sports

Excellent athletes and coaches of 2018 were commended at a ceremony held in Hanoi on January 21 for their outstanding performance over the past year. Excellent athletes honoured at the ceremony - Photo: hanoimoi.com.vn The winners include ten national athletes and five coaches as well as five athletes and three coaches with disabilities. The ceremony was co-hosted by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Vietnam Administration of Sports and Physical Training. Addressing the event, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Nguyen Ngoc Thien applauded the distinguished achievements of Vietnamese sports over the past year and highly appreciated the efforts and contributions made by Vietnamese athletes and coaches to the overall success. Accordingly, the Vietnamese sports delegation pocketed a total of four gold, 16 silver and 18 bronze medals, finishing 17th in the tally of the 2018 Asian Games (ASIAD) in Indonesia. Vietnam also bagged eight gold, eight silver and … [Read more...] about Ceremony commends excellent athletes and coaches of 2018

Cristiano Ronaldo arrives with his girlfriend Georgina Rodriguez to appear in court on a trial for tax fraud in Madrid, Spain on Jan 22, 2019. (Photo source: Reuters/Susana Vera) Sporting sunglasses and a smile, accompanied by his girlfriend Georgina Rodriguez, Ronaldo arrived at the court in northeastern Madrid for a brief hearing. He was handed a two-year jail sentence immediately reduced to a fine of €365,000 and another penalty of €3.2 million, according to the sentence. Accused of having avoided paying €5.7 million in taxes due on his image rights between 2011 and 2014, Ronaldo has already paid the taxman €6.7 million for what he owed plus interest, the sentence read. That - plus the court fine - comes to more than €10 million. In June, the player's lawyers and Spain's taxman came to an agreement that Ronaldo would pay a grand total of €18.8 million. That amount was not mentioned in the sentence but a source at the court, who refused to be … [Read more...] about Ronaldo avoids jail but hit by hefty fine for tax fraud in Spain

Title-chasing South Korea dodged a bullet to reach the Asian Cup quarter-finals on Tuesday (Jan 22), while Qatar toppled Iraq 1-0 in a full-blooded Gulf clash. South Korea's players celebrate their goal against Bahrain during the 2019 AFC Asian Cup Round of 16 football match. (Giuseppe CACACE/AFP) The Koreans were taken to extra time by tiny Bahrain in Dubai where a thumping header from substitute Kim Jin-su earned them a 2-1 win and dragged the tournament co-favourites through to face Qatar - the team local fans love to hate. "It was a tough game," said South Korea captain Son Heung-min after the Taeguk Warriors reached the quarter-finals for the seventh straight time. "It's all about attitude as well, and I'm a bit unhappy with our performance - I think we're better than that." South Korea's quest to end 59 years of Asian Cup hurt looked to be safely on track when Hwang Hee-chan pounced on a loose ball to lash home two minutes before half-time. Mohamed Al Romaihi equalised … [Read more...] about South Korea, Qatar qualify for Asian Cup quarter finals

Spain's Rafael Nadal is inching closer to winning the Australian Open, a title he has claimed only once before. (Photo: AFP/Saeed Khan) On day nine of the Australian Open, the fairytale runs of Stefanos Tsitsipas and Danielle Collins were also extended as they too swept into the last four. Second seed Nadal inched closer to winning an event he has only claimed once before when he trounced unseeded American Frances Tiafoe 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 in another ruthless display from a man who has not dropped a set so far. Tiafoe had announced himself by beating fifth seed Kevin Anderson, but was no match for a player at the peak of his powers as he attempts to become only the third man to win all four Slams twice and the first to do so in the Open era. "I had some trouble at this event all my career, so I'm very happy with the way I played tonight," said the Spaniard, who faces another young gun Tsitsipas in the semi-finals. "I feel lucky to be where I am." Greek sensation Tsitsipas powered into … [Read more...] about Nadal relentlessly marches on as emotional Kvitova makes Open semis

West Ham's Marko Arnautovic has attracted interest from the Chinese Super League (Photo: AFP/Ian KINGTON) MANCHESTER: Football fans love a rumour. With the transfer window in various parts of the world currently open for players to switch clubs, this means click-bait stories are currently cluttering the world’s media outlets. None more so than the “Arnautovic to China” gossip, which has caused speculation that English Premier League club West Ham United’s Austrian international Marko Arnautovic is heading east in a multi-million pound deal with last season’s Chinese Super League (CSL) winners, Shanghai SIPG. If stories are to be believed, the Shanghai club’s opening gambit was a £35 million (US$45 million) bid, though subsequent rumours have surfaced that the Austrian’s agent (also his brother) is pushing for a deal worth in the region of £45 million. West Ham fans in particular have taken to social media in their droves, debating … [Read more...] about Chinese football clubs used to splash big money on big stars. Not anymore

