A total of 148 athletes will compete across 22 sports
Updated 26 July 2024
Arab News
Riyadh: Egypt is set to field its largest ever team at the Paris Olympics, which get underway on Friday.
Speaking at a press event on Tuesday, Minister of Youth and Sports Ashraf Sobhy said Egypt had spared no effort in providing its athletes with the resources they needed to qualify for the Games and as a result it had the biggest team of any Arab or African nation.
A total of 148 athletes will compete across 22 sports. The team also features 16 reserves.
Sobhy said he was hoping for a record medals haul “to crown the efforts of the country in providing full support to our sports champions.”
Trump, Williams reach final of Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters
Top seed Judd Trump will take on 3-time world champion Mark Williams on Saturday
Updated 07 September 2024
Arab News
RIYADH: Top seed and tournament favorite Judd Trump will take on Mark Williams in the Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters final on Saturday night at the Green Halls in Riyadh after victories over Shaun Murphy and Si Jiahui respectively.
On the penultimate day of this year’s inaugural event, billed as “The Battle on the Baize,” Trump and Williams reached the final after coming through two tight contests on Friday.
The world No. 1 Trump went into a 3-0 lead, but Murphy came back strongly by taking the fourth frame with a 65 break before clinching the fifth on the final black ball.
Trump twice regained a two-frame advantage thereafter, leading 4-2 and 5-3 before Murphy leveled the match at 5-5 to force a decider.
In a tense final frame where both had opportunities to take frame and match, Trump capitalized on an uncharacteristic Murphy miss on the last green to seal victory and reach a 46th ranking event final.
“That was a very tough semifinal,” Trump said. “He fought back well and at one point looked like he would win. I let it slip away at times, and when you miss those chances sometimes you get punished.
“I managed to get over the line in the end with a bit of drama and I’m looking forward to tomorrow. It will be a great occasion and a great final for the fans.”
Awaiting “The Ace in the Pack” in Saturday’s best-of-19 showpiece is Welshman Williams, who defeated Chinese wonderkid Si 6-3.
The world No. 9 reeled off four successive frames after going one behind to the 22-year-old, leading 4-1 before eventually closing out the match 6-3.
In another high-quality semifinal, Williams — who will appear in the 42nd ranking event final of his career — made four half-century breaks, with his opponent knocking in breaks of 109 and 136.
The first ever Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters final takes place over two sessions on Saturday, starting at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m., crowning the inaugural champion of snooker’s first international major in Riyadh.
Al-Nassr star Ronaldo calls Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea his ‘second home’, describes AlUla as ‘spiritual’
Updated 07 September 2024
Arab News
DUBAI: Portuguese football star Ronaldo, who plays for Al-Nassr, said that it was easy for him and his family adapting to Saudi Arabia after signing with the Saudi football club to a two-and-a-half-year contract.
“To be honest, I am really happy to be there [Saudi Arabia],” Ronaldo said in an interview former Portuguese footballer, Rio Ferdinand.
“For me the adaptation was easy, and I really love it to be there,” he said. “It is a lovely country; I love to be there; my family loves to be there.”
Ronaldo was one of the first top-name recruits to the Saudi Pro League at the start of 2023, which paved the way for entry of other big-league players from Europe.
The five-time Ballon d’Or winner began his club career with Portuguese side Sporting CP before joining Manchester United in 2003. Ronaldo moved to Spanish La Liga giants Real Madrid after six seasons at United. He then played for two years with Juventus before making a return to the Red Devils in 2021 where he played until 2023, before departing for the Saudi Pro League.
Ronaldo became the first man to score 900 career goals after tapping in the ball at the 34th minute of Portugal’s UEFA Nations League group stage match against Croatia in Lisbon, which they won 2-1.
The Portuguese football star called Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea his “second house,” adding that he loves to spend time there with his family.
“The Red Sea which is my second home or [even my] first home is unbelievable like a diamond,” he said, adding that it is “one of the most beautiful places” he has ever been to.
Above, Ronaldo and his partner Georgina Rodriguez explore AlUla. (Instagram: @georginagio)
Ronaldo also spoke on AlUla, an increasingly famous tourist spot in Saudi Arabia’s northwest located near two oases, Khaybar and Tayma.
“It is beautiful because it is spiritual, you can feel the energy there. I felt it as well, to be honest,” the Portuguese star said.
“Even in the mountains they have snow. People in Saudi [Arabia]? Yes, they have snow. They have everything, so it is a lovely country.”
England’s Mark Wood out for 2024 with elbow injury, to miss Pakistan Test series
The 34-year-old pacer says he needs time to rest, fully expects ‘to be back and firing in early 2025’
Wood aims to return for England’s white-ball tour of India, the ICC Champions Trophy in Pakistan
Updated 07 September 2024
AFP
LONDON: England fast bowler Mark Wood said Friday it was “rubbish news” he had been ruled out for the rest of the year with a right elbow injury.
The 34-year-old express quick had already been sidelined from the concluding two matches of England’s three-Test series against Sri Lanka after suffering a right thigh muscle strain while bowling in the series opener at Old Trafford.
