LONDON: Petr Cech will bring down the curtain on a glittering playing career in strange circumstances as the Arsenal goalkeeper faces his former and potentially future employers Chelsea in the Europa League final on Wednesday. Cech, 37, enjoyed the best years of his career at Stamford Bridge, winning 13 trophies including four Premier League titles and the Champions League in 11 seasons with Chelsea before moving across London to Arsenal in 2015. And his close relationship with Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich looks set to see him return to the Blues in the coming weeks as the club’s new sporting director. Cech lost his status as Arsenal’s number one during Unai Emery’s first season in charge, with Bernd Leno taking over in the Premier League since September, but the Czech veteran has started all of Arsenal’s knockout games to reach the Europa League final. The success of Arsenal’s season depends not only on lifting a first European trophy for 25 years in … [Read more...] about Cech hopes to haunt Chelsea in Europa League final farewell
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In China, Go players rise to the challenge
During her preschool and kindergarten years, Zhu Ruitian, like most of her peers in Chinese cities and towns, took extracurricular classes to learn English, piano, fencing and the abstract strategic board game Go. But since she began elementary school two years ago, the second-grader has had less time and interest in taking so many classes. In addition to taking extracurricular lessons in English, which is considered a must-have language to remain competitive among her peers, Go is now the only other activity the 8-year-old devotes her spare time to. The ancient board game was chosen in preference to piano and fencing because Zhu’s mother, surnamed Chen, believes it can stimulate the mind and help develop her daughter’s reasoning ability. “Of course, above all, it is because Ruitian loves it,” Chen said. “I think that compared with other hobbies, it is more engaging as it requires two people to play, which is good for an only child like Ruitian. Moreover, … [Read more...] about In China, Go players rise to the challenge