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Tag: Sports – Asia

  • Women to get more rest between hoop games at next World Cup

    Women to get more rest between hoop games at next World Cup

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    SYDNEY (AP) — Players at this year’s World Cup had a few concerns about the competition, including the compact schedule and the timing of the tournament, and the women took their complaints right to the top.

    FIBA Secretary General Andreas Zagklis talked with many of the players during the course of the recently competed tournament. He offered a quick solution for the rest concerns, but changing the date will take more work.

    The next World Cup in 2026 will once again feature 16 teams instead of the 12 at this year’s tournament — and players will have more time to recuperate between the final rounds.

    “We will not play three days in a row, that will not happen again,” Zagklis said. “This is not something we want to see repeated. It’s too heavy on the players.”

    At this year’s tournament, the quarterfinals, semifinals and medal games were played over three straight days. Overall, teams that reached the gold-medal game would have played eight games in 10 days. The 2018 World Cup had a break between the quarters and the medal round.

    While the scheduling change is a welcomed positive step for the players, there’s still the issue of timing. The WNBA tried to work with FIBA by shortening its season. Still, the league’s playoffs continued until the start of the World Cup, forcing about a dozen players to basically travel a few thousand miles, get off a plane and start playing for their national teams.

    Many European leagues tip off soon after the World Cup ends, so it’s difficult to move it to a later start date.

    Zagklis said FIBA will be working with the stakeholders to provide the best possible solution for the players — though indicating the change will likely have to come from the WNBA or the other pro leagues.

    “The World Cup is turning next year 70 years old, the women’s world has been there much before virtually every women’s league in the world and it is the top female competition,” Zagklis. “So the calendar starts again with the World Cup.”

    USA Basketball chairman Martin Dempsey said there is a sense of urgency for FIBA to address the scheduling problem, especially with the WNBA set to expand over the next few years.

    “The time to have that conversation is before it happens, not after,” Dempsey said. “So we really do need to figure out with the ‘W,’ the NBA and FIBA how to keep all of these enterprises viable because we don’t want to run the risk of creating a very diluted World Cup.

    “We’ve got to have a really serious ongoing conversation about how to keep things in sync so that they don’t clash.”

    Five of the U.S. players competed in the WNBA Finals that ended three days before the World Cup started. Chelsea Gray, Kelsey Plum and tournament MVP A’ja Wilson missed the first two games for the U.S.

    Before the scheduling change was announced, players made their positions clear.

    “I don’t know if FIBA gave a damn about anyone,” Plum said.

    “Rest would be a good thing,” Wilson said. “Having some time between would definitely help.”

    The site for the 2026 World Cup hasn’t been announced yet and getting to Australia might have been the most difficult place for everyone because of its location.

    Serbia coach Marina Maljković noticed how tired many players were. She coaches in Turkey in the winter and said players across the leagues need a break.

    “You see a lot of players that lacked freshness. You can see it, any single team going from club season to WNBA, WNBA to national team,” Maljković said. “This year it’s very, very complicated. … Talking to players, they really suffered this season because of the tight schedule everywhere. I guess there will be smart people who will sit around the table and see what we can do about that.”

    Aside from the logistical issues, the World Cup was a huge success in Australia. The total attendance of 145,519 was the highest in the history of the competition. There were nearly 16,000 fans at the gold-medal game between the U.S. and China, which was the largest since the 1953 championship game played in Chile in a stadium that had 35,000 fans.

    “By all metrics, we have seen a tremendous effort by the hosts,” Zagklis said. “Record sales in merchandise, record attendances, fantastic atmosphere in the games, so it’s hard to challenge the conclusion that we’ve been able to experience the best World Cup ever.”

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    More AP women’s basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/womens-basketball and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

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  • Indonesian soccer fan recalls sting of tear gas before crush

    Indonesian soccer fan recalls sting of tear gas before crush

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    MALANG, Indonesia (AP) — Dicky Kurniawan felt the sharp sting in his eyes as Indonesian police fired tear gas into the football stadium.

    From his seat near an exit, he said he watched the melee unfold Saturday night as angry fans poured into the field to demand answers after host Arema FC of East Java’s Malang city lost to Persebaya Surabaya, its first defeat ever on its home turf. The mob threw bottles and other objects, and the violence spread outside the stadium, where police cars were overturned and torched.

    Kurniawan, 22, was shocked when police fired tear gas at spectators in the stands. As the stinging gas spread through the stadium, Kurniawan grabbed his girlfriend and — like everyone else — dashed to the exits.

    The mass rush led to a stampede that killed nearly three dozen people almost instantly. The death toll reached 125 and hundreds more were injured in one of the world’s deadliest tragedies at a sporting event. More than 40,000 spectators were at the match, all Arema fans because the organizer had banned Persebaya Surabaya supporters due to Indonesia’s history of violent soccer rivalries.

    “The chaos was on the field, but they fired the tear gas into the stadium stands,” Kurniawan said as he described the tragedy from his hospital bed. He received bruises on his face but said he was fortunate to survive.

    “Now I am done watching soccer in the stadium,” Kurniawan said.

    In the bed next to Kurniawan, teenager Farel Panji also had a lucky escape.

