Horrible outing for badminton squads

Both Singapore sides were yesterday knocked out of the Badminton Asia Team Championships after second straight 5-0 group-stage thrashings in Alor Setar, Kedah in Malaysia.

The men were whitewashed by China after losing to Hong Kong on Monday, while the women crashed to China following their defeat by Indonesia. Both teams return without winning a single match.

The Republic's hopes of making it to the Thomas and Uber Cup finals in May are over, as the event served as the regional qualifiers.

Swansea earn boss an intriguing return

LONDON • Swansea racked up the biggest FA Cup win in their football history with an 8-1 thrashing of Notts County in Tuesday's fourth-round replay.

The win means manager Carlos Carvalhal will make a fifth-round trip to Sheffield Wednesday, the Championship club who sacked him earlier this term.

Huddersfield will face Manchester United in the fifth round after winning 4-1 at second-tier Birmingham after extra time.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

West Ham sign Evra to beef up defence

LONDON • West Ham announced the signing of former France captain Patrice Evra on a free transfer yesterday.

The 36-year-old, who had his contract with Marseille terminated by mutual consent in November after the defender aimed a kick at one of the club's fans before a match, passed his medical at the London Stadium yesterday and West Ham revealed on Twitter that he had inked a deal until the end of the season.

THE GUARDIAN