ICE HOCKEY
US head to world junior final
Boston University’s Cole Eiserman on Saturday broke a second-period tie as the defending champions US beat the Czech Republic 4-1 to advance to the World Junior Championship final. The Americans were last night to face Finland — a 4-3 overtime winner over Sweden in the first semi-final — for the title. Finland beat the US 4-3 in overtime in group play. Eiserman made it 2-1 with 6 minutes, 19 seconds left in the second with a one-timer off a cross-ice feed. The Americans were seeking their seventh title and first back-to-back championships. “It would mean everything,” said Gabe Perreault, who also played last season. “We definitely have the team to do it. We’ll be ready to go.”
Photo: AFP
LUGE
Forgan, Kirkby clinch medal
Chevonne Forgan and Sophie Kirkby of the US on Saturday grabbed their third World Cup women’s doubles medal of the season, continuing their climb in the rankings. Forgan and Kirkby finished second in a race at Sigulda, Latvia, behind only World Cup leaders Selina Egle and Lara Kipp of Austria. The Egle-Kipp sled has won gold in three consecutive races. Latvia’s Marta Robezniece and Kitija Bogdanova were third. Through four of nine World Cup races this season, Egle and Kipp have 350 points, 40 more than the second-place sled of Forgan and Kirkby in the overall standings. In the women’s singles race, Elina Bota of Latvia held on to win on her home track. Merle Fraebel of Germany was second and Lisa Schulte of Austria was third. In the men’s doubles, Germany’s Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt prevailed — the 54th World Cup race win of their careers, while Latvia’s Martins Bots and Roberts Plume were second, with Austria’s Yannick Mueller and Armin Frauscher third.
Photo: EPA-EFE
TENNIS
Rybakina defends coach
Sixth-ranked Elena Rybakina defended her former coach Stefano Vukov after the WTA provisionally suspended him as the governing body investigates a potential breach of its code of conduct. Rybakina last week said that Vukov is rejoining her team, but the WTA suspension means the Croat would not be accredited to enter player-only areas including practice courts and training areas. On Saturday, the 2022 Wimbledon champion told a news conference in Sydney that Vukov “never mistreated me” in their years working together. “The only thing I can say is, he never mistreated me. I respect him for everything he did from the very beginning when I was [ranked world No.] 200 all the way what we did,” 25-year-old Rybakina said. Vukov told The Athletic that he “never abused anyone.”
SOCCER
Player proposes after loss
A player from Spanish fourth-division club Barbastro on Saturday lost and won. After a 4-0 defeat to Barcelona in the Copa del Rey, Israel Garcia dropped to one knee on the field and asked his girlfriend Pilar to marry him. She looked surprised and covered her face with her hands while smiling, before saying “yes,” to cheers from spectators behind the couple. They later posed for photographs, with Pilar showing her hand with the ring she was given by Garcia. “It was the appropriate day,” Garcia told Spanish media. The midfielder played the whole round-of-32 match against Barcelona.
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
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