Takehiro Tomiyasu's lone strike sent Saudi Arabia crashing out of the Asian Cup as Japan beat the three-time champions 1-0 to reach the quarter-finals on Monday (Jan 21). Japan's defender Takehiro Tomiyasu (2nd right) celebrates after scoring the opening goal against Saudi Arabia during the AFC Asian Cup round of 16 football match. (Source: AP Photo/Hassan Ammar) Tomiyasu's first-half header was enough to seal it for Japan as the last-16 game between two teams with seven titles between them failed to live up to its billing. Japan, record four-time winners of the Asian Cup, march on to a quarter-final with Southeast Asian champions Vietnam despite not yet hitting top form at the tournament. Saudi Arabia were in the ascendancy early on but it was Japan who snatched the advantage with a straightforward goal from a set piece on 20 minutes. From a corner, Belgium-based defender Tomiyasu climbed above his marker and nodded firmly into the bottom corner for his first of the … [Read more...] about Japan”s Tomiyasu sends Saudis spinning out of Asian Cup

Ghanaian forward Kevin-Prince Boateng has vowed to make the most of his shock arrival at Barcelona, after a loan move for the journeyman from Italian side Sassuolo was sealed on Monday (Jan 21). Ghanaian forward Kevin-Prince Boateng has joined Barcelona in a shock loan move from Italian side Sassuolo. (Christof STACHE/AFP) The leaders of La Liga said in a statement they had agreed a deal to take Boateng on loan until the end of the season with an option to make the move permanent in the summer. "The agreement includes an eight-million-euro (US$9 million) purchase option," the club said. The arrival of Boateng, 31, will provide much-needed cover for Luis Suarez up front in Ernesto Valverde's squad following the departure of Munir El Haddadi to Sevilla. The fiery forward has been a successful stopgap many times before, which Barca boss Ernesto Valverde valued in his decision to bring him in. "He doesn't seem to need much time to adapt, he knows his stuff and can start playing … [Read more...] about Boateng to seize his chance after shock Barcelona move

At the start of every year the talk at the Australian Open is of the "new kids on the block", the "NextGen", the "young guns". Frances Tiafoe, who at the age of 20 caused the shock of the first round in stunning fifth seed Kevin Anderson, registered a second notable scalp on his 21st birthday against Grigor Dimitrov AFP/Paul Crock And every 12 months as the first Grand Slam heralds a fresh season they come ... and they go. Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic's stranglehold on the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup has been interrupted just twice since the Swiss master first lifted it in Melbourne in 2004. Marat Safin (2005) and Stan Wawrinka (2014) managed to interlope into the trio's private sanctum - and they were 25 and 28 years old respectively at the time, hardly fresh-faced youths. But this year seems different. The simple truth is the big three cannot halt Old Father Time and one day soon will retire from slugging it out around the world. We may have already seen … [Read more...] about Rise of Tsitsipas and Tiafoe new era or false dawn?

Lionel Messi celebrates with Jordi Alba after scoring on Sunday. (AFP/Josep LAGO) Messi had started on the bench, rested by coach Ernesto Valverde, and for just over an hour at the Camp Nou, Dembele filled the void by scoring the opening goal in a sparkling individual display. The 21-year-old, however, limped off injured in the 69th minute, shortly after Leganes had equalised through Martin Braithwaite and Valverde responded by bringing on Messi. He needed only seven minutes to make an impact as his bending shot was followed up by Luis Suarez, who poked the ball in ahead of Leganes goalkeeper Pichu Cuellar. Messi then rounded off the win by scoring himself in injury-time. Leganes had protested against Suarez's finish, convinced that Pichu had been fouled by a high foot. But VAR disagreed and Barca advanced to what was, in truth, a fully deserved victory. It means they regain their hefty advantage over Atletico Madrid at the top of the table, with the difference ahead of Real Madrid … [Read more...] about Dembele sparkles but Messi needed off bench to rescue Barca

Manchester City reduced Liverpool's lead at the top of the English Premier League table to four points as they eventually found top gear to win 3-0 away to basement club Huddersfield Town on Sunday (Jan 20). Manchester City's German midfielder Leroy Sane (2nd left) celebrates after scoring their third goal against Huddersfield Town during the English Premier League football match. (Paul ELLIS/AFP) This was by no means City's most outstanding display of the season but, ultimately, goals from Danilo, Raheem Sterling and Leroy Sane ensured they did not trip up in the latest leg of their quest to keep the Premier League title-race alive. Liverpool's captivating 4-3 victory over Crystal Palace on Saturday ensured this was a crunch fixture for Pep Guardiola's side, yet any hopes Huddersfield could pull off a shock win never materialised. The embarrassment of riches available to City manager Guardiola meant Gabriel Jesus, who had scored seven goals in three matches, dropped to the … [Read more...] about Man City ease past Huddersfield to cut Liverpool”s lead