RIYADH: The trailblazing Nada Abo Alnaja said she was “truly overwhelmed” after becoming the first Saudi Arabian woman to compete on the Professional Squash Association (PSA) World Tour.
Alnaja, a wildcard for the event in Riyadh, was pitched against world No. 3 Camille Serme, who reached the semifinals of last month’s PSA Women’s World Championship, in round one and although she lost in straights, the appearance in the first ever women’s professional squash tournament to be held in Saudi Arabia will live long in the memory.
“Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined I would one day stand here, in front of a Saudi crowd, playing Camille, in front of Nour [El-Sherbini] and all the top players,” Alnaja told the PSA website. “I’m truly overwhelmed, I don’t realize I think what just happened, and it will take some time to sink in … I enjoyed every minute of this match, I just hope I can get better, but I couldn’t hope for a better match. I want to thank Camille for allowing me to play, I know she was very nice to me today.”
Serme, the No 2 seed for the $165,000 event, was thrilled to be part of history at the Princess Nora bint Abdul Rahman University in Riyadh.
“It’s such an honor to play against the first ever [female] Saudi player and to live through that historical moment,” said Serme. “I hope she is going to keep on playing and make more and more tournaments.”
Saudi Arabian businessman Ziad Al-Turki is the chairman of the Professional Squash Association, and he felt Alnaja’s participation represented a landmark day for the sport and the Kingdom.
“So proud of Nada Aboalnaja today,” he tweeted. “Her 1st ever #psaworldtour match, with so much riding on her shoulders. KSA pride!”
Her appearance at the PSA event is the culmination of years of hard work for Abo Alnaja. The 32-year-old trains once, sometimes twice, a day and is continually fine tuning her game under the guidance of French coach Fabien Polly after initially teaching herself how to play.
“I started to play squash and I realize that it was a great way to get fit, but also it gave me the motivation I needed in the gym,” Alnaja said. “I just couldn’t go and do exercises: I needed a reason to go to the gym. Squash gave me that goal, that motivation.”
Alnaja hopes the staging of the maiden ranking event in Riyadh helps to raise the profile of the sport in the Kingdom and leads to a raising of standards and the breaking down of barriers.
“Playing squash in Saudi for a woman is a bit challenging, we have a long way to go to take Saudia Arabia to the next level,” she said. “We need to bring in here the expertise from abroad, we need coaches, we need clubs, we need courts. But you know, when I was hitting the ball for hours in my club in Jeddah, looking like a crazy woman, never would I have imagined where it would take me. So the lesson is: ladies, whatever it is, if you love something, whatever activity, make up, clothes, if you love it enough, just do it, just put all your energy in it, because you never know where it may take you.”
Saudi squash ace ‘overwhelmed’ to play in Riyadh in PSA tour event
Saudi squash ace ‘overwhelmed’ to play in Riyadh in PSA tour event
Chennai coach Fleming struggles to find the balance after third straight loss
- Chennai’s top order collapsed as they lost three wickets in the first six overs after Delhi Capitals had posted 183-6 on Saturday
Chennai Super Kings coach Stephen Fleming said they have yet to get the balance right at the top of the order after they slipped to a third straight loss in the Indian Premier League while chasing after poor starts in the powerplay.
Chennai’s top order collapsed as they lost three wickets in the first six overs after Delhi Capitals had posted 183-6 on Saturday.
An unbeaten 84-run partnership between Vijay Shankar (69 off 54) and Mahendra Singh Dhoni (30 off 26) for the sixth wicket was not enough to get the hosts over the line as Delhi won by 25 runs.
The defeat mirrored Chennai’s previous two matches, where they also scored less than eight runs per over in the powerplay.
Fleming told reporters that finding the balance was a “conundrum.”
“To get more solidity at the top we have to remove, obviously, an overseas player, so we’re grappling just with the combination that we need,” Fleming said.
IPL rules allow only four overseas players in the playing 11.