    Panji, 16, had just left his seat to go to the exit when the tear gas came. As people ran past him to get to the exit, Panji said he got pushed down by the crowd and collapsed.

    “I fainted for a while. When I woke up, I was still in the stadium seating area,” Panji said. He got home safely and was taken to the hospital the next day. Wearing an Arema jersey, Panji said Saturday’s incident did not stop him from loving the club.

    Malang’s Dr. Saiful Anwar General Hospital, one of several used to treat victims, was filled Sunday with grieving relatives waiting to identify bodies in the morgue or for information about their loves ones.

    Police say 323 people were injured in the crush, with some still in critical condition. At least 17 children were among the dead and seven other children are being treated at hospitals, according to the Ministry of Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection.

    Arema’s Chilean coach, Javier Roca, led the players and other officials in paying respect to the dead in a ceremony Monday.

    Wearing black shirts, the team gathered at the statue of a lion head outside Kanjuruhan Stadium. Dozens of Arema supporters also attended, and started to cry when the players poured rose petals around the statue and prayed together.

    “We came here as a team, asking forgiveness from the families impacted by this tragedy, those who lost their loves ones or the ones who are still being treated in the hospital,” Roca said.

    He said soccer violence must stop.

    “We feel like we got a punishment,” he said. “One match result is not worth paying with the lives of people, let alone more than 100 people.”

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  • Indonesia police chief, others removed over soccer disaster

    Indonesia police chief, others removed over soccer disaster

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    MALANG, Indonesia (AP) — An Indonesian police chief and nine elite officers were removed from their posts Monday and 18 others were being investigated for responsibility in the firing of tear gas inside a soccer stadium that set off a stampede, killing at least 125 people, officials said.

    Distraught family members were struggling to comprehend the loss of their loved ones, including 17 children, at the match in East Java’s Malang city that was attended only by hometown Arema FC fans. The organizer had banned supporters of the visiting team, Persebaya Surabaya, because of Indonesia’s history of violent soccer rivalries.

    The disaster Saturday night was among the deadliest ever at a sporting event.

    Arema players and officials laid wreaths Monday in front of the stadium.

    “We came here as a team asking forgiveness from the families impacted by this tragedy, those who lost their loves ones or the ones still being treated in the hospital,” head coach Javier Roca said.

    On Monday night, about a thousand soccer fans dressed in black shirts held a candlelight vigil at a soccer stadium in Jakarta’s satellite city of Bekasi to pray for the victims of the disaster.

    Witnesses said some of the 42,000 Arema fans ran onto the pitch in anger on Saturday after the team was defeated 3-2, its first loss at home against Persebaya in 23 years. Some threw bottles and other objects at players and soccer officials. At least five police vehicles were toppled and set ablaze outside the stadium.

    But most of the deaths occurred when riot police, trying to stop the violence, fired tear gas, including in the stands, triggering a disastrous stampede of fans making a panicked, chaotic run for the exits. Most of the 125 people who died were trampled or suffocated. The victims included two police officers.

    At least 17 children were among the dead and seven were being treated in hospitals, the Ministry of Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection said. Police said 323 people were injured in the crush, with some still in critical condition.

    National Police spokesperson Dedy Prasetyo said Malang police chief Ferli Hidayat had been removed along with nine members of an elite police mobile brigade and face possible dismissal in a police ethics trial.

    He said 18 officers responsible for firing the tear gas, ranging from middle- to high-ranking, were being investigated.

    Police are questioning witnesses and analyzing video from 32 security cameras inside and outside the stadium and nine cellphones owned by the victims as part of an investigation that will also identify suspected vandals, he said.

    The parents and other relatives of Faiqotul Hikmah, 22, wailed Monday when an ambulance arrived at their home with her body wrapped in white cloth and a black blanket. She died while fleeing to exit 12 at Kanjuruhan Stadium.

    A dozen friends had traveled with her to see the match, but Hikmah was one of only four who were able to enter the stadium because tickets were sold out, her friend, Abdul Mukid, said Monday. He later bought a ticket from a broker after hearing of the chaos inside the stadium in order to search for Hikman.

    “I have to find her, save her,” Mukid recalled thinking.

    Mukid found Hikmah’s body laid at a building in the stadium compound, with broken ribs and bluish bruises on her face. He learned that a second friend had also died from other friends who called him while he was in an ambulance taking Hikmah’s body to a hospital.

    “I can’t put into words how much my sorrow is to lose my sister,” said Nur Laila, Hikmah’s older sibling. “She was just a big Arema fan who wanted to watch her favorite team play. She shouldn’t die just for that,” she said, wiping away tears.

    President Joko Widodo ordered the premier soccer league suspended until safety is reevaluated and security tightened. Indonesia’s soccer association also banned Arema from hosting soccer matches for the rest of the season.

    Arema FC President Gilang Widya Pramana expressed his sadness and deepest apologies to the victims and the Indonesian people, and said he is ready to take full responsibility for the tragedy at his team’s stadium.

    He said the management, coach and players were in shock and speechless.

    “I am ready to provide assistance, even though it will not be able to return the victims’ lives,” Pramana said at a news conference Monday at Arema’s headquarters in Malang.

