Best of the Rest
Ulsan beat Yokohama:
Lee Donggyeong’s first-half goal gave South Korean club Ulsan HD a 1-0 win over Japan’s Yokohama F.Marinos in the first leg of their Asian Champions League semifinal on Wednesday.
The win not only gives Ulsan the edge going into the second leg in Japan next Wednesday but also sends it to the inaugural 32-team Club World Cup in the United States next year as one of Asia’s four teams at the lucrative monthlong tournament.
Urawa Reds of Japan and Saudi Arabia’s Al-Hilal have already booked their places as the last two winners of Asia’s premier club tournament along with European giants such as Real Madrid, Manchester City and Bayern Munich.
Lee scored in the 19th minute from just inside the area, and the host came close to adding to its lead as Joo Min-kyu hit the post twice.
Yokohama, coached by former Leeds and Liverpool forward Harry Kewell, is appearing at the semifinal stage in Asia for the first time. (AP)
❑ ❑ ❑ Results under investigation:
Organizers are investigating a half marathon race in Beijing after three African runners appeared to let China’s top long-distance runner move ahead of them shortly before the finish line and sprint to victory, sparking public speculation that the result was rigged.
There was a flood of public reaction online expressing suspicion about the race after video from the final moments of Sunday’s Mengniu Beijing Half Marathon circulated online. On Monday, organizers of the race issued a statement saying they would investigate the results.
“The organizing committee attaches great importance to the issue raised by netizens about the results of the (race),” organizers said. “A special investigation team has been set up to conduct an investigation, and the results of the investigation will be released to the public in a timely fashion.”
The Beijing Sports Bureau, which was in charge of the race, did not respond to a request for comment.
He Jie, who won the marathon at the Asian Games and holds the Chinese national record in the event, was trailing behind three runners from Kenya and Ethiopia as they approached the finish line. One of the runners then seems to gesture for the others to slow down as He moves in front and sprints to the finish line.
One of the other runners, Willy Mnangat of Kenya, told BBC Sport Africa that they allowed He to win but that they had been hired to serve as pacemakers and were not competing to win the race. However, all three had entered the race as official competitors rather than as pacemakers.
“I was not there to compete,” Mnangat was quoted as saying. “My job was to set the pace and help the guy win but unfortunately, he did not achieve the target, which was to break the national record.”
He finished with a time of 1 hour, 3 minutes, 44 seconds, which was more than a minute slower than the Chinese half marathon record. (AP)
❑ ❑ ❑ Banda joins teammates:
Forward Barbra Banda has officially joined the Orlando Pride after helping Zambia secure a spot in the Summer Olympics.
The Pride acquired Banda last month for a team-record transfer fee of $740,000 from Chinese Women’s Super League club Shanghai Shengli FC. She finally arrived in Orlando over the weekend and was greeted at the airport by fans.
After her first practice Tuesday, she praised the National Women’s Soccer League and suggested she’ll fit in well with the Pride.
“I think the league is quite good. I’ve been following it from way back,” she said. “I think it’s a very interesting league, very strong. All the teams are very physical, fast. So I think it’s good for myself to improve.”
Before coming to America, Banda was on international duty with Zambia. She scored twice - including a penalty in extra time - in the second leg of the team’s victory over Morocco for one of Africa’s two spots in the Olympics. Nigeria earned the other berth.
The Paris Games will mark Zambia’s second Olympic appearance. The Copper Queens also played in Tokyo and Banda became a breakout star as the first player ever to score hat tricks in consecutive games. (AP)