Chennai openers Rachin Ravindra and Devon Conway are both overseas players, while overseas bowlers Noor Ahmad and Matheesha Pathirana are among their top-three wicket-takers this season, leaving Fleming with a difficult choice.
Fleming also said Chennai had to improve during powerplays.
“We felt that our batting in the powerplays has been below par and going too hard was probably not the way, particularly on our wicket, which is a little bit tricky,” he said.
“So we’re looking just to settle that with guys that have been in good form and have done it before, so that’s the theory behind that and that’s what we’ll possibly continue with.”
Max Verstappen wins the Japanese Grand Prix for his first victory of the Formula 1 season
- The four-time defending Formula 1 champion, Verstappen started from pole position after setting a course-record time in qualifying
- Norris placed second and Piastri was third
SUZUKA: Max Verstappen of Red Bull won Sunday’s Japanese Grand Prix and broke a “mini-slump” of only two wins in his previous 16 races.
It was his 64th career win. It was the Dutchman’s fourth straight victory on the Suzuka circuit in central Japan and breaks the momentum of the McLarens of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, who won the season’s first two races in Melbourne, Australia, and Shanghai, China.
The four-time defending Formula 1 champion, Verstappen started from pole position after setting a course-record time in qualifying, which he called “insane.” Norris placed second and Piastri was third. The track was dry despite rain earlier in the day
Coach hails Valencia’s resilience after first win at Real Madrid since 2008
- Hugo Duro netted the winner in added time as Valencia moved seven points clear of the relegation zone with their shock 2-1 victory
Valencia coach Carlos Corberan said his side had shown terrific mental strength in securing their first win at Real Madrid since 2008 on Saturday.
Hugo Duro netted the winner in added time as Valencia moved seven points clear of the relegation zone with their shock 2-1 victory.
Corberan praised his players for not letting their heads drop after Vinicius Junior equalized for the hosts five minutes after the break, canceling out Valencia’s first-half lead from Mouctar Diakhaby’s goal.
“They competed with the necessary personality and mental strength to overcome any setback,” Corberan told reporters.
“In football, you can’t separate the emotional from the tactical. It’s impossible.
“Faced with a setback like Real Madrid’s goal, at a place where they’ve made comebacks before, having the mental strength to pick ourselves up, not let our heads drop and keep believing has been extremely important.”
(Reporting by Chiranjit Ojha in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Rutherford )
Briton Hudson-Smith crowned Grand Slam’s first champion, Bednarek dominates
- The start-up’s super-sized purses have lured some of the sport’s top competitors, including 200m Olympic champion Gabby Thomas and 400m hurdles world record holder Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone
- Ethiopia’s world silver medalist Diribe Welteji surged through the final turn of the 1,500m to win in 4:04.51 and clinch the women’s short distance group
KINGSTON: Briton Matthew Hudson-Smith was crowned Grand Slam Track’s first-ever Grand Slam champion in the men’s long sprints group on Saturday, as he won the 200 meters on day two of the novel circuit’s debut meet in Kingston, Jamaica.
Hudson-Smith was second in the standings after Friday’s 400m and he won the group outright with a total of 20 points after reeling in the field in the back half of the shorter distance on Saturday, crossing the line in 20.77 seconds.
“Great to get the first one, I’m really excited and grateful,” the Paris 400m silver medalist said in televised remarks, as he leaves Kingston $100,000 (77,579.52 pounds) richer.
“I’m getting to the end of my career so it’s time to start saving,” the 30-year-old said.
American Kenny Bednarek, a twice Olympic champion, built up an enormous lead around the turn and stumbled through the tape to win the 200m in 20.07, three-tenths of a second ahead of Briton Zharnel Hughes, and clinch the men’s short sprints slam.
He won Friday’s 100m as well, for a point total of 24.
The new circuit fronted by retired American sprinter Michael Johnson, a four-time Olympic gold medalist, off its first of four meets this week with an aim of making Grand Slam Track the “Formula One of athlete racing.”