    “This incident was beyond prediction, beyond reason … in a match watched only by our fans, not a single rival supporter,” he said, sobbing. “How can that match kill more than 100 people?”

    He said Arema FC is ready to accept any sanctions from Indonesia’s Soccer Association and the government, and “hopefully, it will be a very valuable lesson.”

    Security Minister Mohammad Mahfud said he will lead an inquiry that will examine law violations in the disaster and provide recommendations to the president to improve soccer safety. The investigation is to be completed in three weeks.

    Mahfud instructed the national police and military chiefs to punish those who committed crimes and actions that triggered the stampede.

    “The government urged the national police to evaluate their security procedures,” Mahfud said at a news conference.

    Rights group Amnesty International urged Indonesia to investigate the use of tear gas and ensure that those found responsible are tried in open court. While FIFA has no control over domestic games, it has advised against the use of tear gas at soccer stadiums.

    Despite Indonesia’s lack of international prominence in the sport, hooliganism is rife in the soccer-obsessed country where fanaticism often ends in violence. Data from Indonesia’s soccer watchdog, Save Our Soccer, showed 78 people have died in game-related incidents over the past 28 years.

    Saturday’s game was among the world’s worst crowd disasters in sports, including a 1996 World Cup qualifier between Guatemala and Costa Rica in Guatemala City in which over 80 died and more than 100 were injured. In April 2001, more than 40 people were crushed to death during a soccer match at Ellis Park in Johannesburg, South Africa. In February 2012, 74 people were killed and more than 500 injured after a match between rivals al-Masry and al-Ahly when thousands of al-Masry fans invaded the field and attacked visiting supporters. The Egyptian league was suspended for two years as a result.

    ___

    Associated Press writer Niniek Karmini in Jakarta, Indonesia, contributed to this report.

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  • Qinwen, Samsonova set up China-Russia tennis final in Tokyo

    Qinwen, Samsonova set up China-Russia tennis final in Tokyo

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    TOKYO (AP) —

    Rising teenager Zheng Qinwen continued her winning run at the Toray Pan Pacific tournament on Saturday, beating the sole remaining seed Veronika Kudermetova 5-7, 6-3, 7-6 (7-3) in the semifinals at the Ariake Coliseum.

    In another Chinese-Russian matchup, unseeded Liudmila Samsonova overcame Zhang Shuai 7-6 (7-4), 6-2.

    In a match that lasted a little over three hours, Qinwen and fourth-seeded Kudermetova traded huge ground shots, big serves and plenty of errors as they pushed each other to the limits.

    Qinwen, who ousted top seed Paula Badosa in the second round, had an early advantage after breaking Kudermetova in the fourth game, but the Russian player stayed on track and broke the 19-year-old Chinese in the seventh and ninth games to secure the set.

    There was just one break of serve in the remainder of the match when an error by Kudermetova gave Qinwen the advantage in the second set.

    Qinwen had to save herself on many occasions, but her errors were often matched by great recoveries. The grueling match started to take its toll on Kudermetova and she needed a medical timeout for an arm problem after going 6-5 up in the final set.

    World No. 36 Qinwen then served to love to set up the tiebreak and errors by Kudermetova, including a double-fault at 2-5, saw the Russian’s hopes of reaching the final unfold.

    Qinwen, who will be in her first final, will need to be much more efficient to beat Samsonova, especially on her own service games. She had eight aces to Kudermetova’s six but 24 more second serves than her opponent.

    “I feel so amazing to arrive in the final,” Qinwen said. “Today was a really, really difficult match. Every point was so important and there were a lot of emotions. My opponent played really good. She has a good serve and really good baseline shots and it was not easy.”

    Samsonova, who won two tournaments and reached the fourth round of the U.S. Open in August, sent down an early message in her first service game against Shuai with a couple of aces that topped 180 kph.

    She broke the 33-year-old Chinese in the next game with some powerful ground strokes. But she was also broken in her second service game after some unforced errors, recovering to win her next two service games to love.

    World No. 28 Shuai played steady tennis but the 30th-ranked Samsonova’s errors kept the match even as the set headed to a tiebreak. A blistering forehand into the right corner gave her setpoint and she took the first set with one of her 13 aces.

    After breaking Samsonova in the first game of the second set, Shuai then blew a 40-0 lead in the next game and lost her own serve.

    Shuai didn’t look to have any answers as the 23-year-old Russian upped her game and she was broken in her final two service games, effectively ending the contest.

    “I didn’t expect this at all,” said Samsonova, who beat Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina in the first round and third seed Garbine Muguruza in the quarterfinals. “I came here to try to play my best and I’m in the final.

    “It’s amazing. It was a very mental game because she was playing amazing so I tried to stay in there and play with her game. It was tough, but in the tiebreak I think I played better.”

    Shuai is confident compatriot Qinwen is destined for greater things. “For sure some day she’ll win a Grand Slam,” she said. “When I played her, I couldn’t find where I could win points. Most of the time when you play someone, you find a way to play someone, you find a way to win points but with her, no way. She’s strong from both sides and has a big serve.”

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    More AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

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