BASKETBALL
Taiwan B team beats Aussies
Taiwan’s men’s B team yesterday beat Australia’s BSBL Guardians 90-78 at the William Jones Cup in New Taipei City, while the Philippines’ Strong Group-Pilipinas, led by the Formosa Dreamers’ Chris McCullough, dominated Malaysia for their fourth win. Trailing in the first half, Taiwan surged to a 12-point lead in the third, which gave them enough of a cushion to win despite both teams scoring 19 points in the fourth. The Taipei Fubon Braves’ recent draft pick Mouhamed Mbaye put 31 points on the board, with nine rebounds and eight assists, for the B team to break even at 2-2 in the tournament, while handing Australia their fifth loss. Lin Yan-ting scored 10 points, with seven rebounds and six assists, while Yu Ai-che grabbed six rebounds with four assists. The Brisbane Capitals’ Dhieu Magier led BSBL in scoring with 32 points. The Philippines’ 89-54 drubbing of Malaysia put them even with Taiwan’s A team, who are also undefeated with four wins. McCullough, a power forward from New York who plays for the P.League+’s Dreamers, scored 16 points for the Philippines, with an assist and three rebounds, while Rhenz Abando of the Anyang Jung Kwan Jang Red Boosters grabbed 10 rebounds, along with 14 points and three assists. For Malaysia, American John Wesley Murry II scored nearly half their points, putting 25 on the board, with seven rebounds and three assists. In yesterday’s early game, the United Arab Emirates beat the US’ Future Sports 77-63 for their first win in five games, putting them even with Future in the rankings with four days remaining. Meanwhile, Ukraine picked up their second win of the tournament, with a 63-47 victory over Japan, who fell to 3-2 in the tournament.
SOCCER
FIFA to probe racist chants
FIFA yesterday said it was opening an investigation into racist chants by Argentina players after they won the Copa America. “FIFA is aware of a video circulating on social media and the incident is being looked into,” a FIFA spokesperson said. The chants were heard during a live video posted on social media by Chelsea and Argentina midfielder Enzo Fernandez from the team bus in the wake of the Copa victory over Colombia in Miami on Sunday. Some players, including 23-year-old Fernandez, sang a chant dating back to the 2022 FIFA World Cup final in which Argentina beat France. The song targets France’s star striker Kylian Mbappe among others and includes racist and homophobic insults. Fernandez has apologized and Chelsea said in a statement it had launched an “internal disciplinary procedure.”
SOCCER
Gareth Southgate resigns
Gareth Southgate on Tuesday resigned from his role as England manager after yet another heartbreaking final loss at the UEFA Euro 2024, their second straight failure in the title decider of the continental tournament. After eight years, four major tournaments and two finals, Southgate said it was “time for change.” Sunday’s 2-1 loss to Spain proved to be his last game in charge of the national team. “As a proud Englishman, it has been the honor of my life to play for England and to manage England. It has meant everything to me, and I have given it my all,” he said. “But it’s time for change, and for a new chapter.”
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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