Sport: FC Zurich fines Gnonto

Soccer: St. Gallen in the cup semifinals

(sda) FC St. Gallen qualified 2-1 at Etoile Carouge for the cup semi-finals. The eastern Swiss do not easily live up to their role as favorites against the team from the Promotion League.

FC St. Gallen at Etoile Carouge didn’t go without trembling either. After Winterthur and FC Basel, the Geneva team, who only belong to the extended midfield in the championship, also swayed the eastern Swiss side. But it wasn’t enough for another coup. Christian Konan’s 1:2 in the 81st minute didn’t have the desired effect. The final furioso of the hosts did not materialize.

With a bit of luck, the St. Gallen could have saved themselves the nervous strain towards the end. After Lukas Görtler made it 1-0 in the 23rd minute, Bastien Toma failed twice at the edge of the goal in the final minutes before the break.

Etoile Carouge was repeatedly dangerous in the second half, driven by the noisy supporters at the Stade de la Fontenette. But it was St. Gallen that struck first in the second half (66th) thanks to the YB loan that had just been substituted on by Alexandre Jankewitz.

Etoile Carouge 1-2 St Gallen (0:1) – Goals: 23. Görtler 0:1. 66. Jankewitz 0: 2. 81. Konan 1:2.

Football: Luzerner victory against third division

(sda) In the cup, FC Luzern remains on course for success. The defending champion showed no weaknesses in the quarterfinals against the third division team Biel and won 5-0.

In the Super League, FC Luzern has won only once this season and has not been able to reverse the trend under new coach Mario Frick. The Liechtensteiner has now achieved a victory in the cup, which not only brings him to the semi-finals, but could also rub off on the Super League operation.

Lucerne played dominantly from the first minute and there was never any doubt about the winner. Three players, Lorik Emini, Dejan Sorgic and Samuele Campo, who did not start on Sunday against Lugano, proved to be decisive. New signing Mohamed Dräger scored the fifth goal in injury time in the first half to make it 3-0.

Biel, who last played in the league at the beginning of December, never really got into the game and ended up having to play damage limitation with ten men. In the 80th minute, former international François Affolter saw the red card for an emergency brake.

Biel – Lucerne 0:5 (0:3) – Goals: 12. Emini 0:1. 43. Sorgic 0-2. 45. Drager 0:3. 68 Campo 0-4. 82. Emily 0-5.

Tennis: Belinda Bencic easily in the quarterfinals

(sda) At the WTA 500 tennis tournament in St. Petersburg, Belinda Bencic is in the quarterfinals. The 24-year-old beats the Slovenian Kaja Juvan 6: 1 and 7: 6.

After winning the starting set, in which Belinda Bencic (WTA 24) had been able to take the serve three times from her opponent, who had qualified for the tournament, the task became more complicated. Bencic gave up her third game in the second set, but managed the re-break to make it 4:4. Juvan then fought his way into the tiebreak, where Bencic was finally able to use her first match point after 80 minutes. For the Swiss, the first victory is in the second encounter with the 21-year-old Slovenian. The only duel so far had won them 6: 3 and 6: 3 in the first round of Wimbledon 2021.

Estonian Anett Kontaveit is now waiting in the quarter-finals on Friday. Bencic has lost twice to world number 9, who is seeded at number 2, most recently in September 2021 in Ostrava, Czech Republic.

Formula 1: Verstappen unveils the new Red Bull car

(sda/dpa) Max Verstappen presented the new racing car for the upcoming Formula 1 season 59 days after winning the world championship. The RB18 was presented online in Milton Keynes, UK on Wednesday. “I’m just looking forward to sitting in the car and driving,” said Verstappen: “I feel good, but a lot is unknown about the new car. That’s why I’m also curious to see how the new car drives.”

Due to the rule changes, which are intended to make overtaking easier and thus ensure even more spectacle on the tracks, the look of the new Red Bull has also changed significantly compared to the 2021 model. The simplified front and rear wings as well as the wings over the front wheels are striking. The tires have gotten bigger. Verstappen commented that it would be more difficult to hit the apex in the curves.

Football: Chelsea thanks to Lukaku in the final

(sda) Chelsea have qualified for the Club World Cup final for the second time. The Champions League winners beat Al Hilal Riyadh 1-0 in the semi-finals in Abu Dhabi and will play Palmeiras’ Brazilians for the title on Saturday.

Romelu Lukaku scored the only goal of the game in the 32nd minute. Chelsea clearly dominated the action for an hour and should have been in the lead up to that point. The German Kai Havertz hit the post in the 48th minute. The challenger from Saudi Arabia had his best phase after a good hour with some finishes.

