RUGBY UNION
Taiwan lose opener
Taiwan yesterday lost against Thailand 18-12 in their first game of two at the Unions Cup in Singapore. Taiwan led 12-7 at halftime, but could not add to their lead after scoring two tries in the first 40 minutes to prop Yeh Tai-ting, with flyhalf Yao Chih-yao converting, and wing Wang Chia-hsien. Wang crossed after Taiwan were held up over the line and Thailand dropped out from under their posts. The kick was gathered about 30m out by fullback Shih Chia-jung, who jinked his way inside the 22. From the ruck, the ball went right and Wang dived over after two clever offloads. Thailand had a converted try in the first half and a score from a maul to add to their two penalties. Taiwan on Friday face hosts Singapore, who beat Thailand on Saturday last week.
CRICKET
Afghan women seek support
A group of Afghan women’s cricketers has again approached the International Cricket Council (ICC) asking for backing to reform as a refugee team based in Australia. The women sent a letter to the ICC in the wake of the Afghanistan men’s historic run to the semi-finals of the Twenty20 World Cup in the Caribbean last week. More than two dozen women who had been in the Afghanistan Cricket Board system sought refuge in Australia in 2021 after the Taliban took over and enforced bans on women’s sports. The group first approached the ICC last year, but did not get the outcome they needed. Many have continued playing in domestic competitions in Australia, but have not had access to international cricket, despite ICC regulations requiring all test-playing members to support men’s and women’s national teams. “A profound sadness remains that we, as women, cannot represent our country like the male cricketers,” the women wrote in a letter to ICC chairman Greg Barclay, the Australian Associated Press reported yesterday.
SOCCER
US crashes out of Copa
The US on Monday crashed out of the Copa America after a 1-0 defeat to Uruguay, as Panama sealed their place in the quarter-finals with a 3-1 win over Bolivia. The tournament hosts suffered an upset 2-1 defeat to Panama last week and went into Monday’s final Group C game at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri, needing to match or better Panama’s result against Bolivia to advance. However, US coach Gregg Berhalter’s side never looked like doing enough to seriously threaten a well-drilled Uruguay who advance to the last eight as group winners. The embarrassing exit was the first time in Copa America history that the host nation has failed to advance from the group stage and reignited debate about Berhalter’s future, with the US due to host the World Cup with Canada and Mexico in two years’ time.
BASKETBALL
Tatum joins US$300m club
Jayson Tatum has become the newest member of the NBA’s US$300 million club, after the Boston Celtics star agreed to a five-year, US$314 million contract extension to remain with the reigning NBA champions, a person with knowledge of the situation said on Monday. The new pact would begin with the 2025-2026 season and keep the five-time All-Star in Boston through the 2029-2030 season.
The qualifying round of the World Baseball Classic (WBC) is to be held at the Taipei Dome between Feb. 21 and 25, Major League Baseball (MLB) announced today. Taiwan’s group also includes Spain, Nicaragua and South Africa, with two of the four teams advancing onto the 2026 WBC. Taiwan, currently ranked second in the world in the World Baseball Softball Confederation rankings, are favorites to come out of the group, the MLB said in an article announcing the matchups. Last year, Taiwan finished in a five-way tie in their group with two wins and two losses, but finished last on tiebreakers after giving
North Korea’s FIFA Under-17 Women’s World Cup-winning team on Saturday received a heroes’ welcome back in the capital, Pyongyang, with hundreds of people on the streets to celebrate their success. They had defeated Spain on penalties after a 1-1 draw in the U17 World Cup final in the Dominican Republic on Nov. 3. It was the second global title in two months for secretive North Korea — largely closed off to the outside world; they also lifted the FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup in September. Officials and players’ families gathered at Pyongyang International Airport to wave flowers and North Korea flags as the
For King Faisal, a 20-year-old winger from Ghana, the invitation to move to Brazil to play soccer “was a dream.” “I believed when I came here, it would help me change the life of my family and many other people,” he said in Sao Paulo. For the past year and a half, he has been playing on the under-20s squad for Sao Paulo FC, one of South America’s most prominent clubs. He and a small number of other Africans are tearing across pitches in a country known as the biggest producer and exporter of soccer stars in the world, from Pele to Neymar. For
Coco Gauff of the US on Friday defeated top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka 7-6 (7/4), 6-3 to set up a showdown with Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen in the final of the WTA Finals, while in the doubles, Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching was eliminated. Gauff generated six break points to Belarusian Sabalenka’s four and built on early momentum in the opening set’s tiebreak that she carried through to the second set. She is the youngest player at 20 to make the final at the WTA Finals since Denmark’s Caroline Wozniacki in 2010. Zheng earlier defeated Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic 6-3, 7-5 to book
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