But Friday’s statement from the England and Wales Cricket Board said Wood, a key member of England’s squad as they build toward next year’s Ashes in Australia despite a career blighted by ankle and back problems, had noticed increasing stiffness and discomfort in his elbow during the Test series against the West Indies earlier in the season.
It added Wood had “managed the discomfort” while bowling in Manchester, where England won by five wickets in a Sri Lanka series they are now looking to wrap up with a 3-0 clean sweep in the ongoing third Test at the Oval.
Wood will now miss England’s upcoming three-Test tours of both Pakistan in October and New Zealand in December.
“During what I thought was a routine check on a previously troublesome elbow, I was shocked to learn I’ve got some bone stress in my right elbow,” Wood wrote on Instagram.
“Me and the medical team felt it was a good time to get my elbow looked at as it was a bit irritated. I’d put that down to the normal niggles every fast bowler gets and which I was playing through.”
He added: “I work incredibly hard on my fitness, putting in extra work with coaches and physios making this even more disappointing. I will miss the rest of the year, needing time to rest and build up, (I’m) fully expecting to be back and firing in early 2025.
“I have been down this path before and will put in all the hard yards behind the scenes. I am very proud to represent my country and there is no better feeling. See you for some rockets in 2025!”
The ECB said Wood would aim to return in time for England’s white-ball tour of India and the ICC Champions Trophy in Pakistan, scheduled to begin in February 2025.
Napheesa Collier scores 26 and Lynx overcome Caitlin Clark’s 25-point night for 99-88 win over Fever
After trailing 50-45 at halftime, the Lynx bounced back to snap the Fever’s five-game winning streak
Updated 07 September 2024
AP
INDIANAPOLIS: Napheesa Collier scored nine of her 26 points in the third quarter, Bridget Carleton made three 3-pointers in the final four minutes and the Minnesota Lynx overcame a 25-point night by Caitlin Clark to snap Indiana’s five-game winning streak with a 99-88 win over the Fever on Friday night.
The Lynx trailed 50-45 at halftime before Collier scored nine of their opening 20 points of the third quarter for a 65-57 lead.
Collier blocked Clark’s shot in the paint and Courtney Williams made a jumper from the free-throw line at the other end to extend Minnesota’s lead to 70-60. Clark went to the bench and Myisha Hines-Allen scored the next three points to give Minnesota a 13-point lead.
Indiana made just three field goals in the third quarter before making three in the opening two minutes of the fourth to get back in it.
The Fever were within 81-80 before Carleton sank a 3-pointer from the corner. She added a 3-pointer from the top of the key to make it 87-80 and she grabbed an offensive rebound on the Lynx’s next possession, leading to Williams’ 3-pointer.
Carleton’s third 3-pointer of the frame gave Minnesota a 96-85 lead.
Clark, coming off her second career triple-double on Wednesday, continued her record-breaking season for Indiana (18-17). She made one 3-pointer in the first quarter to become the franchise leader for made 3-pointers in a single season, passing Kelsey Mitchell (102). Clark was 5 of 10 from 3-point range for 107 this season.
Mitchell added 23 and Aliyah Boston scored 20 for Indiana. Mitchell has scored 20-plus points for the eighth time in her last nine games.
Carleton scored 16 points for Minnesota (25-9). Williams added 15 points, to go with seven rebounds to go over 1,500 for her career. Collier also grabbed 10 rebounds.
Carleton closed the first half on a 3-pointer with 7.2 seconds left off a nice pass from Hines-Allen. Then the Lynx scored the opening nine points of the third quarter for a 52-50 lead, their first since 7-6.
Frustrating farewell for Suarez as Uruguay held by Paraguay
Updated 07 September 2024
AFP
MONTEVIDEO: Luis Suarez bade a frustrating farewell to international football on Friday as Uruguay were held to a 0-0 draw by Paraguay in South American 2026 World Cup qualifying.
Suarez, 37, announced on Monday he was stepping down from international duty after a glittering 17-year career for Uruguay that saw him finish as the country’s top scorer with 69 goals from 143 appearances.
But the former Barcelona and Liverpool star, who now plays in Major League Soccer with Inter Miami, was unable to add a 70th goal to his international tally in Friday’s farewell game at the Estadio Centenario in Montevideo.
Despite enjoying 65 percent possession, Uruguay were unable to find a way through a dogged Paraguay defense in a disjointed match littered with some 24 fouls.
Suarez, whose career at international and club level was dogged by controversies such as his ban for biting Italy’s Giorgio Chiellini at the 2014 World Cup, was one of four Uruguay players to be shown a yellow card in a fractious encounter.
The result leaves Uruguay in second place in South America’s 10-team round-robin qualifying tournament with 14 points from seven games, four points behind leaders Argentina.
Colombia can leapfrog over Uruguay with a victory over Peru in Lima later Friday.
The top six teams in the South America standings qualify automatically for the 2026 finals in North America with the seventh-placed team advancing to a playoff.