Chelsea lost in the 2012 Club World Cup final to the Corinthians, who, like Palmeiras, are based in São Paulo. It was the last time that the title didn’t go to the European entrant.

Ice hockey: Hischier with the Devils away win with tenth goal of the season

(sda) The New Jersey Devils can still win in the NHL. After the last seven defeats in a row, the team wins away against the Montreal Canadiens 7:1. Captain Nico Hischier made it 3-1 in the 30th minute. The Valaisian has 26 scorer points (ten goals) so far this season.

Nino Niederreiter recorded an assist in Carolina’s 4-3 away loss in Ottawa. The Senators were already leading 4-0 after two periods. On the other hand, the impressive series of Kevin Fiala, who always scored at least one scorer point in twelve games in a row, came to an end. The forward lost 2-0 away to the Winnipeg Jets with the Minnesota Wild winning six games in a row.

Tennis: Ex-US Open winner del Potro stops

(dpa) Before his last service game he burst into tears, after the match point he hung his famous headband on the edge of the net and gave an interview crying. Argentinian Juan Martin del Potro, one of the few tennis professionals to break the Grand Slam dominance of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray in recent years, has declared his career over.

In the first round of the ATP tournament in Buenos Aires, the 33-year-old celebrated his comeback and farewell. After a break of almost 1000 days, the 2009 US Open winner returned to the field after countless injuries.

Del Potro lost 1: 6, 3: 6 against his compatriot Federico Delbonis and then said: «I will remember this moment for the rest of my life. I have fulfilled all my dreams in tennis and the most important trophy is the affection of the people. Now I’m reassured because my last game was probably on the pitch and not in a press conference.” When asked if he would compete in the tournament in Rio next week, he said: “No.”

In addition to the US Open title in 2009, his greatest successes also include Olympic bronze in 2012 in London and silver in 2016 in Rio de Janeiro. He won the Davis Cup with the Argentine Davis Cup team in 2016.

Soccer: Uli Fortes Yverdon is in the cup semifinals

(sda) Yverdon beats Lausanne-Sport 1-0 after a fighting performance and is in the semi-finals of the Swiss Cup. Steve Beleck scored the golden goal.

Yverdon has done it again. After the dramatic triumph in the penalty shoot-out against FC Zurich in the round of 16 at the end of October (13:12), the Challenge League club beat the next club in the Super League. Coach Uli Forte’s team, currently in 5th place in the balanced league, showed a committed performance on Tuesday at the start of the cup quarter-finals and put the top-class opponents under pressure. After 22 minutes, Lausanne’s Nassim Zoukit only managed to get by with a foul in the penalty area. Striker Beleck converted the penalty effortlessly and sent goalie Mory Diaw into the wrong corner.

As a result, the Lausanne team tried to react under their new coach Alain Casanova, but they couldn’t hide the fact that they had lost their self-confidence due to the lack of success in the league. Rodrigo Pollero missed several times from a promising position against the strong Kevin Martin in Yverdon’s goal, and the rush in the final minutes went unrewarded.

So while Lausanne-Sport suffers another setback, Yverdon is among the last four in the cup competition for the first time since 2001. At that time, the path even led to the final, in which Servette should have the upper hand (0:3).

Swiss Cup. Quarterfinals. Result from Tuesday: Yverdon – Lausanne Sport 1:0.

Wednesday: Etoile Carouge (PL) – St. Gallen (8 p.m.). Biel (PL) – Lucerne (8.30 p.m.). – Thursday: Thun – Lugano (6.30 p.m.).

The draw for the semi-finals will take place on Thursday after the Thun-Lugano game (to be seen on SRF Info).

Soccer: FCZ fines Gnonto for an Instagram post

currently · As announced by FC Zurich, it has “sanctioned its player Wilfried Gnonto with a sensitive fine”. After the derby victory against the Grasshopper Club, Gnonto briefly published an inappropriate meme in addition to numerous Instagram stories, which was then deleted after ten minutes.

FC Zurich continues to write that its players are obliged to exercise the greatest caution and common sense when using social media channels, and that any kind of inappropriate posts or comments are strictly prohibited.

Triathlon: Nicola Spirig misses the start of the season due to a training fall

(sda) Triathlon Olympic champion Nicola Spirig fell on a training bike ride along Lake Zurich on Sunday. The 40-year-old suffered two broken ribs and a broken collarbone. Spirig underwent a successful operation on Tuesday, but will only be able to train to a limited extent in the next six weeks. As a result, the Zurich native will not be able to start the season at the Ironman in Dubai on March 5 as planned.