SOCCER
Matching socks delay start
A top-of-the table English Women’s Soccer League (WSL) game between Arsenal and Chelsea with a crowd of nearly 33,000 had a delayed kick-off on Friday because the teams had matching socks, forcing referee Rebecca Welch to delay the start. Arsenal Women ended up going into the Chelsea megastore at Stamford Bridge and buying black socks. They used tape to try and hide the Chelsea and Nike logos. Arsenal’s kit is made by Adidas. They started 30 minutes late. “Clearly it’s a human error, a mistake, but it’s embarrassing,” former England international Karen Carney, who played for both clubs, told Sky Sports. “This is a massive crowd, a massive game. It’s a simple thing, a kit, and we have got it wrong. People make mistakes, but the game does not need this and it’s frustrating. It does not look good for the game.” WSL leaders Chelsea won 3-1.
Photo: Reuters
CRICKET
Wade retires from Tests
Former Australia Test wicketkeeper Matthew Wade has called time on the red-ball game, but will continue playing the shorter formats. The 36-year-old made the announcement late on Friday ahead of the Sheffield Shield final next week, when his native Tasmania meet Western Australia in what will be his 166th and last first-class match. “There certainly isn’t [an element of]: ‘I’m not playing well enough or I don’t feel I can contribute enough,’” he said. “It’s more the younger players have managed to shove me out the door.” Wade, who played 36 Tests as a wicketkeeper and specialist batter from 2012 to 2021, will continue to be available for one-day and T20 cricket.
EQUESTRIAN
Shane Rose hurt in fall
Australian three-time Olympic medalist Shane Rose was seriously injured in a heavy fall this week that could end his hopes of competing in a fourth Olympic Games in Paris this year. The 50-year-old team eventer and his horse Virgil all but secured qualification for the Olympics by winning an event in New Zealand last weekend, but fell during a cross-country session on Thursday. “As the saying goes peacock one day, feather duster the next,” his team said on Facebook on Friday. “Thankfully his horse was not injured in the fall. Shane is currently in ICU with a badly broken femur and a fractured pelvis and ribs. He also suffered a heavy concussion. Shane had surgery this morning to stabilize the femur and pelvis. While the timing is unfortunate we are hopeful there is adequate time for him to recover and still be able to continue his preparation schedule for the Paris Olympics Games.” Rose has twice qualified for the Olympics, but been unable to compete. In 1996, his horse went lame on arrival in the US for the Atlanta Olympics, and in 2012, his mount All Luck sustained a shoulder injury that prevented him from competing at the London Games. Despite his past misfortune, Rose won team silver medals at the 2008 Beijing and 2021 Tokyo Olympics as well as a bronze in Rio de Janeiro in 2016.
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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