TENNIS
Taiwanese makes final
Taiwan’s Wu Fang-hsien and partner Zhang Shuai of China on Friday reached the final at the Grand Est Open 88 in France. Wu and Zhang downed Italy’s Camilla Rosatello and Kimberley Zimmermann of Belgium 6-3, 7-6 (7/3) in their semi-final at the WTA 125 event at the Tennis Club de Contrexeville to book place in the decider against Oksana Kalashnikova of Georgia and Belarus’ Iryna Shymanovich.
OLYMPICS
Minister swims in Seine
French Minister of Sports Amelie Oudea-Castera yesterday swam in the Seine, raising hopes that the river will be clean enough for competitors at the Paris Olympics, which start in less than two weeks. The 46-year-old was accompanied by para-triathlete Alexis Hanquinquant. Oudea-Castera, dressed in a body suit, swam a day after Paris City Hall said that the river had been clean enough to swim in for most of the past 12 days.
SOCCER
France book Euro place
Sakina Karchaoui’s long-distance screamer on Friday helped ensure France’s place at the Women’s Euro 2025 as they emerged 2-1 winners against Sweden in League A qualifying, while England beat the Republic of Ireland to close in on qualification. Karchaoui rocketed an unstoppable dipping strike from more than 30m out after half an hour. Josefine Rybrink leveled for Sweden, but Marie-Antoinette Katoto pounced on a loose ball at a corner to lash France back into the lead. England beat Ireland 2-1 in Norwich, meaning a draw next week will be enough to book their place at the Euros. Iceland booked their place in the tournament proper with a 3-0 win over already-qualified Germany, while Austria triumphed 3-1 over Poland, but can no longer progress. Elsewhere, Finland and Norway drew 1-1, the Netherlands and Italy drew 0-0, Spain lost 2-1 to the Czech Republic and Denmark beat Belgium 3-0.
RUGBY UNION
Van der Merwe equals mark
Duhan van der Merwe on Friday scored a record-equaling 27th international try as Scotland romped past the US 42-7 in their tour of North and South America. The wing raced over for Scotland’s opening try at Audi Field in Washington, drawing level with Stuart Hogg.
RUGBY UNION
France players charged
Argentine prosecutors said they have charged two France rugby players with aggravated sexual assault. The prosecutors’ office in Mendoza — where the alleged assault took place on Sunday last week following the first Test — ordered the two players, Oscar Jegou and Hugo Auradou, to remain under detention until trial. The French Rugby Federation previously said that the players admitted to having sex with the woman, but described it as consensual and denied any acts of violence.
RUGBY UNION
US cities eye Cup games
Representatives from US cities on Friday attended a summit hosted by World Rugby in Washington to hear details about potentially hosting the men’s World Cup in 2031 and the women’s World Cup in 2033. Cities including Atlanta, Dallas, Las Vegas and Los Angeles all expressed interest in playing a part in hosting the tournaments.
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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