SOCCER
Chile and Peru draw
Chile and Peru on Friday missed the chance to take a big step toward Copa America quarter-final qualification, playing out a dour 0-0 draw in their Group A opener in Arlington, Texas. The teams were striving to join Argentina on three points after the defending champions’ 2-0 victory over Canada, whose qualification hopes have been boosted by the draw. The stalemate reflected Chile and Peru’s struggles in the CONMEBOL World Cup Qualifying, where they have jointly managed just four goals across 12 matches. Chile’s Alexis Sanchez squandered the game’s best opportunity in the 16th minute. The former Inter and Arsenal forward missed a golden opportunity when he received Victor Davila’s low cross, only to send his close-range effort soaring over the crossbar. Chile showed more attacking flair, but failed to execute the crucial final pass in a first half marred by injuries, with Peru’s Luis Advincula subbed off in the 35th minute and Chilean midfielder Diego Valdes being replaced at halftime. Peru’s Miguel Araujo nearly broke the deadlock in the 43rd minute, forcing Chile goalkeeper Claudio Bravo into an acrobatic save with a well-connected header from Sergio Pena’s free-kick. Bravo’s performance in goal capped a special night for the former Barcelona and Manchester City player, who at 41 years, 2 months and 16 days became the oldest-ever Copa America player.
Photo: AFP
RUGBY UNION
England beat Japan
England yesterday beat Japan 52-17 in an eight-try performance at the National Stadium in Tokyo. It was the first time England played an official Test match in Japan. The hosts took an early 3-0 lead, but Chandler Cunningham-South put England ahead with a try in his first Test start as England marched to a 26-3 halftime lead.
BASEBALL
A’s pitcher wins weird
Oakland Athletics pitcher Sean Newcomb on Friday picked up a win with a pickoff and without officially facing a batter in their 6-5 victory against the Minnesota Twins. With Oakland trailing 5-4, Newcomb came on in relief of Lucas Erceg to face Minnesota’s Willi Castro with Austin Martin on first and two outs in the eighth inning. With a 1-1 count on Castro, the left-handed Newcomb picked off Martin to end the inning. Shea Langeliers hit a two-run homer off Jhoan Duran in the bottom of the eighth to give the A’s the lead and Mason Miller pitched the ninth and sealed the win. Oakland said that Newcomb (1-0) was the first pitcher in their 124-year history to earn a victory without facing a batter.
Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and partner Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia yesterday advanced to the women’s doubles final at the Australian Open after defeating New Zealand’s Erin Routliffe and Gabriela Dabrowski of Canada 7-6 (7/3), 3-6, 6-3 in their semi-final. Hsieh has won nine Grand Slam doubles titles and has a shot at a 10th tomorrow, when the Latvian-Taiwanese duo are to play Taylor Townsend of the US and Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic in the championship match at the A$96.5 million (US$61 million) outdoor hard court tournament at Melbourne Park. Townsend and Siniakova eliminated Russian pair Diana Shnaider and Mirra Andreeva 6-7
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
Things are somewhat out of control at the Australian Open this year, and that has only a little to do with the results on the courts. Yes, there were some upsets, including Madison Keys eliminating No. 2 Iga Swiatek in the women’s singles semi-finals on Thursday. It also was the first time since 1990 that three teenagers beat top-10 men’s seeds at a Grand Slam tennis tournament. The loser of one of those matches, Daniil Medvedev, got fined US$76,000 for behaving badly. Last year’s women’s singles runner-up exited in the first round. However, the real fuss is happening elsewhere. The rowdy fans, for one
The CTBC Brothers from Taiwan’s Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) on Friday announced they reached an agreement with the team’s shortstop Chiang Kun-yu (江坤宇) to extend his contract by 10 years in a deal that could worth up to NT $147.88 million (US$4.5 million). Including a NT$10 million incentive bonus, the 24-year- old’s new contract stipulates that his monthly salary will be NT$660,000 starting this year, increasing to NT$1.2 million from the fifth year of the deal. Chiang’s new agreement also comes with a caveat in the form of a “player option” where he would have the choice to become a free