BASKETBALL
Taiwan A set up decider
Taiwan A yesterday downed the BSBL Guardians 97-80 to move to a 7-0 record, setting up a winner-takes-all match against Strong Group Athletics today to decide the top team. Brandon Gilbeck’s 14 points was the main contributor to Taiwan A’s win against the Australia-based side at the Sinjhuang Gymnasium in New Taipei City. In other games yesterday, Malaysia Harimau beat Japan 79-72, the United Arab Emirates lost to Ukraine 94-50 and Strong Group Athletics defeated Taiwan B 96-70 to keep their unbeaten run going.
Photo: CNA
RUGBY UNION
Australia beat Georgia
Flankers Rob Valetini and Fraser McReight yesterday scored two tries apiece as Australia won a third straight match under new coach Joe Schmidt with a scrappy 40-29 victory over Georgia at the Sydney Football Stadium. The loose forwards both crossed on either side of the break and were joined on the scoresheet by center Hunter Paisami and prop Isaac Kailea to give the Wallabies three successive wins for the first time since late 2021.
RUGBY UNION
New Zealand crush Fiji
The All Blacks yesterday cut loose against Fiji with seven tries to win their one-off Test 47-5 in San Diego, California. New Zealand flyhalf Damian McKenzie landed six off his seven conversion attempts and was a central figure as the All Blacks’ backs feasted on dominance of possession and the forward pack’s ability to win quick breakdown ball.
RUGBY UNION
England win under-20 title
A dominant second-half performance on Friday gave England a 21-13 victory over title-holders France in the World Rugby Under-20 Championship final in wet and chilly Cape Town. Going into halftime 7-6 ahead, England imposed their authority in the second half, while and a yellow card to No. 8 Mathis Castro Ferreira on 46 minutes hurt France. While numerically disadvantaged, France conceded eight points, including a second try for the winners, scored by replacement forward Arthur Green. His score, coupled with three penalty goals from center Sam Kerr, stretched a one-point lead to 15 before French fullback Mathis Ferte crossed for a consolation post-hooter try.
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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