against the Wolverhampton Wanderers last season after turning up late to a team meeting when he overslept.
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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