Athletes in 12 groups — men’s and women’s short sprints, long sprints, short hurdles, long hurdles, short distance and long distance — compete over two races per meet with the point totals from those runs determining the champion of each group.
The start-up’s super-sized purses have lured some of the sport’s top competitors, including 200m Olympic champion Gabby Thomas and 400m hurdles world record holder Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, who each notched wins on the meet’s opening day.
The trickier task, so far, has been filling the stands at Kingston’s National Stadium, as empty seats were abundant on Saturday after online critics slammed Friday’s even more sparsely attended opening night.
Thomas finished first in Friday’s 200m and was crowned the slam champion for the women’s longer sprints after finishing second in the 400m on Saturday in 49.14 behind Bahrain’s Olympic silver medalist Salwa Eid Naser (48.67), for 20 points total.
“I’m not sure I’ve ever been more tired in my life,” said Thomas, who nearly let the second-place spot slip through her fingers in the final meters under threat from the Olympic champion Marileidy Paulino (49.35).
“I heard them on the home stretch — ‘$100,000 on the line’ — and so it really motivated me.”
Ethiopia’s world silver medalist Diribe Welteji surged through the final turn of the 1,500m to win in 4:04.51 and clinch the women’s short distance group, after notching a second-place finish in Friday’s 800m race.
Kenya’s 800m Olympic champion Emmanuel Wanyonyi provided one of the more entertaining finishes of the night as he held off all three of the men’s 1,500m Paris podium finishers down the final straight in the metric mile in 3:35.18.
Americans Yared Nuguse (3:35.36) and Cole Hocker (3:35.52) will hope to make up ground when they compete in Sunday’s 800m.
The Kingston Grand Slam Track meet ends on Sunday.
Barcelona held by Betis, miss chance to extend league lead
- The draw moves Hansi Flick’s Barca on to 67 points, four ahead of rivals Real Madrid who slumped to a 2-1 defeat at home by Valencia earlier on Saturday
- Gavi: If we won we would be higher up the table, but in the end it’s football
BARCELONA: Barcelona spurned the chance to extend their lead at the top of the LaLiga standings when they were held at home 1-1 by Real Betis on Saturday, with visiting defender Natan canceling out Gavi’s early opener.
The draw moves Hansi Flick’s Barca on to 67 points, four ahead of rivals Real Madrid who slumped to a 2-1 defeat at home by Valencia earlier on Saturday, while Betis climbed to fifth on 48 points.
The hosts had been given further motivation by Real’s shocking loss and had a great start when Gavi opened the scoring from close range, brilliantly assisted by Ferran Torres in a great team play seven minutes after kickoff.
However, Natan headed the equalizer from a corner in the 17th minute and though they dominated, Barca could not find a way past 38-year-old goalkeeper Adrian who made a string of saves later on to frustrate the hosts.
Adrian’s brilliant performance started even before Barca opened the scoring, when he palmed away Pedri’s strike from inside the box, but there was nothing he could do to keep Gavi from scoring moments later.
Barca kept up the pressure after taking the lead but Betis equalized from a Giovanni lo Celso corner which Natan jumped higher than defender Ronald Araujo to meet and head into the back of the net.
Adrian came to the rescue again as he made a stunning one-handed save from a Lamine Yamal curling strike from inside the box in the 38th minute.
Coach Hansi Flick subbed on Raphinha in the second half and Barca came back even stronger, dominating more than 75 percent of possession but wasting too many chances.
The Brazilian forward was a constant menace and missed with a curling strike from the edge of the box, with Adrian making two great efforts to deny a Jules Kounde strike in the 55th minute and a Fermin Lopez shot in the 85th.
“If we won we would be higher up the table, but in the end it’s football,” Gavi told Movistar Plus.
“We’re bitter about the result, because we couldn’t take advantage of the chances we had throughout the match, but we have to accept it and move on.”
